Multi-Sited Ethnography: Developing Avant-Garde Methodology for Creative Research Into Everyday Lives

Abstract

This article argues for the need to develop multi-sited ethnography as an avant-garde methodology that combines classic methods of observation and interviewing with creative and arts-based methods, such as drawing and sketching, in research into everyday lives in multiple locations. I define avant-garde methodology as a creative approach to research aimed at inventing new research forms and strategies, experimenting with mixing methods and genres, and suggesting a deeper, multi-sensory exploration of the everyday. Combining methods and conducting fieldwork in several locations brings multi-sensory data, requiring a complex data analysis strategy termed ‘analytical assemblage’. Applying multi-sited ethnography opens opportunities for generating, revising, and synthesising concepts. Writing multi-sited ethnography implies an elaboration of a creative strategy of re-assembling multi-sensory data. By developing avant-garde methodology, the article contributes to sensory ethnography and creative methods through bringing new insights into the use of drawing, sketching, analytical assemblage, mixed genre writing, and innovative dissemination.