Ethnography Principles in Practice

Thoroughly updated and substantially rewritten the second edition of this popular textbook is now even more relevant and useful for students and researchers. Ethnography offers a systematic and coherent account of ethnographic principles and practices. The first edition of this book was judged to be 'A must text for theory and methods courses', Network The claims of qualitative research have been gaining ground in recent years. In this accessible introduction to the methods of ethnographic fieldwork, Hammersley and Atkinson reconsider the status of ethnography and seek to place it quite explicitly in a general methodological context. Ethnography provides a systematic and coherent account of ethnographic principles and practice. Rejecting the over-simplified contrast between 'positivism' and 'naturalism', but also questioning more recent critiques of these positions, the authors argue that ethnography is best understood as a reflexive process. Above all, what this means is that we must recognise that social research is part of the world that it studies. From an outline of the principle of reflexivity in Chapter One, the authors go on to discuss and exemplify the main features of ethnographic work: the selection and sampling of cases, the problems of access, observation and interviewing, recording and filing data, and the process of data analysis and writing research reports. There is also consideration of the ethical issues surrounding ethnographic research. Throughout, the discussion draws on a wide range of illustrative material from classic and more recent studies in Britain, America and elsewhere. The first edition proved a valuable introduction and guide to ethnography for the experienced researcher, the advanced student, and the newcomer to the field. Updated and substantially rewritten, this new edition should be equally popular. Martyn Hammersley is reader in Educational and Social Research at the Open University; Paul Atkinson is Professor Sociology and Head of SOCAS, the University of Wales, Cardiff.Atkinson, Paul is the author of 'Ethnography Principles in Practice', published 1995 under ISBN 9780415086646 and ISBN 0415086647.