Thinking Ethnographically

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.

This brilliant new book by Paul Atkinson offers scholars and students alike foundational insights on how to conduct ethnography based on granular analysis, that is work that traces the grain of everyday life. This book has a  commanding grasp of the many traditions that define contemporary ethnographic inquiry.  It  will define ethnographic inquiry for the next decade. For this we are in Atkinson′s  debt., ‘A deceptively simple tour de force by a master of ethnography. An essential text for all students and teachers of the method’s theory and practice.’, A masterclass by a master ethnographer on how to make sense of qualitative data., A vital contribution. And all the more timely, given the continuing explosion of qualitative and ethnographic research.

Paul Atkinson is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University. Recent publications include For Ethnography (SAGE 2014) and Thinking Ethnographically (SAGE 2017). The fourth book in his quartet will be Crafting Ethnography, also for SAGE. The fourth edition of Hammersley and Atkinson Ethnography: Principles in Practice was published by Routledge in 2019. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and of the Learned Society of Wales.