INTRODUCTION TO ETHNOGRAPHIC AND QUALITATIVE METHODS

Education 672 – Fall 2008

Wednesdays 2-4 PM, GSE 007

 

Stanton Wortham

GSE 429, Phone: 215-898-6307

stantonw@gse.upenn.edu

 

TA:  Carolyn Chernoff

chernoff@dolphin.upenn.edu

 

This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to ethnographic and qualitative research. Ethnography is the study of culture and social organization through participant observation and interviewing, an approach known as “fieldwork.”  Ethnographers carry out their research by becoming a participant, to varying degrees, in the social settings they wish to study.  Ethnographic research provides interpretive and descriptive analyses of the symbolic and contextual meanings that inform the routine practices of everyday life. Doing ethnography in our own culture requires that we "make the familiar strange," or make visible what otherwise are implicit and taken-for-granted aspects of social life.  A central challenge of ethnographic research is to provide analyses that show the connections between culture and forms of social organization. Ethnographic accounts both represent the different ways in which people make sense of their experiences and describe the types of social organization (for example, gender relations, class status systems, kinship structures, or racial divisions) that, in part, serve to structure or pattern social behavior.

 

Course Goals:  This course has both practical and conceptual goals.  (1) Students should learn how to do a small-scale qualitative research project, and in the process they should begin to master various qualitative research skills—interviewing, writing fieldnotes, etc.  (2) Students should also recognize and begin to develop answers to conceptual questions that have been raised with respect to qualitative research.  Some questions concern the nature of the knowledge produced by qualitative research:  in what sense can qualitative research be "objective"?  what counts as good evidence for knowledge-claims about the human world?  Some questions concern the relationship between culture and society:  what is the relationship between what people say and what outside observers think they are doing?  how can we define "culture" and how does it relate to "social organization"?  Other questions concern the social position of the researcher in qualitative research:  do you have to be a member of a group to do good qualitative research on that group?  should qualitative research have practical or critical goals?  what distinguishes qualitative from quantitative research?  (3) Students should learn to read ethnographic and qualitative research reports critically, using appropriate criteria to judge both the quality of the research itself, the author's techniques for presenting the data, and the adequacy of evidence provided in support of the claims that are made.

 

Course requirements:  You must do several things in order to complete this course successfully.  (1) Do the reading.  (2) Attend and participate in class.  (3) Complete two of the four assignments listed on the syllabus, which require you to prepare in advance and contribute to an in-class activity.  (4) Do a small-scale field study.  This fourth assignment requires that you prepare and submit six things at different times during the semester, as directed on the syllabus:  a proposal, sample fieldnotes, part of a transcribed interview, sample data analysis, an outline, and a final report.  (5) Participate in a research group with several other members of the class, behaving like a supportive consultant and not like a critic.  (6) Write a final project report.  You will be graded on how well you master the practical skills and conceptual issues raised in the course.  Primary evidence for this will be the final project report, but class participation and short assignments will also provide relevant evidence.

 

Academic integrity:  

 

This course, like all other courses at GSE and in the university, requires students to abide by the Code of Academic Integrity, which can be found online at http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/osl/acadint.html and is also reproduced below:

 

Code of Academic Integrity

Since the University is an academic community, its fundamental purpose is the pursuit of knowledge. Essential to the success of this educational mission is a commitment to the principles of academic integrity. Every member of the University community is responsible for upholding the highest standards of honesty at all times. Students, as members of the community, are also responsible for adhering to the principles and spirit of the following Code of Academic Integrity.

Academic Dishonesty Definitions

Activities, that have the effect or intention of interfering with education, pursuit of knowledge, or fair evaluation of a student’s performance are prohibited. Examples of such activities include but are not limited to the following definitions:

A. Cheating: using or attempting to use unauthorized assistance, material, or study aids in examinations or other academic work or preventing, or attempting to prevent, another from using authorized assistance, material, or study aids. Example: using a cheat sheet in a quiz or exam, altering a graded exam and resubmitting it for a better grade, etc.

