ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author examines the case for practitioner ethnography. The author outlines the contexts out of which the proposal has arisen and the arguments used to support it. The author identifies three such arguments: that conventional ethnographic research is irrelevant to practice; that it is invalid because it lacks the insider perspective; and that it is exploitative. The author argues that while all research ought to be directed towards the production of findings that have practical relevance, such relevance can take indirect as well as direct, general as well as specific forms. The author outlines a model of specialist research which, for good reasons, tended to produce findings having indirect and general relevance. The author concludes that while there are forms of inquiry that are closely related to practical activities, and while these may usefully draw on ethnographic ideas, it is important to distinguish them from ethnography.
