Reviews the early career of Margaret Mead (1928-1942) and study methods she used in Samoa, New Guinea, and Bali. Particular attention is paid to her examinations of sex roles and her own experiences as a female scientist. (Part of a theme issue on anthropological methods in educational research.) (SJL)

Reviews some of the procedures and interpretive patterns guiding current ethnographic practice that have relevance for studying institutional settings. Three styles of ethnography are examined--holistic, semiotic, and behavioristic. (Author/IRT)

Describes the author's first response to the concept of reflexivity in qualitative research. Explains how those initial perceptions were challenged when the author became a subject in a colleague's research. Considers reflexivity as a "recently researched researcher" and explains how the author drew on her experience as a research subject when she…

Interviews with 12 female technology education practitioners revealed that they felt accepted in the profession but sometimes felt isolated, patronized, or minimized by a minority of male colleagues. More women in the profession as role models and mentors would help improve the climate. (Contains 20 references.) (SK)

Considers the ethnography of communication, conversation analysis and systemic functional linguistics as frameworks for the analysis of classroom discourse. Discusses their basic assumptions, some of the similarities and differences between them, and their different strengths and weaknesses as resources for applied linguistic problem solving.…

Discusses the theory and practice of case study analysis and its appropriateness as a method for technology education research. Describes how to identify suitable problems, conduct literature reviews, and analyze and interpret cases. (Contains 60 references.) (SK)

Although adult development may be viewed from many perspectives, the authors have chosen three trends that best describe the field for them: (1) reconceptualizations, (2) grounded theory and ethnography as research methods, and (3) special groups as targets for study. (Author)

Analyzes the use of candidate answers as an information seeking strategy--i.e., using a model answer in the query. Reports research suggesting some of the knowledge shared, ways participants analyze relevant situations, and how their analyses bear on the selection of this strategy. (MS)

Reworks the concept of genre from rhetorical, dialectical, and dialogic perspectives. Redefines genre as a stabilized-for-now site of social and ideological action. Applies this definition (in a six-month ethnographic study) to a specific literary practice--medical record keeping--evolving in a specific context--a veterinary college. (SR)

Discusses the use of Shirley Brice Heath's "Ways with Words" in teacher education courses. Suggests that an important part of the meaning lies in the rhetorical form. Uses Bakhtin's analysis of the "adventure novel of everyday life" to illuminate Heath's use of form. (EVL)

Introduces the topic of this journal issue: ethnography as a resource for understanding classrooms as cultures. Presents excerpts from student essays to show the knowledge students have about life in classrooms and about classroom cultures. Offers a list of premises and questions to help make visible the often invisible patterns of life in…

Examines the problem posed to ethnographic research on speech communication by the traditional distinction between text and context as figure versus ground, or as hierarchical organization of focal events, or as phenomena within which those events are embedded. An ethnographic perspective on discourse within which text and context form an…

Discusses the social psychology of spatiality, offering information from interviews with diverse poor and working class young adults and focusing on "free spaces"--those spaces in which hope is nourished despite impoverished material circumstances. Provides examples of ethnographic research in an arts community and a spiritual community…

Defines transparent research as a strategy in which the subjects of the research are fully involved in the entire process. Presents case studies of the emergency medical department of a medium-sized hospital and of a congregational development project developed in partnership with an Episcopal diocese. (JOW)

A 2-year ethnographic study of a clubhouse for people with long-term mental illness involved club members in particpatory research. The study explored questions of what is research and who drives it. A critical perspective on the social organization of knowledge and power inequities between participants was highlighted. (SK)