Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

* What is ethnography in social research?
* To what use can ethnographic data be put?
* Who are its fiercest critics?
* Does ethnography have a future?

Ethnography is one of the principal methods of qualitative research and has a long-established tradition of use in the social sciences. However, the literature on ethnography has become a battleground as ethnography is attacked from within and without the qualitative tradition. Post-modern critics attack the methodological status of ethnography and challenge the importance of its representations of reality, and others argue that globalization narrows its application as localism disappears.

Ethnography provides a robust defence of this research method and establishes its continued relevance in the social sciences. It sets out the competing methodological bases of ethnography and details its different uses as a research method. The author offers guidelines for good practice in the research process, as well as advice on the analysis, interpretation and presentation of ethnographic data. Although written as a textbook, the contents are research led, informed by the author's own extensive experience of undertaking ethnographic research in dangerous and sensitive locations in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. The result is a lively and engaging read on an essential topic for both students and researchers.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Series editor's foreword(p. vii)
• Acknowledgements(p. ix)
• Introduction(p. 1)
• The centrality of method in the social sciences(p. 1)
• What is 'method'?(p. 2)
• What is 'methodology'?(p. 2)
• Debate about methods in the social sciences(p. 4)
• Purpose and outline of this book(p. 6)
• Suggested further reading(p. 9)
• 1 What is ethnography?(p. 10)
• Introduction(p. 10)
• The history of ethnography(p. 11)
• Ethnography, sociology and common sense(p. 13)
• 'Big' and 'little' ethnography(p. 17)
• Critiques of ethnography(p. 19)
• Conclusion(p. 25)
• Suggested further reading(p. 26)
• 2 Ethnography as method and methodology(p. 27)
• Introduction(p. 27)
• The philosophy of social research(p. 28)
• The natural science model of social research(p. 29)
• The humanistic model of social research(p. 31)
• The methodological bases of ethnography(p. 37)
• The double crisis of ethnography(p. 38)
• Post-postmodern ethnography(p. 48)
• Conclusion(p. 54)
• Suggested further reading(p. 55)
• 3 The research process in ethnography(p. 56)
• Introduction(p. 56)
• Research design in ethnography(p. 57)
• Data collection techniques(p. 58)
• Case studies and generalizations(p. 76)
• Other issues of good practice(p. 82)
• Conclusion(p. 102)
• Suggested further reading(p. 103)
• 4 The analysis, interpretation and presentation of ethnographic data(p. 104)
• Introduction(p. 104)
• Analysis(p. 106)
• Interpretation(p. 122)
• Reflexivity(p. 126)
• The presentation of ethnographic data(p. 133)
• Conclusion(p. 141)
• Suggested further reading(p. 142)
• 5 Uses of ethnography(p. 143)
• Introduction(p. 143)
• Knowledge generation(p. 143)
• Theory-building in ethnography(p. 148)
• Applied ethnographic research(p. 155)
• Conclusion(p. 168)
• Suggested further reading(p. 171)
• Conclusion: whither ethnography?(p. 172)
• Introduction(p. 172)
• Globalization and ethnography(p. 174)
• Tradition, identity and Ulster Loyalism(p. 176)
• The global-local nexus(p. 179)
• Local crime management in Belfast(p. 181)
• Conclusion(p. 186)
• Suggested further reading(p. 187)
• Glossary(p. 188)
• Bibliography(p. 194)
• Index(p. 207)

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

John D. Brewer is Professor of Sociology and Head of the School of Sociology and Social Policy at Queen's University, Belfast.