Thinking Ethnographically

Book excerpt: Written by a leading authority, this book discusses a wide range of analytic ideas that can and should inform ethnographic analysis. In introducing the notion of ‘granular ethnography’ it argues for an approach to qualitative research that is sensitive to the complexities of everyday social life. A much-needed antidote to superficial research and analysis, the text deals not merely with the practical methods of fieldwork, but with the far more ambitious enterprise of turning ethnographic data into productive ideas and concepts. Paul Atkinson enables us not merely to do ethnography, but truly to think ethnographically. His book will prove invaluable to students and researchers across the social sciences.