Introduction
PART ONE: GETTING IN
Playing Back the Tape - John Van Maanen
Early Days in the Field
Sponsors, Gatekeepers, Members and Friends - Robert G Burgess
Access in Educational Settings
Female Researchers in Male-Dominated Settings - Joan Neff Gurney
Implications for Short-Term Versus Long-Term Research
Experiencing Research on New Religions and Cults - James T Richardson
Practical and Ethical Considerations
Managing a Convincing Self-Presentation - William Shaffir
Some Personal Reflections on Entering the Field
PART TWO: LEARNING THE ROPES
A Walk Through the Wilderness - David M Fetterman
Learning to Find Your Way
Secrecy and Disclosure in Fieldwork - Richard G Mitchell Jr
The Researcher Talks Back - Christine Griffin
Dealing With Power Relations in Studies of Young People¿s Entry to the Job Market
Encountering the Marketplace - Robert Prus
Achieving Intimate Familiarity with Vendor Activity
Recognizing and Analyzing Local Cultures - Jaber F Gubrium
PART THREE: MAINTAINING RELATIONS
Field Relations and the Discourse of the Other - Peter McLaren
Collaboration in Our Own Ruin
Maintaining Relationships in a School for the Deaf - A Donald Evans
Stability and Flexibility - Patricia A Adler and Peter Adler
Maintaining Relations Within Organized and Unorganized Groups
Fieldworkers¿ Feelings - Sherryl Kleinman
What We Feel, Who We Are, How We Analyze
Fragile Ties - Ramona M Asher and Gary Alan Fine
Shaping Research Relationships with Women Married to Alcoholics
PART FOUR: LEAVING AND KEEPING IN TOUCH
High Risk Methodology - Daniel Wolff
Reflections on Leaving an Outlaw Society
Leaving, Revisiting, and Staying in Touch - Charles P Gallmeier
Neglected Issues in Field Research
Gone Fishing, Be Back Later - Ilene M Kaplan
Ending and Resuming Research Among Fishermen
Leaving the Field - Steven J Taylor
Research, Relationships, and Responsibilities
Do We Ever Leave the Field? Notes on Secondary Fieldwork Involvements - Robert A Stebbins

How do you gain entry into a research setting? What tricks are there to learning the rules of the community without alienating the people you came to study? How are good relations maintained with informants? What happens after you leave the field? In Experiencing Fieldwork top ethnographers address these and other questions, bring fieldwork alive for the reader and provide invaluable advice for those entering the field.