How does shared identity between researcher and the researched influence trust-building for data generation and knowledge production? We reflect on this question based on two separate studies conducted by African-based researchers in sociology and political science in Nigeria. We advanced two interrelated positions. The first underscores the…

This paper explores ethnographic fieldwork as moral laboratories. Drawing upon two episodes in my field encounters in Southwest China, I illustrate the nature of our method as a form of moral striving and experimentation. Fieldwork is a stage where practical actions become vulnerable ethical dramas in search for the situated good. Fieldwork…

This article examines the processes of educational ethnography and questions the traditional use of the field notebook and research relationships. It forms part of an ongoing collaborative study analyzing university students' learning trajectories. Guided by inclusive ethics, the study proposes that researcher-participant collaboration is…

Writing fieldnotes is an important part of ethnographic research. However, there is a striking lack of discussions about how different ways of producing fieldnotes may influence ethnographic research and meaning-making. The use of "shorthand notation" is sometimes mentioned as a tool to increase the speed and efficiency of note-taking,…

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…

In this paper, we argue for a view of analysis as an embodied practice and review others' testimonies of carrying out multimodal ethnography. This review suggests that metaphors are key for communicating what happens to "us" in the course of the research and our subsequent sense-making practices. We identify four metaphors for…

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…

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).…

While the importance of ethnographic research in developing new knowledge is widely recognised, there remains minimal detailed description and discussion of the actual practice and processes involved in completing ethnographic fieldwork. The first author's experiences and struggles as an ethnographer of a group of young men from two locations (a…

Fieldnotes help researchers document research activities and position themselves in the field, invariably constructing the research, the researcher and the knowledges produced. Yet the process of how fieldnotes are produced often remains invisible. These "Notes from the Field" explore one doctoral student's experiences writing…

The aim of this paper is to discuss the development and evolution of particular personas adopted by researchers in the quest for rich exchanges within the social field. It analyses my role (the principal author) as a female ethnographer (and the sole female) in the world of elite male rowing. Data are drawn from personal notes, reflections and…

Fieldnotes are central to ethnographic practice, yet there is surprisingly little written about how fieldnotes are constructed. This article reports the results of some interviews with four well-known ethnographers of education who were questioned about their practice. It is designed to be a resource for those new (and, maybe not so new) to…

Working in unfamiliar contexts and often alone, fieldworkers may face challenges for which their training and previous experience has not prepared them. While there is literature about the technical, ethical and moral aspects of fieldwork, there is little focusing on fieldworkers' actual experiences. Additionally, there is little constructive…

This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork that took place in 2004 in a boys' "hifz" class which met in a north-east London mosque. Drawing on the results of semi-participant observations and semi-structured interviews, the research findings are collated under five themes: the routines and rhythms of the "hifz" class; routes…

The apparent simplicity of ethnographic methods--studying people in their normal life setting, going beyond what might be said in surveys and interviews to observe everyday practices--is deceptive. Anthropological knowledge is gained through fieldwork and through pursuing a reflexive flexible approach. This study carried out in a non-government…