Amanda Coffey - Böcker

This book argues that ethnographers, and others involved in fieldwork, should be aware of how fieldwork research and ethnographic writing construct, reproduce and implicate selves, relationships and personal identities. All too often research methods texts remain relatively silent about the ways in which fieldwork affects us and we affect the field. The book attempts to synthesize accounts of the personal experience of ethnography. In doing so, the author makes sense of the process of fieldwork research as a set of practical, intellectual and emotional accomplishments. The book is thematically arranged, and illustrated with a wide range of empirical material.

This book argues that ethnographers, and others involved in fieldwork, should be aware of how fieldwork research and ethnographic writing construct, reproduce and implicate selves, relationships and personal identities. All too often research methods texts remain relatively silent about the ways in which fieldwork affects us and we affect the field. The book attempts to synthesize accounts of the personal experience of ethnography. In doing so, the author makes sense of the process of fieldwork research as a set of practical, intellectual and emotional accomplishments. The book is thematically arranged, and illustrated with a wide range of empirical material.

`This wonderful Handbook establishes the central, and complex place ethnography now occupies in the human disciplines. All future work will begin here' - Norman K Denzin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

`A marvellous achievement! The Handbook has all the marks of a winner - compelling writing, comprehensive coverage and very useful discussions. This is a real benchmark for ethnography. It will set the background for debate and point to new directions for years to come. My graduate students will love it' - Jaber F Gubrium, University of Florida, Gainesville

`The Handbook of Ethnography compiles invaluable, original, critical essays on ethnographic work, earning it a place on everyone's must-have bookshelf' - Virginia Olesen, University of California, San Francisco

`The Handbook is a remarkable synthesis of existing thinking in and around ethnography' - Forum for Qualitative Social Research - follow the link below to read the complete review

`No self-respecting qualitative researcher should be without Paul Atkinson (et al's) handbook on ethnography. This really is encyclopaedic in concept and scope. Many "big names" in the field have contributed so this has to be the starting point for anyone looking to understand the field in substantive topic, theoretical tradition and methodology. The chapters on visual ethnography and semiotics expand the field marvellously, while those on field notes and on ethics are accomplished surveys of the field' - SRA News

Ethnography is one of the chief research methods in sociology, anthropology and other cognate disciplines in the social sciences. This Handbook provides an unparalleled, critical guide to its principles and practice.

The volume is organized into three sections. The first systematically locates ethnography firmly in its relevant historical and intellectual contexts. The roots of ethnography are pinpointed and the pattern of its development is demonstrated.

The second section examines the contribution of ethnography to major fields of substantive research. The impact and strengths and weaknesses of ethnographic method are dealt with authoritatively and accessibly.

The third section moves on to examine key debates and issues in ethnography, from the conduct of research through to contemporary arguments.

The result is a landmark work in the field, which draws on the expertise of an internationally renowned group of interdisicplinary scholars. The Handbook of Ethnography provides readers with a one-stop critical guide to the past, present and future of ethnography. It will quickly establish itself as the ethnographer's bible.

This important new methods text sets out to equip qualitative researchers with the tools necessary to conduct ethnography in the age of email and the internet. It will investigate how digital technologies potentially transform the ways in which we do research. This text also introduces the reader to new emerging methods that utilise new technologies and explains how to conduct data collection, analysis and representation using new technologies and `hypermedia'.

Essential reading for any student or researcher interested in qualitative research in an age of hypermedia, this text:

- explains how digital technology impacts on social research;

- investigates how digital technology has reshaped the field of social research;

- consider the implications of bringing multimedia into the forefront of qualitative research;

- suggests new ways of observing and documenting a `technologised' and design-rich society;

- enables the reader to use new technologies to handle and represent qualitative data;

- unpacks the theoretical implications of writing and researching for the electronic screen

This book provides a systematic introduction to ethnographic methods for data collection, analysis and representation. It  takes you through the art and the methodological practicalities of ethnographic research, covering research design, choosing and accessing research settings and participants, data collection, field roles, analysis and writing. The book concludes with a bold assessment of the challenges, innovations and futures facing ethnography.