This session will explore the use of ethnographic approaches to research. We’ll consider what may (and may not be) core to an ethnographic perspective, some of its theoretical underpinnings, and look at the affordances and possible drawbacks of conducting an ethnographic study. Jackie will illustrate using examples, particularly from her own field of literacies research, and there will be time for questions and discussion.
Reading
Atkinson, P. 2015. For Ethnography. London: Sage.
Blommaert, J., and D. Jie. 2010. Ethnographic fieldwork: A beginner’s guide. Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters.
Green, J. and Bloome, D. 1997. Ethnography and ethnographers of and in education: A situated perspective. In Handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts., eds. J. Flood, S. B. Heath and D. Lapp: 181-202. New York: Macmillan.
Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. 2019. Ethnography: Principles in Practice 4th Edn. Abingdon: Routledge.
Lillis, T. 2008. Ethnography as method, methodology and deep theorising: Closing the gap between text and context in academic writing research. Written Communication 25(3): 353-88. Parker-Jenkins, M. 2018. Problematising ethnography and case-study: reflections on using ethnographic techniques and researcher positioning. Ethnography and Education 13 (1): 18-33.