Expresses concern by the facility with which ethnographic research on writing passes into articles, textbooks, and pedagogy. Examines the rhetorical and textual practices that organize ethnographic accounts. Regards ethnography as a professional activity in which ethnographers and their texts engage the ideological through the material conditions…

Presents an inventory of the reading- and writing-like behaviors of eight preschoolers as demonstrated in their pretend play episodes. Represents one set of findings from an ethnographic study which explored the nature of literate behavior in pretend play. Describes specific data analysis techniques used to construct the inventory and provides…

This paper introduces a theme issue on ethnography and critical theory. The five articles within the issue provide an understanding of the space of postcritical ethnographies, each looking at the topic from a different viewpoint. Together, they reveal that the future marriage of critique and ethnography will be vibrant. (SM)

Reexamines materials from an ethnographic study of science-education laboratory work in a teacher-educator course through the lens of three Marxist concepts: alienation, reification, and commodity fetish. Concludes that the potential for generating criticism of science in teacher education is squandered because of a fetishized notion of science.…

Reviews this edition, which like the first is primarily an organized presentation of fieldwork vignettes and instructive examples from research and evaluation contexts. The presentation is organized by the steps involved in ethnographic fieldwork. This edition is updated with references to electronic technology. (SLD)

Developments in the realms of medical innovation and geriatric clinical intervention impact our understanding of the nature of late life, the possibilities for health in advanced age, medical decision making, and family responsibility in ways that could not have been predicted 15 years ago. This essay begins to map new forms of biomedicalization…

Focusing on the experiences of boys who choose not to cultivate their masculinities through hegemonic discourses and practices, this paper seeks to empirically explore and theorize the extent to which it is possible to live out the category 'boy' in non-hegemonic ways in the primary school setting. Drawing upon a year-long ethnography of…

Three techniques were used in a multiple-method case study to explore students' conceptions of geography within a qualitative framework, employing aspects of phenomenology, ethnography and grounded theory. The context of the research is briefly outlined, and then the methodological framework and nature of the data yielded are discussed in more…

Vocational educational has long struggled with a reputation as a lower track and dead end for socially disadvantaged populations. Since the alarm call in the 1980s about the "forgotten half," significant efforts have been expended to develop reform programs that provide disadvantaged populations viable options that would enhance their…

This paper is concerned with the implications of a social view of literacy for the policy and practice of adult literacy. Taking the example of a recent literacy project in South Africa and comparing this with the author's own ethnographic research among learners from the National Literacy Programme in Namibia, the paper discusses the possible…

This article examines the lessons learned by youths confined to a maximum-security juvenile correctional facility. Using data from an ethnographic study of a cottage of violent offenders in one state's end-of-the-line training school, the author describes the lessons the institution and its staff members hoped to teach the young people in their…

This microethnographic case study focuses on patterns of interpretation and decision making of undergraduate preservice teachers as they participated in observations, co-teaching, and teaching in elementary schools in northern Mexico. At the core, this study explores the deeply embedded assumptions preservice teachers may bring to new…

This highly readable text demystifies the qualitative research process--and helps readers conceptualize their own studies--by organizing the different research paradigms and traditions into coherent clusters. Real-world examples and firsthand perspectives illustrate the research process; instructive exercises and activities build on each other so…

This study examined the self-reported experiences of Black, female, undergraduate students at a small, predominantly White, Midwestern college in the United States in order to identify factors affecting retention. Specific attention was paid to how participants perceived the effects of personal and institutional factors in relation to their…

An analysis of human errors in complex work settings can lead to important insights into the workspace design. This type of analysis is particularly relevant to safety-critical, socio-technical systems that are highly dynamic, stressful and time-constrained, and where failures can result in catastrophic societal, economic or environmental…