The notion of the ethnographer as participant observer, as an active agent rather than passive observer, is well established within conversations about method and methodology. Less well explored is the extent to which the inherent curiosity and inquisitiveness of the ethnographer might be reciprocated: how might this be established and how might…

Language-focused ethnobiological research can be a challenging endeavour, even when research teams are able to access their field sites and talk to consultants in person. The challenges are compounded when research must be carried out remotely. In this paper, we present our experiences in carrying out remote linguistic-ethnobiological research on…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the cultural issues and difficulties encountered when conducting ethnographic fieldwork and interviews in Myanmar and to discuss the measures to overcome such challenges. It aims to provide insight for foreign researchers seeking to collect rich, meaningful and reliable data while establishing…

This article explores how researchers adapt to disruptions that cost them access to their field sites, advancing a uniquely sociological perspective on the dynamics of flexibility and adaptation in qualitative methods. Through interviews with 31 ethnographers whose access was preempted or eliminated, I find that adaptation varied systematically…

The Alien Worlds project teaches ethnographic skills using the societies of dystopian, postapocalyptic, and science fiction texts as imagined field sites and targets for analysis. These exercises and assignments, which illustrate principles of qualitative fieldwork, were developed when COVID-19 precautions made it impossible to assign tasks that…

This paper analyzes how knowledge is reproduced as "universal" in contemporary higher education and how this production of universality influences the application of knowledge. Using a case study of clinical psychology, it describes the results of over two years of ethnographic fieldwork in a university and professional settings in…

The history of relationships between Roma/Sinti and non-Roma/non-Sinti is marked and crossed by negative features and trails: anti-ziganismus, asymmetric power relationships within institutions and the absence of social justice in the school toward Romani minorities. This article--starting from the negative aspects of the inter-ethnic relations…

This article analyzes the tension generated by the admission of Wichí youths to higher education in the province of Salta (Argentina). The main goal is to show how access to higher education generates continuities and discontinuities in the indigenous social organization. The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork that examined how young Wichí…

This article puts forward an experiential teaching method for becoming aware of, getting access to, and giving meaning to the sensory experiences that constitute and shape learning processes during social anthropological fieldwork. While social anthropologists use all their senses in the field, the preparation and processing of fieldwork are…

Prompted by discovering a paper written in 1980 which described a process of 'ethnography by proxy', I revisit this concept in the light of two research projects: a workplace study of an electronics company conducted in the early 1990s and a later home-based study of young children's encounters with toys and technology. The paper defines…

In qualitative methods, there are various approaches that can be used to answer particular social questions, for example ethnography and case study. Two studies conducted by different researchers in China and Australia using these approaches were described and analysed in order to find out their similarities and differences in terms of…

The challenges of conducting lengthy fieldwork in today's busy academic world have impacted the types of research that are able to be carried out. In particular, traditional educational ethnography has become problematic for research beyond initial doctoral research programs. This article analyzes data collected during a return to the field of a…

This article explores the role of drawing as a tool for reflection. It reports on a PhD research project that aims to identify and analyse the value that co-design processes can bring to participants and their communities. The research is associated with Leapfrog, a three-year project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).…

Research on school bullying has its roots in the field of developmental and educational psychology, and appeals to the need for a theoretical and methodological widening in order to grasp its ambiguity and complexity. The article draws on ethnographic fieldwork in which 144 pupils and seven teachers participated from seven school classes in three…

This article applies sociocultural theorizing as a tool to analyze children's collaborative cooking practices through the key sociocultural concepts of social interaction and collaboration within a school cooking club. The "everyday" activity of cooking is examined using field notes gathered through participant observations, diary…