B. Plagiarism: using the ideas, data, or language of another without specific or proper acknowledgment. Example: copying another person’s paper, article, or computer work and submitting it for an assignment, cloning someone else’s ideas without attribution, failing to use quotation marks where appropriate, etc.

C. Fabrication: submitting contrived or altered information in any academic exercise. Example: making up data for an experiment, fudging data, citing nonexistent articles, contriving sources, etc.

D. Multiple submission: submitting, without prior permission, any work submitted to fulfill another academic requirement.

E. Misrepresentation of academic records: misrepresenting or tampering with or attempting to tamper with any portion of a student’s transcripts or academic record, either before or after coming to the University of Pennsylvania. Example: forging a change of grade slip, tampering with computer records, falsifying academic information on one’s resume, etc.

F. Facilitating academic dishonesty: knowingly helping or attempting to help another violate any provision of the Code. Example: working together on a take-home exam, etc.

G. Unfair advantage: attempting to gain unauthorized advantage over fellow students in an academic exercise. Example: gaining or providing unauthorized access to examination materials, obstructing or interfering with another student’s efforts in an academic exercise, lying about a need for an extension for an exam or paper, continuing to write even when time is up during an exam, destroying or keeping library materials for one’s own use., etc.

* If a student is unsure whether his action(s) constitute a violation of the Code of Academic Integrity, then it is that student’s responsibility to consult with the instructor to clarify any ambiguities.

(Source: Office of the Provost, 1996)

 

 

 

REQUIRED TEXTS

                                                   (Available at the Penn Bookstore)

           

            Bettie, Julie.  2003.  Women without Class: Girls, Race, and Identity.  Berkeley: University

                         of California Press.

 

Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I. Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw.  1995.  Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

           

Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson.  1995.  Ethnography (2nd Ed.).  New York: Routledge.

 

             Maxwell, Joseph A. 2004.  Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach (2nd

                           Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

           

Weiss, R.  1994.  Learning from Strangers.  New York: Free Press.

 

Texts will also be on reserve at Rosengarten in Van Pelt Library, so you are not required to purchase the books.  All other course readings (marked BB) will be available on Blackboard (http://www.courseweb.upenn.edu), or will be distributed in class or via e-mail.

 

We will periodically use data from Dr. Wortham’s New Marshall project in class.  These data will be distributed in class, and are referenced in this syllabus as “New Marshall.”  As we will discuss in class, these data are confidential; while all reasonable attempts have been made to guarantee participant confidentiality in data-related materials, class participants will also need to recognize the sensitive nature of these data.

 

Please bring relevant handouts and your copies of the week's readings to each class.

 

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

 

September 3                Introduction

 

Handout: guide for critical reading of Women Without Class.

[NOTE: all handouts are in the packet distributed the first week of class;

handouts are listed on the syllabus on the day that you would have received

them if I were handing them out piece by piece; so read each handout in the

week following its appearance on the syllabus]

 

September 10              Behind the Scenes: Ethical Questions and Research Questions

 

*Bosk, C.  2000.   Irony, Ethnography, and Informed Consent.  In B. Hoffmaster (ed.),  Bioethics in Social Context.

*Lareau, A.  2000.  Appendix: Common Problems in Field Work: A Personal Essay.  In Home Advantage, pp. 197-233. (BB)

*Fitzhugh, L. 1964.  Harriet the Spy.  Chapters 9-11, pp. 165-221.  (BB)

*Code of Ethics of the AAA & The Belmont Report (BB)

 

You can also view the AAA Code of Ethics at http://www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ethcode.htm and the National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) code of ethics at http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp.

View the University of Pennsylvania’s Institutional Review Board’s (IRB)

website at http://www.upenn.edu/regulatoryaffairs/IRB.html

 

September 17              Ethnography

                                   

*Bettie, J.  2003.  Women without Class.

*Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson.  Ethnography (Ch. 1)

[NOTE: Readings with a * are required.  I would prefer that you read everything, but start with the starred readings.]

Geertz, Clifford. 1973. Thick Description. In The Interpretation of Cultures. 

 (BB)

Sapir, E. 1927. The Unconscious Patterning of Behavior in Society. In E.

Dummer, The Unconscious. (BB)

 

Handout: guidelines for projects and project proposal

 

September 24              Fieldwork

 

Due: One page proposal stating your research problem and fieldwork site.

(look at Maxwell, Ch.4, if you are having problems formulating a question)

 

Assignment: joint participant observation exercise (either do this or the one assigned for October 22)

 

[NOTE: assignments are due in class on the day they are listed on the syllabus; those labeled “assignment” need not be handed in, but you should be prepared to discuss them in class; things labeled “due” must be handed in]

 

*Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson.  Ethnography (Ch. 3- 4, & 10)

*Agar, Michael H.  1980.  The Professional Stranger. Ch. 3 (BB)

*Reich, Jennifer A.  2003.  Pregnant with Possibility:  Reflections on Embodiment, Access, and Inclusion in Field Research.  Qualitative Sociology, 26(3), 351-367. (BB)

*Heath, Shirley Brice and Brian V. Street.  On Ethnography (Ch. 2) (BB)

                                    Corsaro, William.  Entering the Child's World (BB)

                                   

Handout: guidelines for fieldnotes; negotiating a research relation; consent form information

 

October 1                    Fieldnotes

 

*Emerson, Robert M. et al.  Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (Ch. 1-5)

Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson.  Ethnography (Ch. 7)

 

 

Handout: problems with interviewing; 2 Hall interviews; researcher and

participant roles in interviews, in-class New Marshall handout.

 

October 8                    Interviewing

 

Due: Fieldnotes for a single observation (4 copies)

 

*Weiss, Robert.  Learning from Strangers (Ch. 1-5)

Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson.  Ethnography (Ch. 5)

 

Handout: evaluating interviews

 

October 15                  Discourse

 

*Gee, James Paul, et al. 1992.  Discourse Analysis. In Margaret LeCompte et al.  The Handbook of Qualitative Research in Education.  (BB)

*Erickson, Frederick. 1992. The Interface between Ethnography and

Microanalysis. In Margaret LeCompte et al.  The Handbook of

Qualitative Research in Education.  (BB)

 

                                    Handout:  reflections on data analysis; strategies for focusing

 

October 22                  Documentary and Archival Research

 

Due: Interview transcript (4 copies)

Assignment:  insider/outsider exercise (either do this or the one assigned for September 24)

 

Bring in six documents or objects from your field site to class today

*Deyhle, Donna.  1996.  Navajo Youth and Anglo Racism: Cultural Integrity and Resistance.  In Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant and D. Smith Augustine, eds. Facing Racism in Education. (BB)

*Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson.  Ethnography (Ch. 6)

Burgess, Robert G.  1984.  In the Field: An Introduction to Field Research. 

            Methods of Field Research 3: Using Personal Documents.  (BB)

            Multiple Strategies in Field Research.  (BB)

Boote, David and Beile, Penny. 2005. Scholars Before Researchers: On the

Centrality of the Dissertation Literature Review in Research Preparation. Educational Researcher (34)6: 3-15 (BB)

 

 [NOTE: Be sure to bring the Deyhle reading to class with you]

 

October 29                  Data Analysis

 

*Emerson, Robert M. et al.  Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (Ch. 6)

*Erickson, Frederick.  Qualitative Research Methods for Science Education. 

(BB)

Coffey, Amanda and Paul Atkinson.  1996.  Making Sense of Qualitative Data.       

