Doing Public Ethnography


Book Description

Ethnography and qualitative research methodology in general have witnessed a staggering proliferation of styles and genres over the last three decades. Modes and channels of communication have similarly expanded and diversified. Now ethnographers have the opportunity to disseminate their work not only through traditional writing but also through aural, visual, performative, hypertext, and many diverse and creative multimodal documentation strategies. Yet, many ethnographers still feel insufficiently proficient with these new literacies and opportunities for knowledge mobilization, and they therefore still limit themselves to traditional modes of communication in spite of their desire for innovation. As university-based, community-driven and politically mandated agendas for broader knowledge transfer keep increasing worldwide, the demand for public scholarship continues to grow. Arguing for the need to disseminate innovative ethnographic knowledge more widely and more effectively, this book outlines practical strategies and tools for sharing ethnographic and qualitative research through widely accessible media such as magazines, trade books, blogs, newspapers, video, radio, and social media. Drawing from practical experiences and hands-on lessons, Doing Public Ethnography provides social scientists across all disciplines with concrete tactics for mobilizing knowledge beyond the academic realm.




If Truth Be Told


Book Description

What happens when ethnographers go public via books, opinion papers, media interviews, court testimonies, policy recommendations, or advocacy activities? Calling for a consideration of this public moment as part and parcel of the research process, the contributors to If Truth Be Told explore the challenges, difficulties, and stakes of having ethnographic research encounter various publics, ranging from journalists, legal experts, and policymakers to activist groups, local populations, and other scholars. The experiences they analyze include Didier Fassin’s interventions on police and prison, Gabriella Coleman's multiple roles as intermediary between hackers and journalists, Kelly Gillespie's and Jonathan Benthall's experiences serving as expert witnesses, the impact of Manuela Ivone Cunha's and Vincent Dubois's work on public policies, and the vociferous attacks on the work of Unni Wikan and Nadia Abu El-Haj. With case studies from five continents, this collection signals the global impact of the questions that the publicization of ethnography raises about the public sphere, the role of the academy, and the responsibilities of social scientists. Contributors. Jonathan Benthall, Lucas Bessire, João Biehl, Gabriella Coleman, Manuela Ivone Cunha, Vincent Dubois, Nadia Abu El-Haj, Didier Fassin, Kelly Gillespie, Ghassan Hage, Sherine Hamdy, Federico Neiburg, Unni Wikan




Doing Sensory Ethnography


Book Description

This bold agenda-setting title continues to spearhead interdisciplinary, multisensory research into experience, knowledge and practice. Drawing on an explosion of new, cutting edge research Sarah Pink uses real world examples to bring this innovative area of study to life. She encourages us to challenge, revise and rethink core components of ethnography including interviews, participant observation and doing research in a digital world. The book provides an important framework for thinking about sensory ethnography stressing the numerous ways that smell, taste, touch and vision can be interconnected and interrelated within research. Bursting with practical advice on how to effectively conduct and share sensory ethnography this is an important, original book, relevant to all branches of social sciences and humanities.




Doing Ethnography


Book Description

This book provides a systematic introduction to ethnographic methods for data collection, analysis and representation. It takes you through the art and the methodological practicalities of ethnographic research, covering research design, choosing and accessing research settings and participants, data collection, field roles, analysis and writing. The book concludes with a bold assessment of the challenges, innovations and futures facing ethnography.




Doing Ethnography


Book Description

With regular exercises, lists of key terms and points and self-evaluation checklists, Doing Ethnography systematically describes the various phases of an ethnographic inquiry and provides numerous examples, suggestions and advice for the novice ethnographer. Ethnography seeks to understand, describe and explain the symbolic world lying beneath the social action of groups, organizations and communities. This book clearly sets out the coordinates and foundations of this increasingly popular methodology. Giampietro Gobo discusses all the major issues, including the research design, access to the field, data collection, organisation and analysis, and communication of the results.




Political Ethnography


Book Description

Scholars of politics have sought in recent years to make the discipline more hospitable to qualitative methods of research. Lauding the results of this effort and highlighting its potential for the future, Political Ethnography makes a compelling case for one such method in particular. Ethnography, the contributors amply demonstrate in a wide range of original essays, is uniquely suited for illuminating the study of politics. Situating these pieces within the context of developments in political science, Edward Schatz provides an overarching introduction and substantive prefaces to each of the volume’s four sections. The first of these parts addresses the central ontological and epistemological issues raised by ethnographic work, while the second grapples with the reality that all research is conducted from a first-person perspective. The third section goes on to explore how ethnographic research can provide fresh perspectives on such perennial topics as opinion, causality, and power. Concluding that political ethnography can and should play a central role in the field as a whole, the final chapters illuminate the many ways in which ethnographic approaches can enhance, improve, and, in some areas, transform the study of politics.




Doing Human Service Ethnography


Book Description

This book shows researchers how ethnography can be carried out within human service settings, providing an invaluable guide on how to apply ethnographic creativeness and offering a more humanistic and context-sensitive approach to generating valid knowledge about today’s service work.




Ethnography and the City


Book Description

First Published in 2013. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.




Media, Anthropology and Public Engagement


Book Description

Contemporary anthropology is done in a world where social and digital media are playing an increasingly significant role, where anthropological and arts practices are often intertwined in museum and public intervention contexts, and where anthropologists are encouraged to engage with mass media. Because anthropologists are often expected and inspired to ensure their work engages with public issues, these opportunities to disseminate work in new ways and to new publics simultaneously create challenges as anthropologists move their practice into unfamiliar collaborative domains and expose their research to new forms of scrutiny. In this volume, contributors question whether a fresh public anthropology is emerging through these new practices.




Doing Visual Ethnography


Book Description

′[T]hose already proficient in ethnographic methods will find Doing Visual Ethnography a foray into what should be an increasingly normative terrain and what is certainly a much-needed addition to the literature. They will be challenged to simultaneously take on new methodological conceits and their application beyond traditional boundaries′ - Library & Information Science Research Following on from the success of Doing Visual Ethnography, this fully revised and updated second edition explores the use and potential of photography, video and hypermedia in ethnographic and social research. It offers a reflexive approach to theoretical, methodological, practical and ethical issues of using these media now that they are increasingly being incorporated into field research. Sarah Pink adopts the viewpoint that visual research methods should be rooted in a critical understanding of local and academic visual cultures, the visual media and technologies being used and the ethical issues they raise. The book demonstrates that these new challenges that shape ethnographic knowledge can be met by understanding the reflexivity and experience through which visual and ethnographic materials are produced and interpreted. New to the Second Edition: - General updating of figures, terminology and literature to bring the book up-to-date with recent innovations in theory, practice and technology - Annotated reading lists added to each chapter to guide the reader to further literature - Completely rewritten chapter on digital technology to ensure the text is in line with the latest developments in technology and methodological thinking Drawing from her own experiences of using photography, video and hypermedia in research, as well as the work of others, the author follows the research process from project design, planning and implementing and practising fieldwork to analysis and representation, suggesting how visual images and technologies can be combined to form an integrated process throughout the different stages of research. The Second Edition of Doing Visual Ethnography is an excellent resource for students of sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, media studies, and those doing ethnographic and qualitative research. It also provides valuable reading for researchers and postgraduates.