Ethnography: The Basics introduces a broad and beginner audience to ethnography as a research methodology with diverse applications. By using everyday language and developing a warm and inclusive tone, the book provides an accessible entry point to the topic.
It offers a picture of the practice of ethnography that is both human and humane, tackling some of the practical barriers, ethical complexities, and lived experiences in an honest and straightforward way. Organised into eight chapters, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the unique purpose, value, and scope of ethnography, as well as a practical guide as to what the practice of ethnographic research involves, such as steps for designing research, gathering data, and analysing and presenting findings.
Without relying on assumed familiarity with or interest in discipline-specific histories and frameworks, Ethnography: The Basics combines clear structure, plain language, and thoughtfully selected examples and stories to welcome students into this interesting and valuable subject. The book will also be of great interest to academics and professionals who wish to supplement their ethnographic knowledge.
By:
Susan Wardell
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 198mm,
Width: 129mm,
Weight: 670g
ISBN: 9781032513119
ISBN 10: 103251311X
Series: The Basics
Pages: 250
Publication Date: 16 May 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
College/higher education
,
Primary
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Lists of figures List of boxes Acknowledgements CHAPTER ONE: WHY ETHNOGRAPHY? CHAPTER TWO: DESIGNING THE RESEARCH, DEFINING THE FIELD CHAPTER THREE: NAVIGATING RESEARCH RELATIONSHIPS CHAPTER FOUR: ‘BEING THERE’ AS A PARTICIPANT-OBSERVER CHAPTER FIVE: RECORDING AND GATHERING ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA CHAPTER SIX: ETHNOGRAPHIC QUESTIONING, ETHNOGRAPHIC LISTENING CHAPTER SEVEN: MAKING SENSE OF ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA CHAPTER EIGHT: COMMUNICATING ETHNOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE, CREATING ETHNOGRAPHIC TEXTS EPILOGUE: A LOVE LETTER TO ETHNOGRAPHY References Glossary Index
Susan Wardell is an academic and writer from Aotearoa New Zealand. She is Senior Lecturer in the Social Anthropology programme at the University of Otago, with a shared background in communication studies. Her own research focuses on emotion and affect, digital sociality, health, and mental health, with recent work covering topics such as online medical crowdfunding and ecological distress. She is interested in public communication and in creative ethnography, writing and publishing in several literary genres, while also dabbling in visual and performance arts. Susan is Pākehā (New Zealand European) and lives in Ōtepoti Dunedin.
Reviews for Ethnography: The Basics
""Once you are convinced that the only way we are ever going to be able to study and understand life as it is actually lived is through ethnography, then you know why it is so important for other people to appreciate this and ideally learn to be ethnographers. Reading this book you can feel the passionate commitment to this goal of persuasion. Thanks to its abundant `story box’ illustrations, its discussion of foundational principles and practices and above all the sense of a holistic imagination of what this holistic method entails, the book effectively delivers. Ethnography will grant you empathy and expand your life, but first, you need to learn what it is."" Professor Daniel Miller, Professor of Anthropology, University College London
