Mapping Social Relations: A Primer in Doing Institutional Ethnography / Edition 1

by Marie L. Campbell, Frances Gregor

Overview

This is a book about a distinctive methodological approach inspired by one of Canada’s most respected scholars, Dorothy Smith. Institutional ethnography aims to answer questions about how everyday life is organized. What is conventionally understood as “the relationship of micro to macro processes” is, in institutional ethnography, conceptualized and explored in terms of ruling relations.The authors suggest that institutional ethnographers must adopt a particular research stance, one that recognizes that people’s own knowledge and ways of knowing are crucial elements of social action and thus of social analysis. Specific attention to text analysis is integral to the approach as is a sensitive to gender relations.

Institutional ethnography is remarkably well suited to the human service curriculum and the training of professionals and activists. Its strategy for learning how to understand problems existing in everyday life appeals to many researchers who are looking for guidance on how to take practical action. At the same time, the highly elaborated theoretical foundation of institutional ethnography is difficult to deal with in the brief time most students are in the classroom. The authors successfully tackle the issue of teaching and applying institutional ethnography. Campbell and Gregor have been testing out instructional methods and materials for many years. MAPPING SOCIAL RELATIONS is the product of that effort.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759107526
Publisher:	AltaMira Press
Publication date:	09/07/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.09(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Marie L. Campbell is professor in the Faculty of Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Frances Gregor is an associate professor in the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Finding a Place to Begin Chapter 3 Theory "in" Everyday Life Chapter 4 Beginning an Institutional Ethnography Chapter 5 Collecting Data for an Institutional Ethnography Chapter 6 Analyzing Data in Institutional Ethnography Chapter 7 Putting Institutional Ethnography into Practice

Editorial Reviews

For those of us in the U.S. who search for a powerful method of inquiry for critical social analysis, Mapping Social Relations makes a thorough and long-needed contribution.--Lois-Andre Bechely, California State University, Los Angeles

From the Publisher

For those of us in the U.S. who search for a powerful method of inquiry for critical social analysis, Mapping Social Relations makes a thorough and long-needed contribution.

Lois-Andre Bechely