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| Preface | |
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| The Author | |
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| The Why and What of Ethnography | |
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| What is Ethnography? | |
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| Ethnography: The Engaged, Firsthand Study of Society and Culture in Action | |
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| A Brief History | |
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| How Ethnography Has Changed: Doing Contemporary Ethnography | |
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| Ethnography as Firsthand Research | |
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| Ethnographer as Research Instrument | |
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| Collaboration as Research Model: Ethnographer as Student | |
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| Choosing an Ethnographic Topic | |
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| Where to Look for Possible Topics | |
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| Ethnographic Topics: Studying Places, People, or Events | |
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| The Benefits of a Relatively Specific Focus | |
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| Thinking About the Nonobvious as Discoverable | |
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| Cultural Knowledge and Behavior in Action as Research Objects | |
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| Practical Concerns | |
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| Considering Ethics from the Start: Your Obligations to Potential Informants | |
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| Topics You Might Want to Avoid | |
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| Research Design | |
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| Turning an Idea or Topic into a Research Question | |
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| Linking Questions to Methods | |
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| Key Methods to Consider for the Ethnographic Project | |
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| What Is Practical or Feasible? Time, Availability, and Ethics | |
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| Writing a Proposal | |
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| Identifying and Reviewing Appropriate Literature | |
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| Statement of the Problem | |
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| A Clear Research Plan | |
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| Identifying Your Project's Larger Relevance | |
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| Human Subjects Review and Approval | |
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| Ethnography in the Field: Collecting Data | |
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| A Guide to Collecting Data and Taking Notes | |
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| The Fleeting Nature of Ethnographic Data | |
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| "Should I Write it Down Immediately?" | |
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| The Importance of Detail in the Ethnographic Record | |
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| Writing Notes Versus Using Recorders | |
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| The Prospects of Transcription | |
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| What Is Important and What Is Superfluous: "What Do I Need to Write Down?" | |
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| The Ethics of Collecting Information | |
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| Participant-Observation | |
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| The Apparent Paradox: Participation and Observation | |
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| Balancing Participation and Observation | |
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| The Importance of Time | |
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| Depending on Informants as Teachers and Guides | |
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| Getting Started | |
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| Regular Versus Extraordinary Behavior and Conversations | |
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| Interviews | |
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| Starting with Informal Interviews and Conversations | |
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| Informal Conversation as an Avenue to "Real" Culture | |
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| A Good Interviewer Is a Good Listener | |
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| How to Record Interview Data | |
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| Using an Interview Schedule | |
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| How to Start an Interview | |
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| Good Versus Bad Interview Questions | |
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| When to Conduct Formal Interviews | |
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| Analyzing Along the Way | |
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| Identifying Key Themes and Questions: Paying Attention to Your Data | |
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| How to Organize Your Notes | |
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| What Have You Learned? | |
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| What Do You Still Need to Do? | |
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| Has the Research Question Changed? | |
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| Tweaking the Research Design | |
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| Getting Feedback from Your Informants | |
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| Writing at the Midway Point | |
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| Ethnographic Maps | |
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| Space and Movement as Key Components of Culture | |
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| The Importance of Space, Shape, and Distance | |
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| Large- and Small-Scale Geographic Maps | |
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| Mapping Interior Spaces | |
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| Cognitive or Conceptual Maps | |
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| Representing Movement and Behavior on a Map | |
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| Tables and Charts | |
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| Ethnographic Tables | |
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| Interpersonal Relationships as a Manifestation of Culture | |
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| Kinship as an Organizing Principle | |
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| Other Organizational Charts | |
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| Archives and Secondary Data | |
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| Cultural Artifacts as Sources of Information | |
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| Making Ethnographic Use of Archives | |
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| Contemporary Cultural Artifacts | |
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| Evaluating and Analyzing Cultural Artifacts | |
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| Analytical Sources Versus Popular or Primary Sources | |
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| Analyzing and Writing | |
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| Sorting and Coding Data | |
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| Writing from Your Research Data | |
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| Identifying Key Themes and Questions | |
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| Identifying Important Research Moments and Experiences | |
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| Coding and Sorting the Ethnographic Record | |
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| Dealing with Apparent Contradictions: The Messiness of Ethnographic Data | |
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| Answering Questions and Building Models | |
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| Fitting the Pieces Together | |
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| Moving from Data to Theory: The Inductive Process | |
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| Remembering the Big Picture and the Big Questions | |
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| Infusing Theory in Ethnography | |
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| Choosing the Appropriate Presentation Style | |
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| Common Ethnographic Conventions | |
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| The Importance of Ethnographic Detail | |
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| Matching Style to Audience, Subject, and Analysis | |
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| A Formal to Informal Continuum of Style | |
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| Putting the Whole Ethnography Together | |
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| The Hourglass Shape as a Model | |
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| Alternative Models for Organizing an Ethnography | |
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| Incorporating Relevant Literature | |
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| Incorporating Maps, Charts, and Photographs | |
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| Demonstrating the Project's Relevance | |
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| Evaluating and Revising Ethnography | |
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| Sharing the Ethnography | |
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| Incorporating Responses and Critiques | |
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| Glossary | |
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| References | |
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| Index | |