AltaMira Press
Pages: 386
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-0-7591-2203-1 • Paperback • October 2012 • $56.00 • (£43.00)
Jean J. Schensul is founding director and senior scientist at the Institute for Community Research, Hartford, Connecticut.
Margaret D. LeCompte is professor emerita of education and sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
List of Tables and Figures
List of Examples
Introduction
Chapter 1 Essential Data Collection
Chapter 2 Defining and Entering the Field
Chapter 3 Recording and Organizing Ethnographic Field Data: Field Notes, Interviews, Drawings, Visual Documentation, and Survey Data
Chapter 4 Participant Observation and Informal Field Interviewing
Chapter 5 Additional Methods for Collecting Exploratory Data
Chapter 6 In-depth, Open-ended Exploratory Interviews
Chapter 7 Semi-structured Interviews and Observations
Chapter 8 Focus Group Interviews
Chapter 9 Structured Approaches to Ethnographic Data Collection: Surveys
Chapter 10 Sampling in Ethnographic Research
Chapter 11 Defining and Evaluating Quality in Ethnographic Research
References
Index
About the Authors
The Ethnographer's Toolkit series is designed with you, the novice fieldworker, in mind. In a series of seven brief books, the editors and authors of the Toolkit take you through the multiple, complex steps of doing ethnographic research in simple, reader-friendly language. Case studies, checklists, key points to remember, and additional resources to consult are all included to help the reader fully understand the ethnographic process. Avoiding a step-by-step formula approach, the authors are able to explain the complicated tasks and relationships that occur in the field in clear, helpful ways. Research designs, data collection techniques, analytical strategies, research collaborations, and an array of uses for ethnographic work in policy, programming, and practice, are described in the volumes. The Toolkit is the perfect starting point for professionals in diverse professional fields in social welfare, education, health, economic development, and the arts, as well as for advanced students and experienced researchers unfamiliar with the demands of conducting good ethnography.