In this reflection, I contextualize my own experiences conducting educational ethnography in a synchronous online kindergarten classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. I highlight how conducting research in online classrooms transforms ethnographic research methodologies and concepts such as the field site. I offer four suggestions, derived from my…

Ethnography as a methodological approach presents the fieldworker with many ethical crossroads throughout the research process. This is because of the unique position that ethnographers find themselves in, the environments that they research and the relationships which are formed. This paper presents four confessional vignettes from a broader…

Like everything else today, there is a changing pattern in education. Some obvious elements are education's social function, demographics, and technology. A fourth dimension is being added to function, audience, and technique, and that is research. Research is also being reorganized, and now it is becoming an issue in the colleges. When, for…

Recent federal education policies and reports have generated considerable debate about the meaning, methods, and goals of "scientific research" in mathematics education. Concentrating on the critical problem of determining which educational programs and practices reliably improve students' mathematics achievement, these policies and reports focus…

Federal support for answers to the question "What is really going on out there?" has increased interest in the use of ethnography as a research method for evaluation of educational programs. Pros and cons of the use of ethnography for educational research are discussed. (PR)

In this article, the author argues that there appears to be a thrust, at least from the federal government, to provide a rigid definition of what counts as "science": namely, randomized field trials. Code words for this method pervade the No Child Left Behind Act; the phrase "scientifically based research" occurs more than 100…

The value of the grounded theory approach to inquiry for the study and practice of higher education is discussed. It is suggested that there is a need to identify approaches to inquiry that maintain scientific validity while revealing meaningful responses to the complex problems of higher education. An approach that may be employed for this…

Three general approaches are available to help discipline the use of qualitative methods in educational research without sacrificing subjective understanding, according to this paper. The most private, least confirmable, yet richest approach is the intuitive, which depends on the researcher's thorough immersion in the field setting and…

Argues that there has been a tendency to limit claims of generalizability to educational research studies which could demonstrate an appropriate use of sampling theory. The results of field studies based on precise consistent observation can be used to interpret more general social behavior. (AM)

Questions and issues surrounding ethnographic research in educational settings are discussed from the viewpoint of the research manager responsible for directing large-scale research projects. The parts of an ethnographic study include: (1) conceptualizing the research project and determining if ethnographic methods are called for; (2) recruiting…

In the conduct of field studies, there are three different points at which data may be collected unobtrusively. The first is when there is a "search" for an area of study. The second point in which data may be gathered unobtrusively is when the researcher is attempting to further the analysis. The third point in which data are collected…

Noting the increasing interest in qualitative research in general and ethnographic research in particular, the authors of this report clarify the place of the latter within the former. The authors present six criteria for an ethnographic approach to education, illustrated with examples, and discuss ethnography's advantages and disadvantages. The…

Discusses the importance of field methods in education and social research. Highlights include the argument against antinaturalism; scientific realism and social science; challenges to the validity of inferences from field studies; and threats to the validity of field research. (Contains 52 references.) (LRW)

Ethnographic fieldwork is advocated as two ways for student affairs educators to enhance practice. Recent fieldwork and published ethnographic texts about college students are used to illustrate three benefits: (1) access to students' experience and culture; (2) access to student and campus culture; (3) enhance practice through informed…

Good educational practice relies increasingly on educational data, yet much of the present research findings are inconclusive or inapplicable. Difficulties in obtaining time, money, subjects, and appropriate designs have hindered experimental research studies. (FG)