Shane, the Lone Ethnographer [2. ed.] 2018039882, 2018041619, 9781442261426, 9781442261402, 9781442261419

Table of contents :
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction to the Second Edition
Chapter 1: Alone on the Range: A Fistful of Reserve Reading
Chapter 2: Showdown at the Paradigm Corral
Chapter 3: The Beginner: Where Do I Even Start?
Chapter 4: Wanted: Theoretical Framework, Dead or Alive
Chapter 5: IRB: From the People Who Brought You the IRS
Chapter 6: Ethnographic Data and Methods
Chapter 7: Taming Datasaurus Rex
Chapter 8: Writing
Final Thoughts
References and Further Reading
About the Author

Citation preview

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD Lanham • Boulder • New York • London

Executive Editor: Nancy Roberts Assistant Editor: Megan Manzano Senior Marketing Manager: Amy Whitaker Credits and acknowledgments for material borrowed from other sources, and reproduced with permission, appear on the appropriate page within the text. Published by Rowman & Littlefield An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB, United Kingdom Copyright © 2019 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Names: Galman, Sally Campbell, author. Title: Shane, the lone ethnographer : a beginner’s guide to ethnography / Sally Campbell Galman, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Description: Second Edition. | Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2018039882 (print) | LCCN 2018041619 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442261426 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442261402 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442261419 (paperback : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Ethnology—Research. | Ethnology—Fieldwork. | Ethnology— Methodology. Classification: LCC GN345 (ebook) | LCC GN345 .G35 2018 (print) | DDC 305.80072/1—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018039882 ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992. Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS Acknowledgments

vii



Introduction to the Second Edition

ix

1

Alone on the Range: A Fistful of Reserve Reading

1

2

Showdown at the Paradigm Corral

9

3

The Beginner: Where Do I Even Start?

25

4

Wanted: Theoretical Framework, Dead or Alive

33

5

IRB: From the People Who Brought You the IRS

47

6

Ethnographic Data and Methods

67

7

Taming Datasaurus Rex

99

8 Writing

117



Final Thoughts

135



References and Further Reading

143



About the Author

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION When I was a newly minted PhD, with a brand new job, hugely pregnant with my first baby. and sitting, night after night, hunched over my drafting table inking by hand the pages of the first edition of Shane, the Lone Ethnographer, I certainly didn’t think the book would be so popular and so much fun, or that Shane would become such a big part of my life. I couldn’t foresee a time past tenure, let alone a future that included a second edition. So much has changed since the first edition. For one, that first baby is a now a tall, beautiful twelve-year-old with two younger siblings. I’ve written lots of things—both with and without pictures! And a lot has happened in the world of ethnography, including how we teach it, do it, think about it, and write about it. Even more has changed in my art world: the original book was hand-drawn in pencil, hand-inked, and hand-erased before being wrapped in plastic bubble wrap and physically shipped to the publisher. I was no different from a medieval illuminator, except that I had electricity by which to spend nearly twenty hours erasing pencil lines. This new book is a product of new, better tablet technology (No erasing! No need to redraw an entire page if you make a single mistake! No more nerve-racking shipping of originals across continents!), and it is also a product of new, better ideas about how to teach other people about ethnography. Writing a second edition is a labor of love and decision-making as you consider what to keep, what to toss, and what to add. So, this book is both old and new. It’s still the good old Shane at her bewildered best. But it’s also a new Shane who has perhaps read and done a bit more. This new Shane offers a comprehensive survey of ethnographic foundations, study design, and methods, but with the same old sense of humor and helpful drawings, diagrams, lists, and charts to present complex information in a new light. While the first edition was focused on ethnography within the field of educational

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research and the paradigms driving that particular area of inquiry, this second edition is a bit more interdisciplinary and cross-field. It could be useful for a range of students with a range of research problems. Finally, even with all the exciting possibilities in enhanced tablet technology, this new edition is still in the original black and white. Over the years, people have written to me pleading that I never, ever “go color” because they love to use the text as a coloring book to highlight sections, jot down questions, and fill in as they learn. So, get out your colored pencils and crayons and enjoy. That’s all I’m going to tell you up front. You’re going to have to turn the pages and see for yourself what is old and what is new with this second edition of the beloved classic. I’m just so delighted to see that Shane rides again. Sally Campbell Galman June 2018 Amherst, MA

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CHAPTER ONE

ALONE ON THE RANGE: “A FISTFUL OF RESERVE READING”

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CHAPTER ONE

ALONE ON THE RANGE: “A FISTFUL OF RESERVE READING”

