The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction to Ethnography

by Michael H. Agar

This new edition of a classic introductory text opens with an extensive chapter that brings ethnography up-to-date and aims it toward the next century. At a time when numerous disciplines, organizations, and communities are discovering ethnography, Agar shows how the fundamentals endure even as they adapt to a world unimagined when the research perspective developed more than 100 years ago. Contemporary discussions of ethnography are loaded with choices, primarily "either-or" options. Just as the first edition crossed the qualitative-quantitative divide, the new edition integrates classical scientific notions with new concepts such as narrative and interpretation. Agar updates the contrast between the researcher's apprenticeship to knowledgeable informants and the hypothesis-testing mode that still dominates social science, while demonstrating the complementarity of the two. Drawing extensively from his own research experience, he illustrates the stages of the ethnographic process from inception through the emergence of a focus, and toward a subsequent formalization of methods and analysis. In the process, he illustrates several approaches designed to reconcile the contradictory demands of the scientific process and human behavior. It analyses the changes in ethnographic studies during the last fifteen years. It outlines the conflict between science and interpretation. It presents the politics of ethnography, both personal and global. It describes the 'new' participant observation. It sheds light on ethno-logic. It includes methods for the non-positive.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Social Science

276 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1980

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know, the title is deadly, but it's a great readable book about observing people and reflecting on that experience.

[amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow I was happy to learn that Agar wrote the book out of his own opinions and experiences, and only later "visited the library" to see how the manuscript aligned with existing literature. A new introductory chapter added to this edition reflects on changes in sociology (trends, "turns") since original publication; but it wastes time being defensive.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would not suggest this book unless you are interested in learning more about anthropology. The introduction is a bit thick, but the rest of the book has great examples and is interesting to read. The text offers a wide range of strategies and suggestions for ethnographers.

[Louisa Fenwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

On an academic note, a really good introduction to one of my assignments for this term in relation to Social Anthropology. Very funny and easy to read

[Reginaldo Jeremias]

Ethnography reconstructed: the profissional stranger at fifteen