ABSTRACT
In this chapter I want to look at an issue in the methodology of ethnographic research that has not been given the attention it deserves: the question of the generalisability of its findings. 1 I argued in the previous chapter, that the goal of any research is to provide information that is not only true, but which is also of relevance to issues of human concern (see Chapter 4). I could provide a true description of the items that are currently on the table at which I am writing and an explanation for their presence; but there are few, if any, circumstances under which this would or should be of interest to anyone, even me. Such an account, true though it might be, would be of litde relevance. In planning, as well as in assessing, ethnographic research, we must consider its relevance as well as its validity. Of considerable importance here is the question of how, as researchers and readers, we are able to generalise from findings about particular situations studied to conclusions that have such general relevance.
