Fieldwork in Educational Settings : Methods, Pitfalls and Perspectives

Fieldwork in Educational Settings is widely recognised as part of the essential reading for the researcher in education. It instructs those new to qualitative educational research how to find interesting research sites, collect great data, analyse them responsibly, and then find the right audience to hear, use, and build upon their findings successfully.

The revised and updated third edition includes the latest developments in authoethnography, data collection, analysis and dissemination, and is illustrated throughout with up-to-the minute examples of real world research. It embraces both sociological and anthropological approaches to qualitative educational research, using case studies from the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as the UK. ‘Education’ is treated broadly, including higher education and non-formal settings as well as schools. Threaded throughout the book is updated content on:

• the internet and virtual worlds as sites for ethnography,
• the ethical aspects of ethnographic research,
• the strengths and weaknesses of autoethnography,
• the debates about representing data,
• the impact of technological innovations in all stages of qualitative research.

An indispensable introduction for students and novice researchers alike, the new edition continues to illustrate and sustain the increasing popularity of qualitative methods in educational research over the past thirty years, addressing the technological and digital changes that have occurred.

Sara Delamont is Reader in Social Sciences at Cardiff University, UK