Ethnographies and qualitative methodology

[Alterman]

Hello everyone,

Which top schools are better for qualitative focus, especially on ethnographies?

I'm currently studying Anthropology (M.A), and thinking about applying for a PhD in sociology. I heard a disturbing rumor that qualitative research is not as popular or appreciated.

What do you think?

[RefurbedScientist]

There is a healthy running debate on these boards about the relative esteem given to ethnography in sociology. I recommend looking back through some old posts.

My impression is that, on a whole, qualitative research is a fundamental and well respected part of sociology. Unlike basic statistics, there are rarely required courses in qualitative methods, though I think all departments offer them. Ethnography is a bit of a unique case, however. There are, of course, many very notable ethnographers in sociology (I think many Soc 101 students read Mitch Duneier's Sidewalk), but it's not the core method as it is in anthropology. That being said, very good ethnographers stand to do very well in sociology. Mediocre ethnographers stand to do mediocre. All that said, there is no reason why someone interested in ethnography should not pursue sociology. I would, however, recommend that your statement of purpose temper any methodological zeal (especially for ethnography), because most programs will expect you to go through their methods training hoops, which include invariably some quantitative methods.

As for programs, I won't give you an exhaustive list, but I will suggest NYU, Chicago, Princeton, and CUNY as starting points*. Some ethnographers worth looking at include Eric Klinenberg at NYU and Mario Small at Chicago. You will find that, unlike anthropology, sociological ethnography tends to focus on the U.S. context. Notable examples (that I've read, so take with a grain of salt) include Javier Auyero (UT), Sujatha Fernandes (CUNY), and Jocelyn Viterna (Harvard), who actually does multi-method research very well. All three of those scholars do research in Latin America/Carib.

And check out this discussion (and others) on the OrgTheory blog about ethnographers in sociology:

http://orgtheory.wor...s-in-sociology/

*Edit: I should add that a useful method for finding the "pulse" of a sub-field or method is to look at recent graduates from the top programs in that respective area. Admittance to none of these (or any) programs is no cake walk, so it's worth seeing where their graduates ended up.

Edited July 30, 2012 by SocialGroovements

[barilicious]

UT will be opening an urban ethnography lab next year:

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/sociology/news/4663

[RefurbedScientist]

UT will be opening an urban ethnography lab next year:

http://www.utexas.ed...ology/news/4663

Whaaaaaaat?

That's so cool.

[RefurbedScientist]

You will find that, unlike anthropology, sociological ethnography tends to focus on the U.S. context. Notable examples (that I've read, so take with a grain of salt) include Javier Auyero (UT), Sujatha Fernandes (CUNY), and Jocelyn Viterna (Harvard), who actually does multi-method research very well. All three of those scholars do research in Latin America/Carib.

Woops, I meant to say that notable exceptions include... That is, a lot of ethnography in sociology focuses on the (urban) United States, but the names I mentioned there are exceptions to that norm in that they do research in/on Latin America.

Can't edit for some reason...

[sciencegirl]

Northwestern Northwestern Northwestern... arguably one of the best in terms of qualitative methods, ethnography, culture - I heard some phD sociology student recently did a documentary as a component of his diss.. (though not sure how confirmed this was). They seemed to be the most open to ethnography and qualitative methods of all the programs I was looking at.

[TheBoxInspector]

I would also add UCLA to your list. They have people like Stefans Timmerman, Jack Katz, CK Lee, and a lot of people who do cultural sociology.