Tales from the field: reflections on four decades of ethnography
How to Cite
Adler P.A., Adler P., Semenova V.V. (Trans). Tales from the field: reflections on four decades of ethnography. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2019. Vol. 11. No. 20. P. 8-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2019.20.1 (in Russ.).
Abstract
Drawing on careers spanning over 35 years in the field of ethnography, we reflect on the research in which we’ve engaged and how the practice and epistemology of ethnography has evolved over this period. We begin by addressing the problematic nature of ethical issues in conducting qualitative research, highlighting the non-uniform nature of standards, the difficulty of applying mainstream or medical criteria to field research, and the issues raised by the new area of cyber research, drawing particularly on our recent cyberethnography of self-injury. We then discuss the challenge of engagement, highlighting pulls that draw ethnographers between the ideals of involvement and objectivity. Finally, we address the challenges and changing landscapes of qualitative analysis, and how its practice and legitimation are impacted by contemporary trends in sociology. We conclude by discussing how epistemological decisions in the field of qualitative research are framed in political, ethical, and disciplinary struggles over disciplinary hegemony.
Keywords:
ethnography, epistemology, ethics, cyber-ethnography, qualitative research, self-injury, deviance, sport, socialization, youth
References
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Geertz C. Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as Author. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988.
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Gold R.L. Roles in Sociological Field Observations // Social Forces. 1958 № 36 (3). P. 217–223. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2573808
Hammersley M. Reading Ethnographic Research: A Critical Guide. L.: Longman, 1991.
Humphreys L. Tearoom Trade: A Study of Homosexual Encounters in Public Places. Chicago: Aldine, 1970.
Junker B.H. Field Work: An Introduction to the Social Sciences. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960.
Peshkin A. Odd Man Out: The Participant Observer in an Absolutist Setting // Sociology of Education. 1984. № 57 (4). P. 254–264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2112429
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Van Maanen J. Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226849638.001.0001
Vidich A.J., Lyman S.M. American Sociology: Worldly Rejections of Religion and Their Directions. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985.
Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography / Ed. by J. Clifford, G.E. Marcus. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
Adler P. The Sociologist as Celebrity: The Role of the Media in Field Research // Qualitative Sociology. 1984. № 7 (4). P. 310–326. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00987098
Adler P.A. et al. Dual Careerism and the Conjoint-Career Couple // The American Sociologist. 1989. № 20 (3). Р. 207–226. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02697826
Adler P.A. Wheeling and Dealing. NY: Columbia University Press, 1985.
Adler P.A., Adler P. Backboards and Blackboards. NY: Columbia University Press, 1991. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7312/adle90436
Adler P.A., Adler P. Intense Loyalty in Organizations: The Case of College Athletics // Administrative Science Quarterly. 1988. №33 (3). Р. 401–417. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2392716
Adler P.A., Adler P. Membership Roles in Field Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1987. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412984973
Adler P.A., Adler P. Paradise Laborers. Hotel Work in the Global Economy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004.
Adler P.A., Adler P. Parentas-Researcher: The Politics of Researching in the Personal Life // Qualitative Sociology. 1996 № 19 (1). Р. 35–58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02393247
Adler P.A., Adler P. Peer Power: Preadolescent Culture and Identity. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998.
Adler P.A., Adler P. Presidential Address. Of Rhetoric and Representation: The Four Faces of Ethnography // The Sociological Quarterly. 2008. № 49 (1). Р. 1–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2007.00104.x
Adler P.A., Adler P. Self Censorship: The Politics of Presenting Ethnographic Data // ARENA Review. 1989a. № 13 (1). Р. 37–48.
Adler P.A., Adler P. The Carpool: A Socializing Adjunct to the Educational Experience // Sociology of Education. 1984 № 57 (4). Р. 200–210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2112424
Adler P.A., Adler P. The Role of Momentum in Sport // Urban Life. 1978a. № 7 (2). P. 153–176. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124167800700202
Adler P.A., Adler P. The Tender Cut: Inside the Hidden World of Self-Injury. NY: NewYork University Press, 2011.
Adler P.A., Adler P. Tinydopers: A Case Study in Deviant Socialization // Symbolic Interaction. 1978b. № 1 (2). Р. 90–105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/si.1978.1.2.90
Adler P.A., Adler P. Whither the Decline? // The American Sociologist. 1989b. № 20 (4). Р. 336–340. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02691817
Anderson L. Analytic Autoethnography // Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 2006 №35 (4). Р. 373–395. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241605280449
Atkinson P. The Ethnographic Imagination: Textual Constructions of Reality. L.: Routledge, 1990.
Atkinson P. Understanding Ethnographic Texts. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1992. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986403
Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. Conference Program. 2011. URL: http://icqi.org/docs/2011/QI2011Program042611.pdf (дата обращения: 10.02.2012).
Denzin N.K. Interpretive Interactionism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1989.
Denzin N.K., Lincoln Y.S. Introduction: Entering the Field of Qualitative Research // Handbook of Qualitative Research / Ed. by N. Denzin, Y. Lincoln. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994 P. 1–18.
Dietz M.L., Prus R., Shaffir W. Doing Everyday Life: Etnography as Human Lived Experience. Mississauga, ONT: Copp Clark Longman, 1994.
Douglas J.D. American Social Order. NY: Free Press, 1971.
Douglas J.D. Investigative Social Research: Individual and Team Field Research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1976.
Ellis C.S., Bochner A.P. Analyzing Analytic Autoethnography: An Autopsy // Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 2006 №35 (4). Р. 429–449. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241606286979
Existential Sociology / Ed. by J.D. Douglas, J. Johnson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
Galliher J. Laud Humphreys: Prophet of Sociology and Homosexuality. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004.
Geertz C. Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as Author. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988.
Goffman A. On the Run: Wanted Men in a Philadelphia Ghetto // American Sociological Review. 2009 № 74 (2). P. 339–357. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400301
Gold R.L. Roles in Sociological Field Observations // Social Forces. 1958 № 36 (3). P. 217–223. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2573808
Hammersley M. Reading Ethnographic Research: A Critical Guide. L.: Longman, 1991.
Humphreys L. Tearoom Trade: A Study of Homosexual Encounters in Public Places. Chicago: Aldine, 1970.
Junker B.H. Field Work: An Introduction to the Social Sciences. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960.
Peshkin A. Odd Man Out: The Participant Observer in an Absolutist Setting // Sociology of Education. 1984. № 57 (4). P. 254–264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2112429
Representation in Ethnography / Ed. by J. van Maanen. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995.
Van Maanen J. Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
Van Maanen J. Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226849638.001.0001
Vidich A.J., Lyman S.M. American Sociology: Worldly Rejections of Religion and Their Directions. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985.
Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography / Ed. by J. Clifford, G.E. Marcus. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
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APA
Adler, P. A., Adler, P., & Semenova, V. V. (2019). Tales from the field: reflections on four decades of ethnography. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation, 11(20), 8-35. https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2019.20.1
Section
Theoretical discourses and debates