Teaching ethnography

Smith, Robin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7457-9690 2025. Teaching ethnography. Foster, Liam, Mason, Will and Nichols, Kitty, eds. Teaching Research Methods in Sociology, Elgar Guides to Teaching, Edward Elgar, pp. 129-144. (10.4337/9781035320226.00019)

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Abstract

This chapter is concerned with teaching students ethnography. Or, rather, it is concerned with describing some of my efforts to help novice fieldworkers see what might be there for them in their field sites. Fittingly for this collection, the chapter insists that fieldwork and observation can be taught and, indeed, should be taught. The chapter provides a little history and a little context relating to ethnography as a social scientific method. The main focus of the chapter, however, is on three student troubles: No one was doing anything! There was too much going on! I didn’t know what to call what I was seeing! I offer some possible guidance in relation to these troubles, which have a common theme; that ‘mere description’ is difficult but is essential. It can and should be worked on, as description is one way to learn to see what is really there.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Publisher:	Edward Elgar
ISBN:	9781035320219
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 November 2024
Last Modified:	03 Mar 2026 12:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/173691

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