Critical Ethnography in Educational Research: A Theoretical and Practical Guide (Critical Social Thought) (Paperback)

~ Francis Phil Carspecken (Author) "These days, trying to learn about social research is rather like walking into a room of noisy people..." (more)
Key Phrases: cultural circuits model, hermeneutic inference, tacit validity claims, West Forest, United States, Field Note Excerpt (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Ethnographic methods are becoming increasingly prevalent in contemporary educational research. Critical Ethnography in Educational Research provides both a technical, theoretical guide to advanced ethnography--focusing on such concepts as primary data collection and system relationships--and a very practical guide for researchers interested in conducting actual studies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (December 12, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415904935
• ISBN-13: 978-0415904933
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #479,119 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical Ethnography: An Exemplar in Theory and Practice, May 24, 2000

By A Customer

This text in critical qualitative methodology is so clearly written and usefully crafted that it stands as an exemplar in its capacity to deliver both theory and practice related to conducting critical qualitative research. Carspecken delivers extremely practical and clear suggestions for conducting research, while including the reader in the theoretical dialogue entailed in the pratice of critical ethnography. I appreciated the way Carspecken did not foster any division between the practice of critical research and the theory of critical research.

The five stages outlined in his approach represent substantive features of conducting the research, not a five-stage recipe. These five stages are linked by a tightly knit theory of meaning. Each stage, then, has a substantive connection not only to the purposes of critical research, but to the epistemology of critical research. His personalistic style and wonderful examples make the theory and practice highly accessible.

There are too many novelties to this text to list them all, but one of the most important ones is the extent to which Carspecken contributes to critical method through the integration of important postmodern insights.

For anyone interested in qualitative research in general, and critical ethnography in particular, this book is a must.