Designing & Conducting Ethnographic Research: An Introduction

by Lecompte, Margaret D.; Schensul, Jean J.

• ISBN13: 9780759118690
• ISBN10: 0759118698
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-16
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

The Ethnographer's Toolkit series begins with this primer, which introduces novice and expert practitioners alike to the process of ethnographic research, including who should and can do ethnography, when it is used most fruitfully, and how research projects are carried out from conceptualization through to the uses of research results. Written in practical, straightforward language, this new edition defines the qualitative research enterprise, links research strategies to theoretical paradigms, and outlines the ways in which an ethnographic study can be designed. Use Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research as a guide to the entire Toolkit or as a stand-alone introduction to ethnographic research.

Author Biography

Margaret D. LeCompte is professor of education and sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Jean J. Schensul is senior scientist at and founding director of the Institute for Community Research, adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Connecticut, and research affiliate at Yale.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	p. ix
List of Examples	p. xi
Introduction	p. xvii
What Is Ethnography?	p. 1
Ethnography as Science	p. 1
The Historical Evolution of Ethnographic Methods	p. 5
Ethnography for Problem Identification and Solving	p. 8
Characteristics of Ethnography	p. 12
What Is Culture? Differentiating the Individual from the Cultural	p. 24
A Note on Ethnicity, Culture, and Race	p. 27
Power, Situatedness, and Positionality	p. 30
The Impact of Cultural Politics on Identity and Research	p. 32
When, Where, and By Whom Should Ethnography Be Used?	p. 35
Situations Requiring Ethnographic Research	p. 35
Settings Appropriate for Ethnographic Research	p. 41
Who Should Do Ethnographic Research?	p. 45
Important Personality and Stylistic Requisites for Ethnographers	p. 46
Paradigms for Framing the Conduct of Ethnographic Research	p. 55
Multiple Perspectives: A Cultural Way of Doing Research	p. 56
What Are Research Paradigms?	p. 57
The Positivist Paradigm	p. 58
The Critical Paradigm	p. 62
Interpretive Paradigms: Meaning-Making in Interactional Contexts	p. 67
The Ecological Paradigm	p. 71
The Social Network Paradigm	p. 73
A Paradigmatic Synthesis	p. 76
Summary	p. 85
An Overview of Research Design	p. 87
Research Design: A Blueprint for Action	p. 87
Research Designs in Social Science Research	p. 95
Quantitative Designs	p. 95
Qualitative Designs	p. 112
Rapid or Compressed Research	p. 122
Mixing Designs: Integrating Quantitative and Experimental with Qualitative Research Designs	p. 126
Choosing and Designing an Ethnographic Research Project	p. 129
Where Do Research Questions Come From?	p. 130
Deciding What to Investigate: Transforming Research Purposes into the Elements of a Research Design	p. 134
Putting Together the Elements of a Research Design	p. 135
Elaborating Research Questions	p. 137
What Are Data?	p. 143
The Processes of Operationalization and Research Modeling	p. 147
Conceptualizing Research Models and Conceptual Modeling	p. 150
Identifying Populations and Study Sites	p. 154
Strategies for Selection of Sampling and Units for Study	p. 169
Collecting Ethnographic Data	p. 173
Techniques for Collecting Multiple Types of Data	p. 173
Resources and Logistics: How Ethnographers Allocate Time, Money, and Staff	p. 183
Creating Planning Documents and Timelines	p. 187
Summary	p. 192
Data Analysis: How Ethnographers Make Sense of Their Data	p. 195
Analysis as Both a Cognitive Process and a Technical Procedure	p. 195
"Chunking" Data into Large Conceptual Categories or "Bins"	p. 199
Defining Terms: Operational and Conceptual Levels of Analysis	p. 204
Finding Initial Themes or Regularities	p. 210
The Item Level of Analysis: Isolating Empirical "Bits" from Streams of Data	p. 213
The Pattern Level of Analysis: Aggregating Similar or Related Items into Groups	p. 215
The Structural Level of Analysis: Assembling Multiple Patterns into Structures or Local Theories Informed by Conceptual Domains	p. 217
Seeking Complex Relationships across Domains and Structures by Using Multiple Levels and Sources of Data	p. 220
Interpreting the Results: Figuring Out What the Story Means	p. 220
Levels of Theory	p. 222
Summary	p. 224
Identifying and Building Research Teams and Research Partnerships	p. 227
Building and Conducting Ethnographic Team Research	p. 231
Building Interdisciplinary Community Research Partnerships	p. 243
Challenges and Rewards in Ethnographic Teamwork and Interdisciplinary Intersectoral Collaborations	p. 249
Applying Ethnography	p. 251
Introduction to Applying Ethnography	p. 251
Products of Ethnography	p. 252
Informing Public Audiences: Dissemination	p. 254
Developing Interventions: Formative Research	p. 262
Improving Quantitative Instruments	p. 265
Influencing Teacher/Educator Practice	p. 267
Democratizing Ethnography through Participatory Action Research	p. 270
Improving Process and Outcome Evaluations	p. 272
Influencing Policy	p. 277
Supporting Advocacy	p. 279
Contributing to Science	p. 281
Summary	p. 282
Protection of Risk to Human Subjects and the Ethics of Ethnographic Fieldwork	p. 285
A Brief History of Concern for the Ethical Treatment of Research Participants	p. 286
Ethics and the Individual Researcher	p. 303
Ethics and Institutional Issues	p. 306
The Special Concerns and Ethical Responsibilities of Ethnographers	p. 309
Conclusion	p. 316
References	p. 319
Index	p. 337
About the Authors	p. 353
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