Harry F. Wolcott - Böcker

Brad—a schizophrenic school dropout and 'sneaky kid'—first appeared as a squatter near Harry Wolcott's forest home. He becomes Wolcott's subject in a long-term life history on how the educational system can fail students. Wolcott's trilogy of articles based on their years of interviews were well-received...until he admitted to an intimate relationship with the young man who, two years after leaving his shack, returned and attempted to murder the anthropologist. The Brad Trilogy then became the focus of heated academic discussions of research ethics, validity, intimacy, and the limitations of qualitative research. Here, Wolcott presents the full story of the Sneaky Kid and the firestorm it caused. Written in Wolcott's masterful style, the case offers an ideal starting point for discussing the complex public and personal dimensions of qualitative research with students. Included as an Appendix is the complete script of Johnny Saldana's ethnodrama recounting the story in play form.

Brad—a schizophrenic school dropout and 'sneaky kid'—first appeared as a squatter near Harry Wolcott's forest home. He becomes Wolcott's subject in a long-term life history on how the educational system can fail students. Wolcott's trilogy of articles based on their years of interviews were well-received...until he admitted to an intimate relationship with the young man who, two years after leaving his shack, returned and attempted to murder the anthropologist. The Brad Trilogy then became the focus of heated academic discussions of research ethics, validity, intimacy, and the limitations of qualitative research. Here, Wolcott presents the full story of the Sneaky Kid and the firestorm it caused. Written in Wolcott's masterful style, the case offers an ideal starting point for discussing the complex public and personal dimensions of qualitative research with students. Included as an Appendix is the complete script of Johnny Saldana's ethnodrama recounting the story in play form.

This book is a reprint of a now classic text dealing with Wolcott's dissertation topic on the study of a Kwakiutl Indian village and the one-room school he taught at Village Island in the Alert Bay region of British Columbia. Within the book, Wolcott's interest in anthropology and training as an educator are blended together to present a unique look into the educational training of Indian children. Village life and the social environment from which young Indian children learn cultural conventions are skillfully contrasted with the formal, structured educational system—of which Wolcott as a teacher is part of—within the village. In showing these two opposing educational systems, the author is able to highlight problems that arise and additionally the issues which come from an ethnographer being involved in a situation more than through just observation.

In Teachers Versus Technocrats, author Harry Wolcott draws on his dual perspective as an educator and an anthropologist to provide a unique and penetrating look at the dynamics of a federally funded research and development project and to analyze what happened when university researchers and school district administrators attempted to introduce an experimental planning and evaluation system in an operating school district. Based on three years of research in which Wolcott uses a variety of anthropological field techniques, this study into the school's SPECS (School Planning, Evaluation, and Communication System) program reveals insight into the project's impact on teachers and administrators and analyzes the basic cultural patterns and relationships among educators. Originally published in 1977, this new edition includes an updated preface by the author and should be valuable to educators and anthropologists alike.

Harry Wolcott's ground-breaking anthropological study into the life of an elementary school principal is now reprinted in a new edition. One of the first studies of its kind, Wolcott uses an mircoenthnographic approach to analyze a single occupation within urban American society. Originally written in 1973, the text skillfully applies anthropological concepts and methodology to the realm of education. This new edition features an updated preface written by the author.

In this long-anticipated second edition of The Art of Fieldwork, prominent anthropologist Harry F. Wolcott updates his original groundbreaking text, which both challenges and petitions anthropology and its practitioners to draw not only on the traditional precepts of science, but also on the richness of artistry in the collection, interpretation, and expression of fieldwork data. Each of the original chapters have been thoughtfully revised to reflect the past nine years of anthropological development. Combined with a new final chapter, this refreshing text makes an exciting reentry into the ongoing debate of the processes, challenges, and rewards of fieldwork methodology. Researchers in qualitative methods and field methods_and fieldworkers across disciplines_will find this well-crafted, approachable book a thought-provoking read.

One of anthropology's leading writers on ethnographic methods, Harry Wolcott discusses the fundamental nature of ethnographic studies. Tracing its development from its disciplinary origins in sociology and anthropology, he points out what is distinctive about ethnography and what it means to conduct research in the ethnographic tradition. In this engaging and thought-provoking book, Wolcott distinguishes ethnography as more than just a set of field methods and practices, separating it from many related qualitative research traditions as 'a way of seeing' through the lens of culture. For both beginning and experienced ethnographers in a wide range of disciplines, Wolcott's book will provide important ideas for improving research practice.