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CHAPTER ONE

ALONE ON THE RANGE: “A FISTFUL OF RESERVE READING”

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CHAPTER TWO

SHOWDOWN AT THE PARADIGM CORRAL

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CHAPTER TWO

SHOWDOWN AT THE PARADIGM CORRAL

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CHAPTER TWO

SHOWDOWN AT THE PARADIGM CORRAL

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CHAPTER TWO

SHOWDOWN AT THE PARADIGM CORRAL

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CHAPTER TWO

SHOWDOWN AT THE PARADIGM CORRAL

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CHAPTER TWO

SHOWDOWN AT THE PARADIGM CORRAL

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CHAPTER TWO

SHOWDOWN AT THE PARADIGM CORRAL

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CHAPTER THREE

THE BEGINNER: WHERE DO I EVEN START?

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CHAPTER THREE

THE BEGINNER: WHERE DO I EVEN START?

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CHAPTER THREE

THE BEGINNER: WHERE DO I EVEN START?

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CHAPTER FOUR

WANTED: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, DEAD OR ALIVE

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CHAPTER FOUR

WANTED: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, DEAD OR ALIVE

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CHAPTER FOUR

WANTED: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, DEAD OR ALIVE

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CHAPTER FOUR

WANTED: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, DEAD OR ALIVE

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CHAPTER FOUR

WANTED: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, DEAD OR ALIVE

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CHAPTER FOUR

WANTED: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, DEAD OR ALIVE

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CHAPTER FIVE

IRB: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRS

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CHAPTER FIVE

IRB: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRS

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CHAPTER FIVE

IRB: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRS

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CHAPTER FIVE

IRB: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRS

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CHAPTER FIVE

IRB: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRS

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CHAPTER FIVE

IRB: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRS

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CHAPTER FIVE

IRB: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRS

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CHAPTER FIVE

IRB: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRS

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CHAPTER FIVE

IRB: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SIX

ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA AND METHODS

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CHAPTER SEVEN

TAMING DATASAURUS REX

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CHAPTER SEVEN

TAMING DATASAURUS REX

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CHAPTER SEVEN

TAMING DATASAURUS REX

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CHAPTER SEVEN

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CHAPTER SEVEN

TAMING DATASAURUS REX

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CHAPTER SEVEN

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CHAPTER SEVEN

TAMING DATASAURUS REX

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CHAPTER SEVEN

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CHAPTER EIGHT

WRITING

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CHAPTER EIGHT

WRITING

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CHAPTER EIGHT

WRITING

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CHAPTER EIGHT

WRITING

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CHAPTER EIGHT

WRITING

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WRITING

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CHAPTER EIGHT

WRITING

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CHAPTER EIGHT

WRITING

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CHAPTER EIGHT

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FINAL THOUGHTS

FINAL THOUGHTS

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FINAL THOUGHTS

FINAL THOUGHTS

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FINAL THOUGHTS

FINAL THOUGHTS

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FINAL THOUGHTS

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING REFERENCES Anderson, E. (2002). The ideologically driven critique. American Journal of Sociology, 107(6), 1533–50. Benedict, R. (1934). Patterns of culture. New York: Harcourt Brace. Bhattacharya, K. (2018). Personal communication. Botelho, M. J. (in preparation). Teaching as text: Re-imagining K–8 literacy teaching with ethnography and critical literacies. New York: Routledge. Bourdieu, P. & Passeron, J. (1977). Reproduction in education, society and culture. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications. Butler, O. (2005). Bloodchild and other stories. New York: Seven Stories Press. Delamont, S. (2002). Fieldwork in educational settings: Methods, pitfalls and perspectives. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. Doyle, D. M. (1955). The metalogicon of John Salisbury: A twelfth-century defense of the verbal and logical arts of the trivium. Berkeley: University of California Press. Durkheim, E. (2014). The division of labor in society. New York: Free Press. (Original work published in 1902.) Geertz, C. (1988) Deep hanging out. New York Review of Books 45(16), 69. Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York: Basic Books. Graue, M. E. & Walsh, D. J. (1998). Studying children in context: Theories, methods and ethics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Guest, G., Namey, E. E. & Mitchell, M. L. (2013). Collecting qualitative data: A field manual for applied research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Heyl, B. S. (2001). Ethnographic interviewing. In P. Atkinson, A. Coffey, S. Delamont, J. Lofland & L. Lofland (Eds.) Handbook of Ethnography (pp. 369–80). London: Sage Publications. Kleinbaum, N. H. (1989). Dead poets society. New York: Bantam. Kroeber, A. L. & Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Kvale (1996). InterViews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

