Overview

Examines the theory and methods by which social scientists study the human lived experienced.

Full Product Details

Author:   Robert Prus
Publisher:   State University of New York Press
Imprint:   State University of New York Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.658kg
ISBN:  

9780791432396

ISBN 10:   0791432394
Pages:   349
Publication Date:   16 January 1997
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

"Preface Part I. Establishing the Conceptual Foundations 1. Studying the Human Condition: An Interactionist Approach to the Ethnographic Venture Theoretical and Methodological Foundations Outlining the Premises Human Group Life is Intersubjective Human Group Life is (Multi)Perspectival Human Group Life is Reflective Human Group Life is Activity-based Human Group Life is Negotiable Human Group Life is Relational Human Group Life is Processual Conceptual and Methodological Implications 2. Subcultural Mosaics and Intersubjective Realities: Acknowledging Ambiguity, Activity, and Accomplishment Reformulating the Cultural Problematic Acknowledging the Subcultural Mosaic Culture as ""Something in the Making"" Attending to Subcultural Enterprises Working Notions of Subcultural Variants Local, Embedded, and Transcontextual Associations Totalizing, Focused, and Interfused Subcultures Cyclical, Occasional, and Supportive Subcultural Phenomena Toward a Conclusion 3. Subcultural Involvements: Experiencing, Forming, and Coordinating Subcultural Associations Becoming Involved in Subcultural Enterprises Getting Started (Initial Involvements) Sustaining and Intensifying Involvements (Continuities) Becoming Disinvolved Becoming Reinvolved Experiencing Subcultural Life-Worlds Acquiring Perspectives Achieving Identity Doing Activity Experiencing Relationships Experiencing Emotionality Developing Communicative Fluency Forming and Coordinating (Subcultural) Associations Establishing Associations Objectifying Associations Encountering Outsiders Part II. Pragmatizing the Social Sciences: A Research Agenda 4. Achieving Intersubjectivity, Managing Place and Space, and Maintaining Presence Subcultural Mosaics: Examining Realms of Human Endeavor Achieving Intersubjectivity Managing Symbolic Interchange Developing Stocks of Knowledge Dealing with Objects Managing Place and Space Acknowledging the Physical (Geographical) Environment Obtaining and Maintaining Spaces and Accommodations Achieving Mobility and Transportation Maintaining Presence Locating and Consuming Foods (Including Liquids and Other Substances) Developing and Using Clothing Providing Person-Directed Services Obtaining Negotiables for Exchange 5. Encountering the Other, Managing Morality, and Emphasizing Community Presence Encountering the Interpersonal Other Acknowledging Family Life Encountering the Broader Community Experiencing Intimacy and Sexuality Managing Intergroup Relations within the Community Venturing and Moving into New Communities Participating in Collective Events Managing Morality Participating in Religious and Cultic Movements Defining Propriety (and Deviance) Identifying Deviants and Regulating Deviance Becoming Involved in Deviance Emphasizing Community Presence Implementing Political (Governmental) Forums Creating Military Agendas and Agencies Enhancing Communications (and Generating the Media) 6. Experiencing the [Intersubjective] Self Acknowledging the Contextualized Self Attending to the Physical (Physiological and Imaged) Self Developing an Ownership Self Appreciating the Proficient and Accomplished Self Attending to the Relational Self Invoking the Tactical (Target and Tactician) Self Managing the Centralizing and Fragmented Self Toward a Conclusion Part III. Pursuing the Ethnographic Venture 7. Doing Ethnographic Research: Fieldwork As Practical Accomplishment (with Mary Lorenz Dietz and William Shaffir) Ethnographic Research The Ethnographic Advantage Clarifying Ethnographic Assumptions Accessing Human Lived Experience Methodological Practices Substantive Settings Analytical Foci Making Contact with the Other Interacting with the Other Managing Oneself in the Ethnographic Context Recording Information in Ethnographic Context Sampling Concerns Analyzing Human Lived Experiences Coding Ethnographic Materials Toward an Interactionist Analysis Contextualizing Human Lived Experiences 8. Writing Ethnographic Research Reports: Some Practical Considerations for Students (with William Shaffir and Mary Lorenz Dietz) Formatting the Ethnographic Text The Title: Providing Preliminary Directions The Introduction: Contextualizing the Study The Data and Analysis Taking a Natural History Approach (Studying Events) Studying Careers of Involvement Examining Role Performance (Activity) Exploring Subcultural Life-Worlds Developing Generic Social Process Projects The Conclusion Epilogues and Appendices References Assembling the Paper Managing the Data Writing for the Other References Index of Names Index of Terms"

Reviews

Prus has written a textbook on qualitative research--a textbook in the best sense of being the summation of a discipline presented in a manner that can be put to use by students. -- Marvin Scott, Hunter College, City University of New York This book is rich in texture and shines as exemplary in its practical application for both students and professionals who are engaged in ethnographic research. In fact, everyone doing field research must have this text as a handy reference. It is the best I have seen in both describing the nature of ethnographic research and taking the reader through the pragmatic process of field work, analysis, and writing up results. -- Helen Rose Ebaugh, University of Houston In addition to laying out an 'encyclopedia' of social processes, this book rethinks, in a fresh and stimulating manner, an old and tired concept--that of subculture. I would think that almost anyone who does qualitative research--whether in sociology, anthropology, education, nursing, or social policy and welfare would want a copy of this book on their shelves. -- Arnold Arluke, Northwestern University The topic of this book is, perhaps, the one most central to current debates and discussion on ethnography and intersubjective approaches to social science. -- Stanford M. Lyman, Florida Atlantic University

Author Information

Robert Prus is Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Waterloo. He is the author of Symbolic Interaction and Ethnographic Research: Intersubjectivity and the Study of Human Lived Experience, also published by SUNY Press, as well as Pursuing Customers: An Ethnography of Marketing Activities and Making Sales: Influence as Interpersonal Accomplishment. He is the co-author of Road Hustler: The Career Contingencies of Professional Card and Dice Hustlers; Hookers, Rounders, and Desk Clerks: The Social Organization of the Hotel Community; Road Hustler: Grifters, Magic, and the Thief Subculture; and Doing Everyday Life: Ethnography as Human Lived Experience.

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