Despite the growing diversity of methods, goals of analysis, theoretical frameworks and styles of presentation used by ethnographers in the past fifteen to twenty years, relatively few have engaged in “applied” research or explicitly discussed the implications of their work for policy or practice. This article raises questions about the major impediments to applied ethnographic research and provides a synthesis of the forms it can take.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adler, P.
, and P. Adler.1995. The demography of ethnography.Journal of Contemporary Ethnography24:3-29.
2.
Best, J.
1989. Afterword: Extending the constructionist perspective: A conclusion and an introduction. In Images of issues, edited by J. Best, 243-253. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine.
3.
Bloor, M.
, and N. McKeganey. 1989. Ethnography addressing the practitioner. In The politics of field research: Sociology beyond enlightenment, edited by J. Gubrium and D. Silverman, 197-212. London: Sage.
4.
Bulmer, M.
1982. The uses of social research: Social investigation in public policy-making.London: Allen and Unwin.
5.
Burawoy, M.
1991. The extended case method. In Ethnography unbound: Power and resistance in the modern metropolis, edited by M. Burawoyet al., 271-287. Berkeley: University of California Press.
6.
Burton, A.
1991. Dividing up the struggle: The consequences of “split” welfare work for union activism. In Ethnography unbound: Power and resistance in the modern metropolis, edited by M. Burawoyet al., 85-107. Berkeley: University of California Press.
7.
Buzawa, E., and C. Buzawa, eds. 1993. The impact of arrest on domestic assault.American Behavioral Scientist36:555-680.
8.
Denzin, N.
1989. Interpretive interactionism.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
9.
Denzin, N.
, and Y. Lincoln, eds. 1994. Handbook of qualitative research.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
Emerson, R. M.
1983. Ethical and political issues in field research: Introduction. In Contemporary field research, edited by R. Emerson, 255-268. Boston: Little, Brown.
11.
Estes, C.
, and B. Edmonds.1981. Symbolic interaction and social policy analysis.Symbolic Interaction4:75-86.
12.
Fine, G. A.1992. Agency, structure, and comparative contexts: Toward a synthetic interactionism.Symbolic Interaction15:87-107.
13.
Fine, G. A.
, and S. Kleinman.1983. Network and meaning: An interactionist approach to structure.Symbolic Interaction6:97-110.
14.
Ferguson, A.
1991. Managing without managers: Crisis and resolution in a collective bakery. In Ethnography unbound: Power and resistance in the modern metropolis, edited by M. Burawoyet al., 108-132. Berkeley: University of California Press.
15.
Fetterman, D.
1989. Ethnography step by step.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
16.
Galliher, J. F.
1983. Social scientists' ethical responsibilities to superordinates: Looking upward meekly. In Contemporary field research, edited by R. Emerson, 300-311. Boston: Little, Brown.
17.
Glaser, B.
, and A. Strauss. 1967. The discovery of grounded theory.Hawthorne, NY: Aldine.
18.
Greene, J.
1994. Qualitative program evaluation: Practice and promise. In Handbook of qualitative research, edited by N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, 530-544. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19.
Guba, E.
, and Y. Lincoln. 1989. Fourth generation evaluation.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
20.
Gubrium, J.
1989. Local cultures and service policy. In The politics of field research: Sociology beyond enlightenment, edited by J. Gubrium and D. Silverman, 94-112. London: Sage.
21.
Gubrium, J.
, and J. Holstein.1994. Grounding the postmodern self.The Sociological Quarterly35:685-703.
22.
Hall, P.1995. The consequences of qualitative analysis for sociological theory: Beyond the microlevel.The Sociological Quarterly36:397-423.
23.
Hamilton, D.
1994. Traditions, preferences, and postures in applied qualitative research. In Handbook of qualitative research, edited by N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, 60-69. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Hammersley, M.
1992. What's wrong with ethnography?London: Routledge.
25.
Hochschild, A.
1989. The second shift: Working parents and the revolution at home.New York: Viking.
26.
Horowitz, R.
1995. Teen mothers: Citizens or dependents?Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
27.
Kane, S.1993. National discourse and the dynamics of risk: Ethnography and AIDS intervention.Human Organization52:224-228.
28.
Kleinman, S.
1996. Opposing ambitions: Gender and identity in an alternative organization.Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
29.
Kurz, D.1983. The use of participant observation in evaluation research.Evaluation and Program Planning6:93-102.
30.
Kurz, D.
1995. For richer, for poorer: Mothers confront divorce.New York: Routledge.
31.
Liebow, E.
1993. Tell them who I am.New York: Penguin.
32.
Lincoln, Y.
, and N. Denzin. 1994. The fifth moment. In Handbook of qualitative research, edited by N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, 575-586. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
33.
Lofland, J.1995. Analytic ethnography: Features, failings, and futures.Journal of Contemporary Ethnography24:30-67.
34.
Loseke, D.1989. Evaluation research and the practice of social services: A case for qualitative methodology.Journal of Contemporary Ethnography18:202-223.
35.
Loseke, D.
1992. The battered woman and shelters: The social construction of wife abuse.Albany: State University of New York.
36.
Lyon, E.
1993. Deserving victims: The moral assessment of victims of crime. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Miami, Fla.
37.
Lyon, E.
, and P. Mace. 1991. Family violence and the courts: Implementing a comprehensive new law. In Abused and battered, edited by D. Knudsen and J. Miller, 167-179. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine.
38.
McCallion, M. J.
, D. A. Maines, and S. Wolfe.1996. Policy as practice: First holy communion as a contested situation.Journal of Contemporary Ethnography25:300-326.
39.
McGaw, D.1993. Postmodern claimsmaking: An abortive politics?Studies in Symbolic Interactionism15:221-241.
40.
Nippert-Eng, K.
1996. Home and work: Negotiating boundaries through everyday life.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
41.
Olesen, V.
1994. Re-thinking theory and applied qualitative research: Dissolving an unrealistic distinction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, April, St. Louis, MO.
42.
Partridge, W. L.1985. Toward a theory of practice.American Behavioral Scientist29:139-163.
43.
Patton, M. Q.
1980. Qualitative evaluation methods.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
44.
Richie, B.
1996. Compelled to crime: The gender entrapment of battered black women.New York: Routledge.
45.
Rist, R.
1994. Influencing the policy process with qualitative research. In Handbook of qualitative research, edited by N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, 545-557. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
46.
Sherman, L.
, and R. Berk.1984. The specific deterrent effects of arrests for domestic assault.American Sociological Review49:261-272.
47.
Snow, D.
, and L. Anderson. 1993. Down on their luck.Berkeley: University of California Press.
48.
Stern, G.1985. Research, action, and social betterment.American Behavioral Scientist29:229-248.
49.
Thomas, J.
1993. Doing critical ethnography.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
50.
Van Maanen, J.
1995. An end to innocence: The ethnography of ethnography. In Representation in ethnography, edited by J. Van Maanen, 1-35. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
51.
Vidich, A.
, and S. Lyman. 1994. Qualitative methods: Their history in sociology and anthropology. In Handbook of qualitative research, edited by N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, 23-59. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
52.
Wolcott, H.
1995. The art of fieldwork.Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira.
