This title is invaluable reading for anyone collecting data through observation. Innovative and thought provoking, it is a refreshing take on ethnography stressing both academic rigor and practical necessity. It combines theoretical perspective with tangible action plans and walks you step-by-step through designing, conducting and evaluating ethnographic research.

The book skilfully introduces the varied tasks and decisions you need to consider before entering the field - helping you to avoid common mistakes and to conduct safe, ethical research.

The redesigned second edition has cutting edge case studies and examples from across the social sciences and has an embedded awareness of the importance of digital research tools and social media. It also includes a detailed discussion of:

• Autoethnography


• Digital Ethnography


• Visual Ethnography


• Feminist Ethnography


• Managing and Analysing data

Supported by a companion website with real world case studies, journal articles and essay questions this is an ideal companion to every novice researcher.

Part One: The Methodology
What is Ethnography?
Method or Methodology? Locating Ethnography in the Methodological Continuum
Ethnography: Approaches, Methods and Personalities
Key Ethnographic Approaches
Research Design
Ethnographic Sample Design
Part Two: Working the Field
Entering the Field
Ethical Dilemmas
How to Observe
What to Observe: Social Structures, Talk-in-Interactions and Contexts
Ethnographic Interview
Ethnography as a Craft
Part Three: Analyzing Ethnographic Data and Theory Building
Coding and Analyzing Ethnographic Data
Politics of Accountability
Part Four: Audiences
Communicating Findings, Writing Ethnographies
Leaving the Field
The 'Visual Society': A Chance for Applied Ethnography

Giampietro Gobo is Professor of Methodology of Social Research and Sociology of Science at the University of Milan (Italy). He was one of the founders of the 'Qualitative Methods' Research Network of the European Sociological Association.
His interests concern scientific controversies on health issues and workplace studies. He is currently undertaking projects on immunization and COVID-19 policies, and ethnographic experiments in the area of cooperation in small teamwork. His books include Doing Ethnography (Sage, 2008), Qualitative Research Practice (co-edited with C. Seale, J. F. Gubrium and D. Silverman, Sage, 2004) and Constructing Survey Data: An Interactional Approach (with S. Mauceri, Sage, 2014).