 

(Ch.7) (BB)

Coffey, Amanda, Beverly Holbrook and Paul Atkinson.  1996.  Qualitative Data

Analysis:  Technologies and Representations.  Sociological Research Online.  (BB)

Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson.  Ethnography (Ch. 8)

LeCompte, Margaret and Jean Schensul. 1999. Analysis from the Top Down.

Analyzing and Interpreting Ethnographic Data (Ch. 4) (BB)

Browse a listserve conversation on coding, indexing, and related matters at http://varenne.tc.columbia.edu/class/common/0309-coding_conversation.html

Kelle, Udo. 2000. Computer-Assisted Analysis: Coding and Indexing. In

Qualitative Researching with Text, Image, and Sound: A Practical Handbook, Martin W. Bauer and George Gaskell (Eds.). London: Sage. (BB)

 

Handout:  outline of research report; critical review of ethnographic reports

 

 

November 5                 Writing

 

*Abu-Lughod, Lila.  Veiled Sentiments (Ch. 4) (BB)

*Emerson, Robert M. et al.  Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (Ch. 7-8)

*Heath, Shirley Brice and Brian V. Street.  On Ethnography (Ch. 6) (BB)

Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson.  Ethnography (Ch. 9)

LeCompte, Margaret & Jean Schensul. 1999. Fine Tuning Results. Analyzing and

Interpreting Ethnographic Data (Ch. 10) (BB)

Weiss, Robert.  Learning from Strangers (Ch. 7)

 

 [NOTE: Be sure to bring the Abu-Lughod reading to class with you]                       

 

November 12               Philosophy

 

Assignment: Researcher Identity assignment (either do this or the one assigned for December 3)

Due: Sample data analysis (a piece of your final data analysis—as it will look in the final report—so we can tell if you’re on track)

 

*Becker, H.  The Epistemology of Qualitative Research.  In Richard Jessor et al., Ethnography and Human Development.  (BB)

*Eisenhart, Margaret. 2001. Changing Conceptions of Culture and Ethnographic Methodology. In V. Richardson, Handbook of Research on Teaching (4th Ed.). (BB)

Hammersley, Martyn.  1992.  What’s Wrong With Ethnography?  London: Routledge.  Ch. 5: The Generalisability of Ethnography.  (BB)

Kincheloe, Joe. 2001. Describing the Bricolage. Qualitative Inquiry, 7, 679-692. (BB)

 

Handout: Checklist for final report; guidelines for evaluating report

 

 

November 19               Film, Video, and Documentary

                                   

                                    Readings to be assigned

 

November 26               Design

 

Due: Project outline

 

*Fordham, S. 1999. Dissin’ “The Standard”. Anthropology and Education

            Quarterly, 30, 272-293. (BB)

*Maxwell, Joseph A.  Qualitative Research Design. 

                                    Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson.  Ethnography (Ch. 2)

 

 [NOTE: Be sure to bring the Fordham reading to class with you]

 

December 3                 Critical Ethnography

 

Assignment: emic concept assignment (either do this or the one assigned      

for November 12)

 

*Fecho, R.  1998.  Crossing Boundaries of Race in a Critical Literacy Classroom. In D. Alverman et al., eds., Reconceptualizing Literacies in Adolescents Lives (BB)

*Foley, Douglas. 2002. Critical Ethnography: The Reflexive Turn. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 15(4), 469-490. (BB)

*Scheurich, James J.  (2002)  The Destructive Desire for a Depoliticized

Ethnographic Methodology:  Response to Harry F. Wolcott.  In Y.Zou and E. Trueba, Eds., Ethnography and Schools:  Qualitative Approaches to the Study of Education, pp. 49-54.  Lanham, MD:  Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. (BB)

Skim Wolcott, Harry F.  (2002)  Ethnography?  Or Educational Travel Writing?

In Y.Zou and E. Trueba, Eds., Ethnography and Schools:  Qualitative Approaches to the Study of Education, pp. 27-48.  Lanham, MD: 

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. (BB)  (you will need to skim this to understand what the Scheurich chapter is talking about)

Lather, Patti.  1993.  Research as Praxis.  In Clifton Conrad et al., eds. 