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LeCompte, M. D. & Schensul, J. J. (2015). Ethnographer’s toolkit (Vols. 1–7). 2nd ed. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. LeCompte, M. D. & Schensul, J. J. (1999). Analyzing and interpreting ethnographic data. In M. D. LeCompte & J. J. Schensul (Eds.), Ethnographer’s toolkit (Vol. 5). Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. Malinowski, B. (1925). Magic, science, and religion and other essays. New York: Doubleday. Mangual Figueroa, A. (2014). La carta de responsabilidad: The problem of departure. In D. Paris & M. T. Winn (Eds.), Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry (pp. 129–46). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Mannik, L. & McGarry, K. (2017). Practicing ethnography: A student guide to method and methodology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Nader, L. (1972). Up the anthropologist: Perspectives gained from studying up. In D. Hymes (Ed.), Reinventing anthropology (pp. 284–311). New York: Pantheon Books. Norum, K. E. (2008). Artifact analysis. In L. M. Given (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research methods (pp. 22–25). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Ogbu, J. U. & Fordham, S. (1986). Black students’ school success: Coping with “‘the burden of ‘acting white.’” Urban Review 18(3), 176–206. Peshkin, A. (1988). In search of subjectivity—one’s own. Educational Researcher 17(1), 17–21. Rabinow, P. (1977). Reflections on fieldwork in Morocco. Berkeley: University of California Press. Silverstein, S. (1974). Where the sidewalk ends. New York: HarperCollins. Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Turner, S. (2007). Fact, theory and hypothesis, including the history of the scientific fact. In G. Ritzer (Ed.), The Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology (pp. 1554–57). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

FURTHER READING What follows is a list of books that delve a good bit deeper into some of the things Shane and I introduce in this book, as well as other books that have been particularly joyful and/or illuminating for me over the years. This list includes a smattering of the methodological texts, journal articles, memoirs, historical writings, manifestos, children’s books, and book-length ethnographies that have supported my life as an ethnographer, writer, and artist. Enjoy the journey and bon voyage! Abu-Lughod, L. (2008). Writing women’s worlds: Bedouin stories. Berkeley: University of California Press. Atkinson, P., Coffey, A., Delamont, S., Lofland, J. & Lofland, L. (Eds). Handbook of Ethnography. London: Sage Publications. Balagopalan, S. (2014). Inhabiting ‘childhood’: Children, labour and schooling in postcolonial India. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Barone, T. & Eisner, E. W. (2012). Arts-based research. London: Sage Publications. Beard, M. (2017). Women and power: A manifesto. New York: Liveright. Bechdel, A. (2007). Fun home: A family tragicomic. New York: Mariner Books. Behar, R. (1996). The vulnerable observer: Anthropology that breaks your heart. Boston: Beacon Press. Bettelheim, B. (1976). The uses of enchantment: The meaning and importance of fairy tales. New York: Vintage Books. Bhattacharya, K. (2017). Fundamentals of qualitative research: A practical guide. New York: Routledge. Bluebond-Langner, M. (1980). The private worlds of dying children. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Cahnmann-Taylor, M. & Siegesmund, R. (2018). Arts-based research in education. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. Cheney, K. (2007). Pillars of the nation: Child citizens and Ugandan national development. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Corsaro, W. A. (2004). We’re friends, right? Inside kids’ culture. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press.

