Ethnography

[aknut]

I've been looking through the department websites of various universities to find out more about their programs, but find that some can be quite vague. Browsing through the various threads on this forum, everyone's talking about how important it is to find a program that fits your interest but I'm not really sure how you can tell from how vague some of the descriptions can be. 

 

My starting point in researching the universities has been rankings, and so far the program I'm most interested in is Northwestern for their focus on ethnography but can't really find a professor I would really like to work with. Was wondering if anyone could enlighten me on other programs that might have a similar focus? 

[qeta]

My suggestions would be NYU and Berkeley.

[MaxWeberHasAPosse]

CU Boulder is a top qualitative/ethnographic program.

[victorydance]

I've been looking through the department websites of various universities to find out more about their programs, but find that some can be quite vague. Browsing through the various threads on this forum, everyone's talking about how important it is to find a program that fits your interest but I'm not really sure how you can tell from how vague some of the descriptions can be. 

 

My starting point in researching the universities has been rankings, and so far the program I'm most interested in is Northwestern for their focus on ethnography but can't really find a professor I would really like to work with. Was wondering if anyone could enlighten me on other programs that might have a similar focus? 

 

You tell by looking at what the profs study not anything else. 

[MBDT]

First, look for an ethnography workshop. Some schools make their workshops quite prominent, so they should be easy to find. (eg: Princeton, here: https://sociology.princeton.edu/research-clusters). Find out how often it meets, what faculty are involved, and how many students typically participate. This will give you a sense of how active the ethnography community is within that department.

 

Second, look for well-published ethnographers within the department. Their research interests don't have to necessarily align with yours. Ethnography is a methodology, not a substantive research interest (unless you want to become a methodologist), so your goal in working with an ethnographer will be to develop those concrete skills -- many of those are transferrable across a wide range of sites.

 

Third, look for faculty who do have substantive interests in your area. This will provide you with someone who can guide you theoretically, even if they are not an ethnographer by training. Remember -- you don't want to choose a program for that one person you want to work with. If possible, try to pick schools that have at least 4-5 people whose interests relate to yours (note that I said "relate," not "align" -- they don't have to be perfect matches!)

 

All of the top programs are generalist departments, and they all have folks who do quantitative and qualitative work. Even though Northwestern may have a reputation for qualitative work, that is not to say that you would not also receive stellar training at institutions with a reputation for quantitative work. It's about the individual faculty you find at these places, not the reputation of the overall department. I really, really wanted to attend UCLA for grad school, but after spending hours reading their faculty's CVs (and by hours, I mean probably 20+), I just couldn't find anyone, so I was forced to take them off my list. Give Northwestern another shot, but don't feel they're your only option for qualitative work!

Edited May 2, 2015 by MBDT

[theoryoftheories]

Unfortunately no one has compiled this kind of information into a searchable database (hey -- there is a fun research project!). As has been mentioned, pouring over CVs and bibliographies remains the best method of collecting this data. Good luck!