Ethnography: Doing ethnography

Pulls together books, book chapters, and articles on specific social science methods.

(n.d. Center for Public Interest Anthropology, Univ of Pennsylvania. Retrieved from Internet Archive, 14 August 2011) A series of brief articles providing general, simplified information about doing ethnography.

(5th ed. Altamira, 2011) The standard handbook for the topic. Offers individual chapters on specific techniques, e.g., participant observation, direct or indirect observation, text analysis, unstructured/semistructured/questionnaire interviewing, and more.

Ebook and print. 2nd ed. 7 vols. Altamira Press, 2010-2016.
Individual volumes describe planning, conducting, notation, and reporting techniques, as well as mixed methods approaches. The 1st edition, 7 vols. (1999) is arranged in a more practical fashion.

(Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) A well-written exposition of ethnographic techniques with case studies and other aids for appreciating their application.

(4th ed. SAGE, 2020 and earlier editions).
Print only.

(SAGE, 2006) Not really a "how to" handbook, but a discussion of the intertwining of specific techniques and specific fieldwork settings.

(print only : 3rd ed. SAGE, 2018.
ebook : 2nd ed. Pine Forge Press, 2007)

(2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014)
More broad than Bernard's Research methods and more contemporary in the cultural domains it covers. Includes chapters on geospatical analysis, social network analysis, ethnography of online cultures, and a useful section on applying and presenting information.

(2 vols. SAGE, 1987)
Van Pelt stacks, Museum Library GN346 .W47 1987

(Left Coast Press, 2013)
Print only: Museum Library GN397.5 .P45 2013
A great survey of recent developments in ethnographic techniques, with examples.

(Left Coast Press, 2008)
Print only: Holman Biotech Commons Q180.55.M4 T46 2008
Provides guidance in working through the difference between conjecture and fact in ethnographic analysis.

(Univ of Chicago Press, 2005)
Discusses the relationship between ethnographer and the study community.

(4 vols. SAGE, 2005)
Classic article reprints describing and illustrating the origins and definitions of fieldwork, the fieldwork experience, methods and methodology, ethics and politics in fieldwork, and analysis, outcomes, and reflections. The format can be difficult to use. See also:
• Approaches to fieldwork (4 vols. SAGE, 2015).

(SAGE, 2018)
A good recent reference work on creating, collecting, and producing qualitative data, with chapters describing specific data sources.

(SAGE, 2014)
Describes general analytic strategies in qualitative research and analytic tactics appropriate to specific data sources.

Reservation tools for Vitale Digital Media Lab (Weigle Information Commons, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center): videocameras, SLR cameras, audio recorders, and more.

Identifies text analysis tools and more.

Also see: Digital Research Methods Workshops

Special issue, NAPA Bulletin 24, 1 (May 2005)

(American Anthropological Assn, 1985)
Print only: Museum Library GN397.5 .V365 1985
"Best seen as a compendium of those helpful tips we all wish we had offered our students" (Am Anthropol review).

(Oxford University Press, 2014)

(SAGE, 2012) Somewhat more general than its title suggests, a useful work with good bibliographies. See also:
• Ethnographic methods in education (4 vols. SAGE, 2012).

(Multilingual Matters, 2010)
Print only: Museum Library GN346 .B56 2010
Oriented toward anthropological linguistics and sociolinguistics. See also:
• Methods for the ethnography of communication: language in use in schools and communities / Judith Kaplan-Weinger and Char Ullman (Routledge, 2015).

SAGE, 2016.
A basic work that identifies the practicalities and key challenges of carrying out organizational research.

(SAGE, 2009)
Also see: Essential guide to qualitative methods in organizational research (SAGE, 2004)

(Left Coast Press, 2014)

(Routledge, 2013)
Also see:
• SAGE handbook of qualitative methods in health research (SAGE, 2010).
• Culture and meaning in health services research : a practical field guide / Elisa J. Sobo (Left Coast Press, 2009). Print only: Biomed & Museum GN296 .S597 2009

(SAGE, 2013)

2nd ed. (SAGE, 2014)
Aimed at qualitative and quantitative researchers planning to do development-related fieldwork, this work presents practical information and ethical issues on studying development in the field.

(Oxford University Press, 2022)

(2nd ed. SAGE, 2014)

(University of Chicago Press, 1995 and 2nd ed., 2011)
Print only: Van Pelt/Museum/Annenberg GN307.7 .E44
A very clear exposition of how to take fieldnotes. Priced cheap too.
Also see :
• Fieldnotes : the makings of anthropology / Roger Sanjek, ed. (Cornell University Press, 1990).
• eFieldnotes : the makings of anthropology in the digital world / Roger Sanjek and Susan W. Trainer, eds. (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016).

Waveland Press, 1998. (Anthropology Online).

(Oxford Univ Press, 2020)
A recent more-than-"how to" manual on interview planning, design, conducting, and analysis using a case study. Each chapter has a good bibliography combining examples and interview theory.

2nd ed. (SAGE, 2018)

(2nd ed. SAGE, 2012)
See also:
• The ethnographic interview / James P Spradley (HR&H, 1979).
• Interviewing I (4 vols. SAGE, 2003).
• Interviewing II (4 vols. SAGE, 2009).

(SAGE, 2017)

(5 vols. Left Coast Press, 2013) Planning, managing, interviewing, processing, and analyzing interviews.

(Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1980)
Print only. Many locations.
See also:
• Participant observation : a guide for fieldworkers / Kathleen M DeWalt and Billie R DeWalt. (2nd ed. Alta Mira Press, 2011)
A good collection of article reprints, albeit difficult to use, is:
• Observation methods (4 vols. SAGE, 2013).

(2nd ed. SAGE, 2007)

(6 vols. SAGE, 1998)
Step-by-step guidance in planning, conducting, and evaluating focus group projects.

(Elsevier Science, 2013)

(Oxford University Press, 2014)

(SAGE, 2019)

(SAGE, 2013)

(SAGE, 2017)

(SAGE, 2000)

(SAGE, 2009)
More about sound recordings in ethnology than how to make sound recordings.

(2nd ed. SAGE, 2020)
Surveys many different methods, including participatory video/photography, photoelicitation, child-produced drawings, photo diaries, repeat photography, etc. See also:
• Doing visual ethnography / Sarah Pink. (3rd ed. SAGE, 2013 and earlier eds.)

(Left Coast Press, 2013)
Print only: Museum Library GN347 .G84 2013
Presents examples and practices in photovoice, film and video, GIS, and digital storytelling as ethnography. See also:
• Handbook of participatory video / Elisabeth-Jane Milne et al., eds. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012)

(Oxford Univ Press, 2015)
Describes informant-created photography as an ethnographic tool.

(SAGE, 2011)
Print only: Van Pelt stacks HM500 .M57 2011 .
Presents methods for community-based visual data collection and analysis. Also covers community-made video.

(Left Coast Press, 2013)
Print only: Museum Library GN307.7 .C43 2013
A practical guide to team-based autoethnography. See also:
• Duoethnography: dialogic methods for social, health, and educational research / Joe Norris et al., eds (Left Coast Press, 2012)

(2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2022)