Ethnography Lessons: A Primer

by Harry F. Wolcott

Harry Wolcott takes the reader inside the process of constructing an ethnographic study, offering a wealth of lessons from one of the masters. In this concise primer, he provides a set of models from which to organize a study, explains how to pick the various components that go into the ethnographic report, advises on how to create analogies and metaphors to help explain your work, and identifies the key features of an effective ethnography. He also discusses the role of serendipity and questions of ethics in doing ethnographic work. Learn the essentials of ethnography from one of the masters.

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2010

About the author

Harry F. Wolcott taught at the University of Oregon, serving on both the faculties of education and anthropology. He authored several ethnographic texts that included his experiences among the Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia and with the African Beer Gardens of Bulawayo, Rhodesia, as well on ethnographic method and on writing itself, with a focus on qualitative research.

Reviews

[Astrid · Rating 2 out of 5]

too much personal asides but the general layout described in chapter 5 is mostly helpful

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book really should have been called "Weird Personal Issues: Stories of Stuff I Did While I Also Happened to Be an Ethnographer."

It's slim, and mildly entertaining, but my goodness, for whose benefit was this little book written? Other than the ego of the author himself? Do they really assign this bizarre collection of barely relevant stories in university courses?

[Alan Fricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a slow start and not quite what I expected from the title. I felt like I needed to know rather a lot about ethnography to make the most of it. But as the text developed it became clearer. Chapter five on the essence of ethnography was great 12 areas are offered and then critiqued.

[Mills College Library]

301 W849 2010