Subject and Course Guides: Anthropology: Ethnographic Research

Finding Ethnographic Research

Search Tips for Enthnographies:

Use subject terms Ethnography, Ethnology, Social Life and Customs. (Note: Most books in the library will not have a subject heading for Ethnography since it is not defined as a Library of Congress controlled term).
Use keyword Ethnograph* to catch all variations of the word Ethnography, Ethnographic, Ethnographies.
Combine keywords for subject you want to study with Cultur*, "Participant Observation", Case Stud*
Not all books or articles label themselves as ethnographies. Read the abstract and summaries to determine if it fits the definition of an ethnography.

Too Many Results?

Filter out non-scholarly articles. If you are required to find peer-reviewed articles, look for the "Peer-Reviewed" box located in most databases to quickly weed-out most non-scholarly works. This will also remove newspapers, dissertations, blogs, governmental or business reports, and most books.
Select "Full-Text" whenever you can. This will narrow results automatically to articles you can read right away, avoiding unnecessary delays for Interlibrary Loan.
Limit your results by most recent articles only. Most databases have either a limit or sort feature, enabling you to push more recent--and therefore more authoritative--results to the top.
Narrow your topic by adding more keywords for a particular time, place, demographic, or perspective. If your topic is "Farmer's Markets", you may try to include other keywords like Rural, Southwest, Economic Aspects, Women.

Too Few Results?

Cast a broader net with your search terms. Choose more general terms, remove specific locations.
Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for keywords.
Try different databases. We have a variety of resources--be diverse in your searching.
Contact your librarian. We are happy to help you explore alternative search strategies and locations to help you find resources.

Conducting Ethnographic Research

Guide for Ethnographic Research from the University of Virginia

A comprehensive guide that goes over the steps and considerations that a researcher would have to follow in order to do human centered ethnography (as opposed to field observations without questioning human subjects). Very good for background information about how ethnographic information is collected.

Practices of Ethnographic Research

An introductory article from the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography published by SAGE in December 2020. Provides a comprehensive overview of the ideological and theoretical frameworks underlying this research method as well as links to multiple articles written by practicing ethnographers.

Navigating Failure in Ethnography

An introductory article from the Journal of Organizational Ethnography published by Emerald Insight in 2023. Provides a working definition of "failure" in ethnographic research and argues that there is a need to acknowledge it as a possible outcome. The authors argue that these cases should be shared transparently so that others can learn to overcome or avoid similar challenges. Several examples are given.

Challenges and Solutions in Ethnographic Research by Tuuli Lähdesmäki (Editor); Eerika Koskinen-Koivisto (Editor); Viktorija L.A. Čeginskas (Editor); Aino-Kaisa Koistinen (Editor)
ISBN: 9780429355608

Publication Date: 2020-07-14

Challenges and Solutions in Ethnographic Research: Ethnography with a Twist seeks to rethink ethnography 'outside the box' of its previous tradition and to develop ethnographic methods by critically discussing the process, ethics, impact and knowledge production in ethnographic research. This interdisciplinary edited volume argues for a 'twist' that supports openness, courage, and creativity to develop and test innovative and unconventional ways of thinking and doing ethnography. 'Ethnography with a twist' means both an intentional aim to conduct ethnographic research with novel approaches and methods but also sensitivity to recognize and creativity to utilize different kinds of 'twist moments' that ethnographic research may create for the researcher.　 This edited volume critically evaluates new and old methodological tools and their ability to engage with questions of power difference. It proposes new collaborative methods that allow for co-production and co-creation of research material as well as shared conceptual work and wider distribution of knowledge. The book will be of use to ethnographers in humanities and social science disciplines including sociology, anthropology and communication studies.
Ethnographic Research in the Social Sciences by Madhulika Sahoo (Editor); S. Jeyavelu (Editor); Anjali Kurane (Editor)
ISBN: 1000890724

Publication Date: 2023-06-14

This book is an essential guide to scientifically conducting contemporary ethnographic research at undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels in the social sciences, the humanities, and business studies. It addresses the methodological challenges of ethnographic research across the social sciences and highlights present time research areas, including digital ethnography, artificial intelligence, classroom pedagogy, hybrid organization, and many more. This volume is divided into three parts and can be a single source of reference that: Guides students through essential theoretical and conceptual aspects of ethnography Demonstrates the usage of ethnography in allied disciplines--psychology, healthcare, international border studies, linguistic, artificial intelligence, and organizational behaviour Demonstrates the application of ethnographic research in the field Presents valuable lessons from fieldwork experiences by different scholars across a variety of communities Includes dos and don'ts for early career and first-time researchers A step-by-step guide with student-friendly text, this book will be an essential supplementary reading across the social sciences and the humanities, especially for those conducting fieldwork in the Global South.

SAGE Research Methods

An online search tool that provides information and instruction on research methods. It is aimed at university students, researchers, and faculty and is designed to answer methods questions that arise during the various steps of the research process, including the literature search, review, research design, data collection, analysis, and write up.

SAGE Research Methods is a research methods tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. SAGE Research Methods contains content from over 720 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, the entire “Little Green Book”, the "Little Blue Book” series, two major works collating a selection of journal articles, and specially commissioned videos. Researchers can explore methods and concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings. Since SAGE Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more.