One of anthropology's leading writers on ethnographic methods, Harry Wolcott discusses the fundamental nature of ethnographic studies. Tracing its development from its disciplinary origins in sociology and anthropology, he points out what is distinctive about ethnography and what it means to conduct research in the ethnographic tradition. In this engaging and thought-provoking book, Wolcott distinguishes ethnography as more than just a set of field methods and practices, separating it from many related qualitative research traditions as 'a way of seeing' through the lens of culture. For both beginning and experienced ethnographers in a wide range of disciplines, Wolcott's book will provide important ideas for improving research practice.

One of anthropology's premier writers on fieldwork methodology looks at the essential elements that constitute the art of his discipline. In The Art of Fieldwork, Wolcott compares the fieldworker to the artist, while recognizing the inherent differences between the labors of each.

"I believe Wolcott has achieved his purpose admirably. . . Writing Up Qualitative Research contains many useful suggestions to help both the novice and the experienced writer. . . . If you follow the suggestions in the book, you will get your own work written and it will be well written."

--Madelaine Ramey in Evaluation Practice

"I have just finished a qualitative case study based almost entirely on interviews with engineering students. The two sources on which I depended most heavily were Robert Stake's The Art of Case Study Research and Harry F. Wolcott's Writing Up Qualitative Research. I have heard others sing the praises of different works and I have referred to them, but favor the two mentioned."

--Terry C. Hall, Ed.D. Independent Scholar

"This book is timely in attempting to offer a path for beginning and perhaps more important, controlling and finishing written work for sharing with a wide but critical audience. The chapter headings provide a flavor of the book--reading about writing; getting going; keeping going; tightening up; finishing up; getting published. . . . This is a stimulating and worthwhile book for everyone attempting to cope with writing up their findings from this exciting form of research." --Journal of Osteopathic Education "Written in an easy-to-read, conversational-tone, Writing Up Qualitative Research is useful and interesting and will be an important aid to graduate students working on their dissertations. It will also enable recent doctorates who accept university positions to advance in their profession through writing and publishing."

--Harvard Educational Review

"His consistent use of the first person and a conversational style . . . makes the book a pleasure to read. . . . It is not that Wolcott's ideas are new. Indeed, much of what he has written is also covered by other writers. The difference is that his presentation is written in such an engaging style that it is more likely to be read."

--Contemporary Sociology

"Excellent advice on getting started, keeping going and crafting your writing towards appropriate audiences, and much of the advice offered is as applicable to quantitative as to qualitative work. Wolcott's booklet provides the ideal complement to Richardson's more reflexive discussion by offering us a down-to-earth guide as to ''how to do it.''. . . Clear, practical tips given with the obvious weight of experience behind them. . . . Recommended reading for anyone out there despairing of ever starting to turn that pile of transcripts into written form (and indeed for all those lucky enough to have already started)."

--Social Research Association

News Researchers across the social sciences all face the same inherent problem--how to write up their findings once the research stage is completed. Now, in Writing Up Qualitative Research, Harry Wolcott draws on years of personal experience to take researchers step by step through the final stage of the research process. He examines key problems in writing qualitative research and explores alternative ways of coping with these problems. Written in a lively, informal style, this practical volume shows researchers how to begin the writing process, how to edit, and how to get published. Wolcott also addresses the problem of ensuring that whatever the researcher has recorded--from observations, interviews, or archival research--is included in the final write-up.

Writing Up Qualitative Research is an essential resource for anyone engaged in social research for whom the link between conducting research and writing it up seems more like an obstacle than an opportunity.

After the glamour of working in the field is over, you now face the daunting challenge of transforming your field notes and interview tapes into a completed study. But where do you start? In Transforming Qualitative Data, Harry F. Wolcott guides you through the process of completing your research study. Beginning with an introductory chapter that presents his views on ethnography, he explores the transformation process by breaking it down into three related activities: description, analysis, and interpretation. To illustrate each point, he critically examines his own work, using nine of his previous studies as illustrations. Then he shows you how to learn—and to teach—qualitative research by applying the three principles outlined in the volume. Written with the usual wit and brilliance shown in Wolcott's work, Transforming Qualitative Data is a major statement on doing research by one of the master ethnographers of our time.

Writing Up Qualitative Research, Third Edition offers time-tested suggestions on every aspect of the process from beginning to end. In this new edition, author Harry Wolcott continues to focus on the "writing side" of qualitative research, while incorporating new features such as guidelines on how and where to use theory. This text is ideal as a supplementary text in any upper-level undergraduate or graduate seminar on the research process.

Harry Wolcott takes the reader inside the process of constructing an ethnographic study, offering a wealth of lessons from one of the masters. In this concise primer, he provides a set of models from which to organize a study, explains how to pick the various components that go into the ethnographic report, advises on how to create analogies and metaphors to help explain your work, and identifies the key features of an effective ethnography. He also discusses the role of serendipity and questions of ethics in doing ethnographic work. Learn the essentials of ethnography from one of the masters.