Doing Ethnographic Research. Kimberly Kirner
which is meant as a basic introduction to qualitative and mixed methods research for undergraduate students. Instructors have the option to use both texts or either one. Your instructor might use the textbook and design their own activities for you to complete, or they might use the workbook and assign a variety of readings connected to the activities they assign you. In both the workbook and the textbook, you’ll notice we orient you to learning objectives, which tell you what you’ll learn in each chapter. In the textbook, we review concepts (including providing definitions of key terms) and provide many examples to help you understand these concepts. We also provide visual diagrams to help you understand some of the concepts and processes and a study guide to orient you to the key terms and information. In each chapter, we also provide a brief case study, based on an interview, of an example of an ethnographic research project conducted by a mid- or late-career cultural anthropologist. The reference to the case study provides the student (and instructor) with material to draw from for scholarly reading, but the interview offers a conversation with the anthropologist, in their own words, describing their decisions in their research project, what they learned over time as a researcher, and the advice they’d give to student researchers. We conclude our chapters with reflection questions that bring together the case study interview and the students’ own experiences and interests.
In the workbook, we begin with learning objectives that are more experiential and skill (process) oriented, and we start each chapter by asking students to reflect on their own lives and experiences related to the chapter’s topic. We then offer scaffolded, detailed activities to teach the chapter’s topic step by step. Each activity begins with a brief orienting “background” that links the activity to the core concepts in the textbook (an extensive, detailed discussion of these concepts is available in the corresponding textbook chapter). These activities include detailed instructions and examples and non-examples (so that students know what a good and a poor response look like). At the end of each chapter, there is a culminating activity that allows you to comprehensively demonstrate what you’ve learned for that topic. Finally, the workbook offers multiple culminating experiences that demonstrate your new methodological skills across chapters in an integrated fashion. This process is designed to take you from A to Z in qualitative research design, beginning with selecting a topic for focus, trying various methods to answer your research question, and concluding with one or more projects that demonstrate what you’ve learned (and help you take your project from exploratory to a thesis-worthy design).
You might notice a few things about our textbook–workbook combination that are different from most of the textbooks you’ve had as a student:
Conversational tone: This book is meant to be as comfortable an introduction to methodology as possible. Think of it as a conversation between us, the authors (a professor of cultural anthropology and a master teacher, both qualitative methodologists), and you, the beginning researcher.
Sticking to the basics of each method, but covering a range of methods: This book was written for beginners, so we stick to the basics as we cover design and each method. Rather than go deeply into any one method, we cover what you need to get started for many methods. You will need more practice after this in order to work as a professional researcher, but this is a good starting point that covers most of the research-based work available to college graduates.
Bridge to application: While the methods and research design process we discuss are relevant to academic anthropology, the examples often draw on applied dimensions of the social sciences—because this is where the majority of the jobs are and because the majority of students will not acquire a doctoral degree.
A wide range of examples, especially thesis-level examples: We offer primarily examples that students would encounter in BA- or MA-level thesis projects or those they might encounter in application/practice after they graduate.
For the student wishing to go on to graduate school, or the graduate student who has newly embarked in the social sciences and for whom this is a preliminary introduction to or a helpful reminder of the basics—you will want a number of books on methods. No one book is sufficient on its own: You’ll want one or a few introductory books like this, one or two that link method and theory more explicitly, at least one more advanced and comprehensive book, at least one or more books specifically on ethnographic writing, and one or more that specifically address specialized methods you plan to use for your thesis. If you plan to train as an applied or practicing anthropologist, you will also want to get one or more applied anthropology methods textbooks that teach you how to adjust qualitative methods for more rapid, focused research. Our textbook offers a brief list of suggested readings at the end of each chapter related to that chapter’s topic, which is a good start to identify other books you may wish to invest in if you plan to pursue a graduate education. If you plan to enter another field using qualitative methodology, such as education or social work, you will (likewise) want to augment any methods training with books that bridge general qualitative methods and your specific field. But this is a good way to start, so let’s get going!
How to Use the Activities in This Workbook
For Instructors
These workbook activities have been deliberately scaffolded to support learners and help deepen their understanding of the concepts included herein, reaching beyond rote memorization toward reflection and application. Instructors will find that there are many more activities and culminating experiences offered than will easily fit into a quarter or semester class. The workbook, therefore, offers options for instructors to design a course plan that works for their particular students’ needs and interests. The workbook includes everything necessary to deliver the activities, including step-by-step instructions, examples and non-examples, problems, reflection questions, grading rubrics (for the culminating activities), and graphic organizers when needed. Additional problems are available on the instructional website (www.study.sagepub.com/kirner).
All activities have been designed to encourage students to think critically and communicate effectively, with multiple answers possible. Instructors are encouraged to provide feedback in a timely manner in order to optimize students’ learning, which is maximized through the iterative and scaffolded structure of the workbook. The structure of the workbook (with its high degree of scaffolding) has been built specifically to reduce grading time, allowing instructors to pinpoint areas for improvement with greater specificity than is possible with longer, more complicated assignments. Additionally, instructors will find that focusing on the rubrics for the more complex, culminating activities (and requiring students to score their own or a peer’s work using the rubric) will speed grading time and teach students a process of critical self-reflection and editing. Additional instructor support is also provided in Appendix A (Notes for Instructors), which offers alternative deliveries for various activities, as well as on the instructional website.
Finally, while it takes extra time, you will want students to reflect on their own learning process using the workbook’s reflection prompts at the end of each chapter and by selecting prompts from Appendix N (Activity Reflection Questions) for students to reflect on their learning at the end of each activity. Pilot studies showed that this increases students’ awareness of how they learn and builds their learning strategies (which students said improved their performance across their classes). Using the reflection prompts and requiring students to self-assess their culminating activities also provides helpful insights to the instructor into how students see their own efforts (including whether they over- or underestimate their abilities) and decreases grading time for instructors across the course as students became more proficient learners.
For Students
Each workbook activity has been carefully designed to help you understand how to complete the assignment, step by step, and to identify the areas where you might feel unsure (so that you can ask for help and know what you need!). The workbook will help you learn methods as skills, as processes that you can do effectively, rather than as concepts you’ve memorized. There are many more activities in the workbook than most students can complete in one quarter or semester, but the nice thing about the workbook is that if you get stuck on a more advanced activity, you can fill in