ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore sites of ethnography, not physical sites of people studied but intellectual sites that frame how ethnography is being undertaken in particular ways. The approach we have taken complements recent discussions of ethnography and ethnographic research in the social sciences and education emphasizing the scope of topics, research designs, methods, and theoretical traditions as well as differences from other qualitative and quantitative approaches to research (e.g., Duranti, & Goodwin, 1992; Egan-Robertson, & Willett, in press; Guthrie, & Hall, 1984; Hammersley, 1990; Spindler, & Spindler, 1987; Zaharlick, & Green, 1991). Yet, at the same time, our approach intends to provide another way of looking at ethnography and ethnographic research. As Brian Street’s (1993b) review of Martyn Hammersley’s (1992) book, What’s Wrong With Ethnography? makes clear, ethnographic research has evolved and changed over the past 3 decades. Not only has the use of ethnography and ethnographic research become more sophisticated and researchers more aware of the complexities and issues involved, there have been important changes in what counts as ethnography and ethnographic research, who conducts such research, where and how the research agenda being pursued, and how such research contributes to evolving knowledge bases in education and the social sciences. These changes have led to enhanced understandings about how such research can be used to contribute to changes in various social institutions.
