As a research methodology, ethnography has firmly arrived - yet it remains the most misunderstood area of composition studies. Is it naturalistic... research or teacher research or case-study research? What makes some research ethnographic and other research not? Where would this writing take place? In her new book, Wendy Bishop takes you through such questions to questions of your own, helping you make the most of your own ethnographic enterprises.The primary goal of Ethnographic Writing Research is to help you conduct your day-to-day research - whether it means developing an informal classroom report, writing a dissertation prospectus and study, or participating in local, civic literacy research. Discussions are provided to help you read ethnographic work - your own and that of others - with more critical sensitivity and with more insight. In tone and content, the book is at once personal, anecdotal, and professional . . .walking you through issues posing real and imaginary research problemssharing research anecdotesoffering research guidelines and checklistsproviding sample miniethnographies for discussion and an extensive bibliography.For those initiating small classroom-based ethnographies, this book will provide a fieldguide or a blueprint - an initial talking-through of issues and decision points. For those already involved in a deeper, long-term engagement with the methodology, the book will continue the conversation.

Based on three years of extensive fieldwork, this ethnographic study of prostitution in the metropolitan city of Dalian, China, explores the lives... of rural migrant women working as karaoke bar hostesses. Tiantian Zheng delves into the interplay of gender politics, nationalism, and power relationships that inhere in practices of birth control, disease control, and control of women’s bodies.

Ethnographies Revisited provides first-hand accounts of how leading qualitative researchers crafted key theoretical concepts found in their major... book-length ethnographies. Great ethnographic research lies not in the rigid execution of prescribed methodological procedures, but on the unrelenting cultivation of theoretical ideas. These contributors focus squarely on this neglected topic, providing reflexive accounts of how research decisions were made in light of emerging theoretical questions. The continuous generation of creative concepts is arguably the most important skill in developing powerful results in field research, since the originality of the ideas produced is how the study is ultimately judged. Yet, this topic is often taken for granted, treated rigidly and artificially, or is entirely absent from existing qualitative research manuals. In contrast, this volume offers candid insights of how leading ethnographers generated their initial questions, chose their research sites, made theoretical and methodological adjustments, and oriented their research to maximize the conceptual payoff, leading to such successful research contributions. This provides a fresh approach to the topic of qualitative research, by linking practical decisions in the field to the dynamic features of theory in the making, told through the first-hand experiences of some of the best ethnographers in our field.

Illuminating, through ethnographic inquiry, how individual agents "make" language policy in everyday social practice, this volume advances the growing... field of language planning and policy using a critical sociocultural approach. From this perspective, language policy is conceptualized not only as official acts and documents, but as language-regulating modes of human interaction, negotiation, and production mediated by relations of power. Using this conceptual framework, the volume addresses the impacts of globalization, diaspora, and transmigration on language practices and policies; language endangerment, revitalization, and maintenance; medium-of-instruction policies; literacy and biliteracy; language and ethnic/national identity; and the ethical tensions in conducting critical ethnographic language policy research. These issues are contextualized in case studies and reflective commentaries by leading scholars in the field. Ethnography and Language Policy extends previous work in the field, tapping into leading-edge interdisciplinary scholarship, and charting new directions. Recognizing that language policy is not merely or even primarily about language per se, but rather about power relations that structure social-linguistic hierarchies, the authors seek to expand policy discourses in ways that foster social justice for all.

The candid, first-person accounts of their experiences, especially in illegal, immoral, and dangerous situations, reveal the horrors, perils, and joys... of ethnographic research. The methodological, theoretical, and political implications of field work are also thoroughly discussed. Describing their deep involvement with such diverse groups as skinheads, phone sex workers, drug dealers, graffiti artists, and the homeless, many of the authors confess to their own episodes of illegal drug use, drunk driving, weapons violations, assault at gunpoint, obstruction of justice, and arrest while engaged in ethnographic studies. Although field research is seldom safe, convenient, or above professional criticism, this volume demonstrates that it is vital for providing a fuller understanding of deviant and criminal populations.

One of anthropology's leading writers on ethnographic methods, Harry Wolcott discusses the fundamental nature of ethnographic studies. Tracing its... development from its disciplinary origins in sociology and anthropology, he points out what is distinctive about ethnography and what it means to conduct research in the ethnographic tradition. In this engaging and thought-provoking book, Wolcott distinguishes ethnography as more than just a set of field methods and practices, separating it from many related qualitative research traditions as 'a way of seeing' through the lens of culture. For both beginning and experienced ethnographers in a wide range of disciplines, Wolcott's book will provide important ideas for improving research practice.

A comprehensive and practical guide to ethnographic research, this book guides you through the process, starting with the fundamentals of choosing and... proposing a topic and selecting a research design. It describes methods of data collection (taking notes, participant observation, interviewing, identifying themes and issues, creating ethnographic maps and tables and charts, and referring to secondary sources) and analyzing and writing ethnography (sorting and coding data, answering questions, choosing a presentation style, and assembling the ethnography). Although content is focused on producing written ethnography, many of the principles and methods discussed here also apply to other forms of ethnographic presentation, including ethnographic film.Designed to give basic hands-on experience in the overall ethnography research process, Ethnography Essentials covers a wealth of topics, enabling anyone new to ethnography research to successfully explore the excitement and challenges of field research.

Ethnography, with its focus on observed everyday behavior, is quickly becoming the method of choice to identify unmet needs, stimulate novel insights,... create strategies and develop new ideas. Hy Mariampolski, author of Qualitative Market Research: A Comprehensive Guide (Sage, 2001) again takes readers on a voyage of discovery in Ethnography for Marketers. These two companion works are essential guides for marketers seeking rich insights into their customers’ thoughts and behaviors.

In this volume, Schwartzman evaluates the range of ethnographic research that has been conducted on organizations. She also examines such important... topics as: the roles and methods utilized by organizational ethnographers; the problems and prospects for conducting fieldwork in organizations; and the role that everyday but often overlooked routines - like meetings and story telling - play in the production and reproduction of organizations, institutions and society.

Harry Wolcott takes the reader inside the process of constructing an ethnographic study, offering a wealth of lessons from one of the masters. In this... concise primer, he provides a set of models from which to organize a study, explains how to pick the various components that go into the ethnographic report, advises on how to create analogies and metaphors to help explain your work, and identifies the key features of an effective ethnography. He also discusses the role of serendipity and questions of ethics in doing ethnographic work. Learn the essentials of ethnography from one of the masters.

Now in its third edition, this leading introduction to ethnography has been thoroughly updated and substantially rewritten. It offers a systematic... introduction to ethnographic principles and practice. New material covers the use of visual and virtual research methods, hypermedia software and the issue of ethical regulation. There is also a new prologue and epilogue. The authors argue that ethnography is best understood as a reflexive process. What this means is that we must recognize that social research is part of the world that it studies. From an outline of the principle of reflexivity the authors go on to discuss and exemplify main features of ethnographic work, including: the selection and sampling of cases the problems of access observation and interviewing recording and filing data the process of data analysis and writing research reports. Throughout, the discussion draws on a wide range of illustrative material from classic and more recent studies within a global context. The new edition of this popular textbook will be an indispensable resource for students and researchers utilizing social research methods in the social sciences and cultural studies.

“Emphasis on the use of theory as a guide is excellent and cannot be stressed enough among students . . . . Ethical standards are comprehensively... addressed. Any doubts the reader may have had are dispelled by the author’s compelling arguments and illustrative examples.”-Patricia I. Documét, University of Pittsburgh“The text has included most topics that I cover in my seminar with doctoral students and some that believe they will find helpful. One of those items an actual approach to writing a research proposal and distinctions between action research, policy research, and investigatory kinds of explorations.”-Barbara K. Curry, University of DelawareThe Third Edition of Ethnography: Step-by-Step guides readers in collecting and making sense of large amounts of ethnographic data. It also offers current discussion about the use of technology in the pursuit of ethnography. Fundamentally, however, it demonstrates how ethnography is more than a methodological approach. For David M. Fetterman, ethnography is a way of life.

In recent decades, the linguistic and cultural diversity of school populations in the United States and other industrialized countries has rapidly... increased along with globalization processes. At the same time, schooling as it is currently constituted continues to be ineffective for large numbers of students. Exploring crucial issues that emerge at the intersection of linguistic diversity and education, this volume: provides an up-to-date review of sociolinguistic research and practice aimed at improving education for students who speak vernacular varieties of US English, English-based Creole languages, and non-English languages explores the impact of dialect differences and community languages on ethnolinguistically diverse students’ academic achievement challenges the dominant monolingual Standard language ideology presents sociolinguistically based approaches to language and literacy education that acknowledge and build on the linguistic and cultural resources students bring into the school. Throughout, the authors argue for the application of research-based knowledge to the dire situation (as measured by school failure and drop-out rates) of many ethnolinguistic populations in US schools. The overall aim of the volume is to heighten acknowledgement and recognition of the linguistic and cultural resources students bring into the schools and to explore ways in which these resources can be used to extend the sociolinguistic repertoires, including academic English, of all students.

In this book, Ubiratan D'Ambrosio presents his most recent thoughts on ethnomathematics - a sub-field of mathematics history and mathematics education... for which he is widely recognized to be one of the founding fathers. In a clear, concise format, he outlines the aim of the Program Ethnomathematics, which is to understand mathematical knowing/doing throughout history, within the context of different groups, communities, peoples and nations, focusing on the cycle of mathematical knowledge: its generation, its intellectual and social organization, and its diffusion. While not rejecting the importance of modern academic mathematics, it is viewed as but one among many existing ethnomathematics. Offering concrete examples and ideas for mathematics teachers and researchers, D'Ambrosio makes an eloquent appeal for an entirely new approach to conceptualizing mathematics knowledge and education that embraces diversity and addresses the urgent need to provide youth with the necessary tools to become ethical, creative, critical individuals prepared to participate in the emerging planetary society.