A. Ethnographic Research: Ethnographic Challenges, Observational Field Research, and Gunzek's Synthesis of Ethnographic Research, Life Histories including Oral Histories, Case Studies; Focus Groups; and Participant-Observer Techniques

B. Key Concepts: causality (contingency, necessity, and logic); culture; grounded theory; thick description; emic and etic; replication (science model: ASTM E1847); confidentiality versus anonymity; pre-testing; follow-up; return rates; Likert scaling (equal appearing intervals); unidimensionality;

C. Key, Classic Readings:

1. Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (New York: Basic Books, 1973).

2. Catherine Marshall and Gretchen B. Rossman, Designing Qualitative Research, 5th ed. (London: Sage Publications, 2010).

3. Charles C. Ragin and Howard S. Becker, Eds. What is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).

4. Lawrence B. Mohr, “The Reliability of the Case Study as a Source of Information,” In Lee S. Sproull and Patrick D. Larkey, eds., Advances in Information Processing in Organizations, vol. 2 (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1985): 65-93.

5. Robert K. Yin, “The Case Study as a Serious Research Strategy,” Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization 3 (September 1981): 97-114. See also, Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 4th Edition, Applied Social Research Methods Series, vol. 5 (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2009).

6. (optional reading) Martin Bulmer, The Chicago School of Sociology: Institutionalization, Diversity, and the Rise of Sociological Research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.

Updated: 30 January 2013.