Doing Fieldwork

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Introduction to Ethnographic Research Methods

   1. Introduction to Ethnographic Research Methods

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 1-13

3. Methods for Macro-Level Research

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

      PDF

   2. Using Historical Sources for Ethnographic Research

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 17-31

   3. Contemporary Scholarly Sources and a Theoretical Orientation

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 33-51

   4. Newspapers and Government Documents: Popular and Official Sources of Information

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 53-67

4. Methods for Micro-Level Research

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 69-69

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   2. Participant-Observation as a Research Method

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 71-92

   3. Interviewing

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 93-106

   4. Self-Reporting

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 107-116

5. Putting the Ethnography Together

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 117-117

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   2. Analysis

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 119-137

   3. Creating and Testing Theory

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 139-147

   4. Academic and Practical Writing

      • Wayne Fife

      Pages 149-158

6. Back Matter

   Pages 159-174

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Making use of his own research experiences in Papua New Guinea, Southern Ontario, and Newfoundland, Wayne Fife teaches students and new researchers how to prepare for research, conduct a study, analyze the material (e.g. create new social and cultural theory), and write academic or policy oriented books, articles, or reports. The reader is taught how to combine historic and contemporary documents (e.g. archives, newspapers, government reports) with fieldwork methods (e.g. participant-observation, interviews, and self-reporting) to create ethnographic studies of disadvantaged populations. Anthropologists, Sociologists, Folklorists and Educational researchers will equally benefit from this critical approach to research.

• Cultural Theory
• ethnography
• methods
• sociology

"I like many things about this book, but for the teacher and the student the most critical issue is one of utility. If one wants a compact single volume that takes the student from conceptualization, through research plan and field practice, to writing for different audiences, this book is an excellent tool for the job." - Oriol Pi-Sunyer, University of Massachusetts

"By focusing on problems and methods of fieldwork among disadvantaged groups, Fife's book becomes an exceptionally useful guide for the production of ethnographies that speak to key social issues. The continued vitality of anthropology depends upon recovering its capacity to surprise us, both descriptively and analytically. You have before you a guide to field research on the production of history, power, and inequality that will take you a long way toward that goal." - Gerald Sider, City University of New York

WAYNE FIFE is Associate Professor and Head of Anthropology at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, USA.

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