This stimulating and refreshing study, written by one of the leading commentators in the field, provides novel answers to these crucial questions.
"What's Wrong With Ethnography provides a fresh look at the rationale for and distinctiveness of ethnographic research in sociology, education and related fields, and succeeds in slaying a number of currently fashionable sacred cows. Relativism, critical theory, the uniqueness of the case study and the distinction between qualitative and quantitative research are all examined and found wanting as a basis for informed ethnography. The policy and political implications of ethnography are a particular focus of attention. The author compels the reader to reexamine some basic methodological assumptions in an exciting way", Martin Bulmer, London School of Economics.
Part One: Ethnography, Theory and Reality 1. What's wrong with ethnography? The myth of theoretical description 2. Some questions about theory in ethnography and history 3. Ethnoraphy and realism 4. By what criteria should ethnographic research be judged? Part Two: Ethnography, Relevance and Practice 5. The relevance of ethnography 6. Critical theory as a model for ethnography 7. Parts that even ethnography cannot reach: Some reflections on the relationship between research and policy 8. On practitioner ethnography Part Three: Qualitative versus Quantitative Method 9. Deconstructing the quantitative-qualitative divide 10. Keeping the converstion open: the relationship between quantitative and qualitative 11. The logic of theory-testing in case study research 12. So, what are case studies?