                                                Qualitative Research in Higher Education.  (BB)

 

December 10               Evaluation and Practitioner Research

 

*Cochran-Smith, Marilyn and Susan Lytle.  1999. The Teacher Research

Movement: A Decade Later. Educational Researcher, 28, 15-25. (BB)

*Fetterman, David M.  1987. Ethnographic Educational Evaluation.  In George and Louise Spindler, eds.  Interpretive Ethnography of Education.  (BB)

Hammersley, Martyn.  1992.  What’s Wrong With Ethnography?

Ch. 8: On Practitioner Ethnography.  (BB)

Anderson, G, Herr, K., Nihlin, A. 1996. What does Practitioner Research Look

Like?, Teaching and Change. (3)2: 173-206. NEA Professional Library

 

and Corwin Press (BB)

Zeichner, K.M. and Noffke, S.E. Practitioner Research. 2001. In Richardson, V.

            (Ed.). 2001.  Handbook of Research on Teaching. 4th Edition. (BB)

 

Due December 15: Field research reports.

 

SELECTED RECENT FREQUENTLY-CITED ARTICLES FROM ETHNOGRAPHY

(SAGE publications; articles available as PDFs from http:/eth.sage.pub.com and through Van Pelt library online: http://www.library.upenn.edu)

 

Abu-Lughod, Lila.  2000.  Locating Ethnography.  Ethnography 1: 261-267.

Becker, Howard.  2001.  Georges Perec’s Experiments in Social Description.  Ethnography 2: 63-76.

Behar, Ruth.  2003.  Ethnography and the Book that was Lost.  Ethnography 4: 15-39.

Fine, Gary Alan.  2003.  Towards a Peopled Ethnography: Developing Theory from Group Life.

            Ethnography 4: 41-60.

Garot, Robert and Jack Katz.  2003.  Provocative Looks: Gang Appearance and Dress Codes in an Inner-

City Alternative School.  Ethnography 4: 421-454.

Hannerz, Ulf.  2003.  Being there…and there…and there!  Reflections on Multi-Site Ethnography. 

Ethnography 4: 201-216.

Harper, Douglas.  2003.  Framing Photographic Ethnography: A Case Study.  Ethnography 4: 241-266.

Katz, Jack and Thomas J. Csordas.  2003.  Phenomenological Ethnography  in Sociology and

Anthropology.  Ethnography 4: 275-288.

Katz, Jack.  2001.  From How to Why: On Luminous Description and Causal Inference in Ethnography

(part 1).  Ethnography 2: 443-473.

-- . 2002.  From How to Why: On Luminous Description and Causal Inference in Ethnography (part 2). 

Ethnography 3: 63-90.

Kusenbach, Margarethe.  2003.  Street Phenomenology: The Go-Along as Ethnographic Research Tool. 

Ethnography 4: 455-484.

Venkatesh, Sudhir.  2002.  ‘Doin’ the Hustle’: Constructing the Ethnographer in the American Ghetto. 

Ethnography 3: 91-111.

Vigouroux, Cécile B.  2007.  Trans-scription as a social activity: An ethnographic approach.  Ethnography

8: 61-97.

Wacquant, Loic.  2003.  Ethnografeast: A Progress Report on the Practice and Promise of Ethnography. 

Ethnography 4: 5-14.

Weber, Francine.  2001.  Settings, Interactions and Things: A Plea for Multi-Integrative Ethnography. 

Ethnography 2: 475-499.

Willis, Paul and Mats Trondman.  2000.  Manifesto for Ethnography.  Ethnography

 

OTHER SELECTED SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS

 

Behar, R. and Gordon, D., eds.  Women Writing Culture.  Berkeley: University of California.

