Ethnography: Step-by-Step (Applied Social Research Methods Series), Vol. 17

“Emphasis on the use of theory as a guide is excellent and cannot be stressed enough among students . . . . Ethical standards are comprehensively addressed. Any doubts the reader may have had are dispelled by the author’s compelling arguments and illustrative examples.”
—Patricia I. Documét, University of Pittsburgh

“The text has included most topics that I cover in my seminar with doctoral students and some that believe they will find helpful. One of those items an actual approach to writing a research proposal and distinctions between action research, policy research, and investigatory kinds of explorations.”
—Barbara K. Curry, University of Delaware

The Third Edition of Ethnography: Step-by-Step guides readers in collecting and making sense of large amounts of ethnographic data. It also offers current discussion about the use of technology in the pursuit of ethnography. Fundamentally, however, it demonstrates how ethnography is more than a methodological approach. For David M. Fetterman, ethnography is a way of life.

The Third Edition of Ethnography: Step-by-Step guides readers in collecting and making sense of large amounts of ethnographic data. It also offers current discussion about the use of technology in the pursuit of ethnography. Fundamentally, however, it demonstrates how ethnography is more than a methodological approach. For David M. Fetterman, ethnography is a way of life. \

David M. Fetterman is a Consulting Professor of Education and the Director of Evaluation, Career Development, and Alumni Relations at Stanford University. Formerly, he was the Director of the MA Policy Analysis and Evaluation Program in the School of Education at Stanford University. He was Professor and Research Director at the California Institute of Integral Studies; Principal Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research; and a Senior Associate and Project Director at RMC Research Corporation. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in educational and medical anthropology. David is a past president of the American Evaluation Association and the American Anthropological Association’s Council on Anthropology and Education. He has conducted extensive multisite evaluation research on local, state, and national levels. Recognized for his contributions to the development of ethnography and ethnographic evaluation, he has recently focused on developing empowerment evaluations-to help people help themselves-throughout the United States and in South Africa. They include a Hewlett Packard Philanthropy Digital Villages project, an Arkansas State Department of Education project, and a Hewlett Foundation One East Palo Alto community revitalization project. David was elected a fellow of the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology. He received the Paul Lazarsfeld Award for Outstanding Contributions to Evaluation Theory and the Myrdal Award for Cumulative Contributions to Evaluation Practice; the George and Louise Spindler Award for outstanding contributions to educational anthropology as a scholar and practitioner; the Ethnographic Evaluation Award from the Council on Anthropology and Education; the President’s Award from the Evaluation Research Society for contributions to ethnographic educational evaluation; and the Washington Association of Practicing Anthropologists’ Praxis Publication Award for translating knowledge into action. He has consulted for a variety of federal agencies, foundations, corporations, and academic institutions, including the U.S. Department of Education, National Institute of Mental Health, Centers for Disease Control; U.S. Department of Agriculture; W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Rockefeller Foundation; Walter S. Johnson Foundation; Annie E. Casey Foundation; Marin Community Foundation; universities throughout the United States and Europe, as well as foreign agencies and ministries, such as the Ministry of Education in Japan. Fetterman is the General Editor for Garland/Taylor and Francis Publication’s Studies in Education and Culture series. He has contributed to the International Encyclopedia of Education, the Encyclopedia of Human Intelligence, and the Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods, and the Encyclopedia of Evaluation. He is author of Foundations of Empowerment Evaluation; Empowerment Evaluation: Knowledge and Tools for Self-Assessment and Accountability; Speaking the Language of Power: Communication, Collaboration, and Advocacy; Ethnography: Step by Step, Second Edition; Qualitative Approaches to Evaluation in Education: The Silent Scientific Revolution; Excellence and Equality: A Qualitatively Different Perspective on Gifted and Talented Education; Educational Evaluation: Ethnography in Theory, Practice, and Politics; and Ethnography in Educational Evaluation. He recently coedited Empowerment Evaluation: Principles in Practice.