Qualitative Research: An Introduction to Methods and Designs

Defining Elements of Critical Ethnography

As with any methodology, critical ethnography is employed differently by different researchers, but there are some common characteristics that can be found in the vast majority of critical ethnographic work. I provided an explanation of critical ethnography at the beginning of this chapter, but I'd like to expand on that explanation here by discussing some of the defining elements of critical ethnography. These elements, in fact, are what make critical ethnography critical.

Illuminating Both Structure and Agency

Critical approaches to ethnography (Anderson, 1989; Carspecken, 1996; Carspecken & Walford, 2001; Foley, 1990; Levinson, Foley, & Holland, 1996; Roman & Apple, 1990; Willis, 1977) attend to both ...