Bogdan, R.C. and S. K. Biklen.  1992.  Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to Theory and Methods, 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Booth, Wayne, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams, eds.  1995.  The Craft of Research.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press. 

Burgess, Robert G.  1984.  In the Field.  London: George Allen & Unwin.

Carspecken, Phil Francis.  1996.  Critical Ethnography in Educational Research.  New York: Routledge.

Clifford, James and George E. Marcus, eds.  1986.  Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography.  Berkeley: University of California Press.

Coffey, Amanda and Paul Atkinson.  1996.  Making Sense of Qualitative Data.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.

Conrad, Clifton, et al.  1993.  Qualitative Research in Higher Education.  Needham Heights, MA: Ginn.

Denzin, Norman K. and Yvonna S. Lincoln, eds.  2000.  Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd Ed.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Dey, I. 1993. Qualitative Data Analysis: A User-Friendly Guide for Social Scientists. London: Routledge.

Eisner, E. W. and A. Peshkin, eds.  1990.  Qualitative Inquiry in Education.  New York: Teachers College Press.

Feldman, M.  1995.  Strategies for Interpreting Qualitative Data.  Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage.

Fetterman, David M.  1989.  Ethnography Step by Step.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Gitlin, Andrew, ed.  1994.  Power and Method: Political Activism and Educational Research. New York: Routledge.

Gubrium, J. and Holstein, J.  1997.  The New Language of Qualitative Method.  New York: Oxford.

Heshusius, L. and Ballard, K. (eds.).  1996.  Positivism to Interpretivism and Beyond.  New York: Teachers College Press

Jackson, Bruce.  1987.  Fieldwork.  Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Jacobson, David.  1991.  Reading Ethnography.  Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Lather, P. & C. Smithies. 1997. Troubling the angels: Women living with HIV/AIDS. Boulder: Westview.

Lofland, John and Lyn H. Lofland. 1995.  Analyzing Social Settings, 3rd Ed.  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Marshall, Catherine and Gretchen B. Rossman.  1999.  Designing Qualitative Research, 3rd. Ed.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Potter, W.  1996.  An Analysis of Thinking and Research about Qualitative Methods.  Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Przeworski, A. and F. Salomon.  1988.  On the Art of Writing Proposals: Some Candid Suggestions for Applicants to Social Science Research Council Competitions.  New York: Social Science Research Council.

Reinharz, S.  1992.  Feminist Methods in Social Research.  New York: Oxford University Press.

Rubin, H. and Rubin, I.  1995.  Qualitative Interviewing.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Sanjek, Roger, ed.  1990.  Fieldnotes:  The Making of Anthropology.  Ithaca, NY:  Cornell University Press.

Silverman, David.  2001. Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction, 2nd Ed.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Smith, J., Harré, R. and Van Langerhove, L.  1995.  Rethinking Methods in Psychology.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Spindler, George and Louise Spindler, eds.  1987. Interpretive Ethnography of Education.  Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Stake, Robert E.  1995.  The Art of Case Study Research.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Strauss, Anselm and Juliet Corbin. 1998. Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques, 2nd Ed.  Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Stringer, E.  1999.  Action Research.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.

Tesch, R.  1990.  Qualitative Research: Analysis Types and Software Tools.  New York: Falmer.

Van Maanen, J.  1988.  Tales of the Field.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Walford, Geoffrey, ed. 1991.  Doing Educational Research.  New York: Routledge.

Weitzman, E. A. and M. B. Miles.  1995.  Computer Programs for Qualitative Data Analysis.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Whyte, W. F.,  ed.  1991.  Participatory Action Research.  Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Wolcott, H. F. 1990.  Writing Up Qualitative Research.  Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

 

_____  1995.  The Art of Fieldwork.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Wolf, D.  1996.  Feminist Dilemmas in Fieldwork.  Boulder: Westview.

Woods, Peter.  1986.  Inside Schools: Ethnography in Educational Research.  London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Yin, R. K.  1994.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 2nd ed.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.