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Cox, A. M. (2015). Shapeshifters: Black girls and the choreography of citizenship. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Davis, D. & Craven, C. (2016). Feminist ethnography: Thinking through methodologies, challenges and possibilities. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. De León, J. (2015). The land of open graves: Living and dying on the migrant trail. Berkeley: University of California Press. Dyrness, A. (2011). Mothers united. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Erikson, K. (1976). Everything in its path: Destruction of community in the Buffalo Creek flood. New York: Simon & Schuster. Fader, A. (2018). Mitzvah girls. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Fadiman, A. (1997). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Feinberg, L. (1993). Stone butch blues: A novel. New York: Firebrand Books. Ferguson, A. A. (2001). Bad boys: Public schools and the making of Black masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Forster, E. M. (1971). Maurice: A novel. New York: W. W. Norton. Freeman, M. & Mathison, S. (2009). Researching children’s experiences. New York: Guilford Press. Fujikawa, G. (1977). Oh, what a busy day! New York: Grosset & Dunlap. Galman, S. (2018). Naptime at the OK Corral: Shane’s beginner’s guide to childhood ethnography. London: Routledge. Galman, S. (2013). The good, the bad and the data: A beginner’s guide to qualitative data analysis. London: Routledge. Galman, S. (2012). Wise and foolish virgins: White women at work in the feminized world of primary school teaching. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Gottlieb, A. (2004). The afterlife is where we come from. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Gottlieb, A. & Graham, P. (1994). Parallel worlds: An anthropologist and a writer encounter Africa. Chicago University of Chicago Press. Gray, M. L. (2009). Out in the country: Youth, media and queer visibility in rural America. New York: New York University Press. Hammersley, M. & Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography: Principles in practice. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. Harris, M. (1974). Cows, pigs, wars, and witches: The riddles of culture. New York: Random House. Hurston, Z. N. (2008). Tell my horse: Voodoo and life in Haiti and Jamaica. New York: HarperCollins. Jenkins, H. (Ed.) (1998). The children’s culture reader. New York: New York University Press. Lamott, A. (1994). Bird by bird: Some instructions on writing and life. New York: Anchor Books. Lancy, D. F. (2015) The anthropology of childhood: Cherubs, chattel, changelings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lareau, A. (2003). Unequal childhoods: Class, race and family life. Berkeley: University of California Press. Lewin, E. & Leap, W. L. (Eds.) (1996). Out in the field: Reflections of lesbian and gay anthropologists. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Lukose, R. A. (2009). Liberalization’s children: Gender, youth, and consumer citizenship in globalizing India. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Mandrona, A. & Mitchell, C. (Eds.) (2018). Visual encounters in the study of rural childhoods. Camden, NJ: Rutgers University Press. McLeod, J. (2008). Ain’t no makin it: Aspirations and attainment in a low income neighborhood. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Mead, M. (1933). Coming of age in Samoa. New York: Blue Ribbon Books. Mendoza-Denton, N. (2008). Homegirls: Language and cultural practice among Latina youth gangs. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

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Mir, S. (2014). Muslim American women on campus: Undergraduate social life and identity. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Moraga, C. & Anzaldúa, G. E. (Eds.) (2015). This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. 4th ed. Albany: State University of New York Press. Morton, H. (1996). Becoming Tongan: An ethnography of childhood. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. Nussbaum, M. C. (1997). Poetic justice: The literary imagination and public life. Boston: Beacon Press. Nygreen, K. (2013). These kids: Identity, agency and social justice at a last-chance high school. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Opie, I. & Opie, P. (1960). The lore and language of schoolchildren. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Orenstein, P. (1994) Schoolgirls: Young women, self-esteem and the confidence gap. New York: Doubleday. Paley, V. G. (2014). The boy on the beach: Building community through play. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Paley, V. G. (2004). A child’s work: The importance of fantasy play. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Paley, V. G. (1987). Wally’s stories. Boston: Harvard University Press. Paris, D. & Winn, M. T. (Eds.) (2013). Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Said, E. W. (1994). Representations of the intellectual. New York: Random House. Saldaña, J. (2014). Blue collar qualitative research: A rant. Qualitative Inquiry 20(8), 976–80. Saldaña, J. (2011). Ethnotheatre: From page to stage. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. Saldaña, J. (Ed.) (2005). Ethnodrama: An anthology of reality theatre. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. Scheper-Hughes, N. (1993). Death without weeping: The violence of everyday life in Brazil. Berkeley: University of California Press. Shilts, R. (1987). And the band played on: Politics, people and the AIDS epidemic. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. London: Zed Books. Spiegelman, A. (1996). The complete MAUS. New York: Pantheon. Stack, C. (1970). All our kin: Strategies for survival in a Black community. New York: Basic Books. Staples, J. (2016). The revelations of Asher: Toward a supreme love in self. New York: Peter Lang. Stoian, M. (2015). Take it as a compliment. Philadelphia: Singing Dragon. Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Subramanian, M. (2015). Dear Mrs. Naidu. New Delhi: Zubaan Books. Tan, S. (2015). The singing bones. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books. Taylor, K. (2017). How we get free: Black feminism and the Combahee River Collective. New York: Haymarket Books. Thompson, K. D. (forthcoming). When I was a Swahili woman: The possibilities and perils of “going native” in a culture of secrecy. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. Thorne, B. (1993). Gender play: Girls and boys in school. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Tuchman, B. (1982). Practicing history: Selected essays. New York: Random House. Van Maanen, J. (2011). Tales of the field: On writing ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Williams, M. (2006). Woman at the Washington zoo: Writings on politics, family and fate. New York: PublicAffairs. Wolcott, H. (2010). Ethnography lessons: A primer. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. Wolcott, H. (1981). Confessions of a trained observer. In T. Popkewitz & B. R. Tabachnik (Eds.), The study of schooling. New York: Praeger, 247–63.