Ethnography ― Principles in Practice

Now in its third edition, this leading introduction to ethnography has been thoroughly updated and substantially rewritten. It offers a systematic introduction to ethnographic principles and practice. New material covers the use of visual and virtual research methods, hypermedia software and the issue of ethical regulation. There is also a new prologue and epilogue.

The authors argue that ethnography is best understood as a reflexive process. What this means is that we must recognize that social research is part of the world that it studies. From an outline of the principle of reflexivity the authors go on to discuss and exemplify main features of ethnographic work, including:

• the selection and sampling of cases
• the problems of access
• observation and interviewing
• recording and filing data
• the process of data analysis and writing research reports.

Throughout, the discussion draws on a wide range of illustrative material from classic and more recent studies within a global context. The new edition of this popular textbook will be an indispensable resource for students and researchers utilizing social research methods in the social sciences and cultural studies.

Martyn Hammersley is Professor of Educational and Social Research at the Open University. His early research was in the sociology of education, focusing in particular on teachers' perspectives, patterns of classroom interaction, and assessment regimes. More recently he has investigated the representation of social research findings in the mass media. His most recent books are Taking Sides in Social Research (2000), Educational Research: Policy Making and Practice (2002), and Media Bias in Reporting Social Research? (2006).

Paul Atkinson is Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University, where he is Associate Director of the ESRC Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics. His main research interests include the sociology of cultural production, the sociology of medical knowleddge, with particular emphasis on the social consequences of new genetic technologies and the development of qualitative research methods, including applications of information technology. His most recent books have been Everyday Arias: An Operatic Ethnography (2005) and Interactionism with William Housley (2003). Together with Sara Delamont he edits the journal Qualitative Research.