AltaMira Press
Pages: 464
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-0-7591-2205-5 • Paperback • October 2012 • $56.00 • (£43.00)
978-0-7591-2206-2 • eBook • October 2012 • $53.00 • (£41.00)
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: Defining , Collecting, Cataloging, and Analyzing Artifacts
Chapter 2: Using Archival and Secondary Data in Ethnographic Research
Chapter 3: Elicitation Techniques for Cultural Domain Analysis
Chapter 4: Mapping Spatial Data
Chapter 5: Conducting Ethnographic Network Studies: Friends, Relatives, and Relevant Others
Chapter 6: Studying Hidden and Hard-to-Reach Populations
Chapter 7: Using Multimedia Techniques in Ethnographic Research
Chapter 8: Creating Participatory Ethnographic Videos
Index
About the Authors, Artists, and Editors
The fourth volume in the second edition of the excellent seven-volume "Ethnographer's Toolkit" series, this compilation features expert-authored chapters, each dealing with a specialized methodology for conducting applied ethnographic research. Topics include mapping spatial data, studying hidden and hard-to-reach populations and elicitation techniques, using archival and secondary data, utilizing multimedia, and creating participatory ethnographic videos. Experts in various methodologies of specialized ethnographic research explain complicated research tasks and designs, data collection techniques, and analytical strategies in clear, helpful ways; chapters conclude with extensive references. In the introduction, editors LeCompte (Univ. of Colorado) and Schensul (Institute for Community Research, Hartford, CT) provide useful contextual information. Easily visible key points, definitions, cross-references, and case studies that are highlighted in the margins assist readers. Rounding out the volume are lists of examples, tables and figures, and contributor information. Although other applied anthropology textbooks, e.g., A. Erwin's Applied Anthropology: Tools and Perspectives for Contemporary Practice (2nd ed., 2005), are good introductions, this volume is a uniquely essential guide to designing and conducting specialized ethnographic research. Invaluable for professors and students of applied anthropology, educators, social and health services professionals, and others interested in applied anthropological research. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above.
— Choice Reviews
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.