Discusses the methodological issues of the role of "critique" and the role of an author's announced or apparent political commitments in ethnography. Compares and contrasts the views of John Fiske and Donal Carbaugh (whose articles appear in the same issue of this journal) on these issues. (PRA)

Reviews research on minority school failure. Contrasts work of microethnographers, which has resulted in"cultural difference" explanations, with more comprehensive work of Ogbu, who advocates a multilevel macroethnographic approach. Describes research in South Texas that does not support certain aspects of Ogbu's caste theory. Advocates…

Outlines and comments on the views of Clifford Geertz with regard to ethnography and social construction. Provides a transcript of an interview with Geertz, in which Geertz comments on his technical anthropological writings. Discusses his recent book "Works and Lives," his writing process, persuasive writing, and literary criticism,…

Discusses the ethnographic investigation of a multilingual adolescent peer group in which various forms of second/other-language learner status had considerable social significance. The study illustrates the ways a repertoire of languages and language learner statuses serve as differentiated resources adolescents draw on to define community and…

Some studies from the fields of adult literacy and English as a Second Language (ESL) are summarized that provide a personal look at literacy learning. (Contains 17 references.) (LB)

Uses the author's experiences and observations teaching first- and second-grade children to argue that pullout programs may have a negative effect on the community of learners. Documents the major disruptions to a class and to a child's continuity of thought of preparing to leave, leaving, and then reentering a classroom. Outlines suggestions for…

Describes how the author, an elementary school principal, has changed his observational style and shifted his focus when visiting classrooms and evaluating teachers, as a result of his growing ethnographic understanding of classrooms as cultures and communities. (SR)

Research relationships are not private but are part of the public realm. Research relationships are reconceptualized as research space in which the two participants interact like two borders intersecting. Via a review of classic research literature these classic relationships are explored. (MMU)

Extends the methods of using film as a tool to teach content analysis and examines the use of feature films in teaching ethnographic methods. Explores how feature films are a valuable pedagogical tool in qualitative methods instruction by drawing from an assignment developed for a course on youth subcultures. (DSK)

The gap between male and female suicide rates in India is relatively small; however, society's views on motive are found to be quite different. Data from several sources are incorporated in this field study report. "Sati" is discussed; a gender typology of reasons for suicide is developed. (EMK)

The role of gender and sociocultural factors in men's and women's suicidal behavior were studied. A retrospective case-note analysis compared sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of males and females admitted to a university hospital. Means and reasons for behavior are related to cultural factors, focusing particularly on the situation of…

Studied the influences African Americans perceived to be affecting their family relationships through an ethnographic case study focusing on 14 participants, ranging in age from 17 to 72 years, from 4 families. Participants perceived a number of social factors to be major influences on their family life, and they recognized an equal number of…

Explores aspects of implementing an elementary professional development school (PDS) with a faculty of 80 teachers over a 1-year period. Findings of this ethnographic case study report the visions of teachers in this PDS, the processes that impacted the sharing of teachers' visions, and the PDS efforts that encouraged teachers to explicate and…

Describes a course that addresses and relocates questions of representation and reconstruction in the context of reflexive explanations for ethnographic films. Examines questions of power/power relations; anthropological and media construction of the Other; and trends in visual anthropology. Contextualizes the course within the human experience of…

Argues that interpretive ethnography offers a useful avenue for exploring how members of a professional community go about producing and applying specialized written knowledge. Raises the caveat that researchers using the methodology to study professional knowledge-making need to maintain a balance of engagement with and detachment from the…