Heuristics for Feeling Your Way in the Dark
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2022-09-30
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Indiana University Workshop in Methods
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Abstract
Ethnography is a practical method, and vague descriptions of talking to or observing people are not helpful for others who want to use the findings or replicate how the researcher conducted the study. In this presentation, I mean to discuss the how of ethnography–not the definitive “how.” Such a thing does not exist, but I want to offer some practical heuristics for ethnography in known and unknown environments. My general focus includes (a) genuine interest, (b) networks of interactions, (c) mood, (d) generic theory toolbelt, (e) recording shorthand, (f) analogy, and (g) writing as presentation.
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Dr. Michael Lawrence Walker is Beverly and Richard Fink Professor in Liberal Arts and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. His book Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail is an ethnography conducted while Dr. Walker was incarcerated in a Southern California county jail system, and over forty years since the last major study of American jails from the inside out. Dr. Walker holds a Ph.D. is in sociology with an emphasis in race relations, criminology, and socio-legal studies from the University of California-Riverside.
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Presentation