Doing Ethnography Today: Theories, Methods, Exercises

Ethnography begins and ends with people. Combining both theory and practice, Doing Ethnography Today emphasises the ways that collaboration provides the foundation on which contemporary ethnography is built and sustained. An unconventional guide to doing ethnography, this book shows that ethnography is personal as well as collaborative, creative and artful rather than analytical or technical, and, oriented towards dynamic and complex ideas of culture and society, has within it the possibility for social change.  In–depth discussions of critical issues around contemporary practice are combined with exercises, which provide the opportunity to cultivate experience in ethnographic fieldwork, reading, and writing that explore collaborative possibilities for doing ethnography today. Coverage includes guidance on interview questions and selecting appropriate field equipment, while lists of suggested readings and websites offer additional resources on key subjects.

Preface 1. Introduction: Conceptualizing Ethnography Ethnography is as Personal as it Gets Ethnography is Collaborative Ethnography is Hermeneutic Ethnography is Creative and Constitutive Ethnography Grapples with the Idea of Culture, however Deeply Compromised Ethnography is Mostly Art Exercise – Taking Stock: Exploring your Limits and Possibilities Suggested Readings Suggested Websites Notes 2. Fields of Collaboration The Field Today On the Actual Complexities of Collaboration Exercise – Engaging Collaborations and Creating Research Questions Suggested Readings Suggested Websites Notes 3. Emergent Design Exercise – Intentional Reciprocity Uncertainty and the Collaborative Process Ethics and Ethical Commitments Exercise – Developing Project Codes of Ethics Recognition or Anonymity? Exercise – Ethics, IRBs, and Other Subjects Issues of Authority: Ethnographer as Facilitator, Research Participant as Counterpart Exercise – Revisiting Project Limits and Possibilities Suggested Readings Suggested Websites Notes   4. Engagement: Participant Observation and Observant Participation Exercise – One Scene, Many Positions Participation Interlude: Equipment Check From Participant–Observation to Observant Participation Fieldnotes: From Definitions, Meanings, and Practices to Storied Observations Exercise – Developing Your Own (Fieldnotes) Style On Fieldnote Forms Exercise – Writing With By Way of Conclusion . . . Suggested Readings Suggested Websites 5. Interviews and Conversations Living with Interviews Exercise – Issues for Interviews The Changing Nature of Interviews Exercise – Interviews as Conversations Interviews (and Conversations) in Ethnographic Research Exercise – Talking about Transcripts Suggested Readings Suggested Websites Notes 6. Inscriptions: On Writing Ethnography Exercise – Making Sense of Materials “What is Ethnography” Redux: On the Emergence of Contemporary Ethnographic Forms Exercise – Writing Ethnography Toward Collaborative Writing and Transformation Exercise – Collaborative Writing Suggested Readings Suggested Websites Notes

Elizabeth Campbell is Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Marshall University′s College of Education and Professional Development.  Before moving to academe, she worked in community development as a folklorist, writer, and museum curator. Luke Eric Lassiter is Professor of Humanities and Anthropology and Director of Marshall University′s Graduate Humanities Program. His books include The Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography (2005) and Invitation to Anthropology (4e, 2014). In 2007, he founded the journal Collaborative Anthropologies and served as its editor or co–editor until 2013.