This original and authoritative exploration of ethnographic writing comes from one of the world's leading academics in the field, Paul Atkinson. The third book in his seminal quartet on ethnographic research, it provides thoughtful, reflective guidance on a crucial skill that is often difficult to master. Informed throughout by extracts from Paul’s own writing, this book explores and examines a broad range of types and genres of ethnographic writing, from fieldnotes and ‘confessions’, to conventional ‘realist’ writing and more. Whilst highlighting the possibilities and implications of ethnographic text, this valuable resource will help those conducting ethnographic research select and adopt the most appropriate approach for their study.

Notes and Margins : Texts of the Field

Notes and Margins : Texts of the Field

Ethnography is inescapably textual. We observe, we participate, we converse, we write. In the first instance, we create materials that are conventionally regarded as ‘data’. Already, ethnography feels different from many other forms of research. For we write the materials we work with, in the form of fieldnotes and journals. We do not encounter ‘data’ as numerical abstractions, or documentary sources written by others (often at times and in places far removed from the researcher). Our data always include some materials that are very near at hand, in the sense that we have written them, and have created them out of our own observations, conversations and engagements. While permanent recordings are a key aspect of contemporary ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles