Ethnography and Field Based Research in Education

A Methodological Plea

Harpreet Kaur Jass

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040403280
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Research in Education

This book explores the interlinkages between education and ethnography within the Indian context. It looks at the key role ethnography can play in understanding the fundamental issues within the discipline of education.

It examines the complexities of undertaking ethnographic research in the field of education and pedagogy—from conceptualising to analysis and the final phase of writing your research. The volume discusses ethnography as an assistive tool, a method, and a research design to present the issues of educational debates on its disciplinary status and identifiable areas of study. The chapters weave a relevant premise to study what happens in schools from different vantage points such as psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and sociology. In a scenario where only a few works have used ethnography as a primary methodology to explore the nuances in education, this book discusses ethnographic methods and explains how it is conducted. The book also offers unique methods to analyse and write ethnographic data.

The book will be of interest to students, researchers, and teachers of departments of education, anthropology, sociology of education, urban education, politics of education, and teacher education institutions. It will also be useful for education policymakers, educationalists, and education professionals.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Acronyms
• Introduction
• 1 Education, Field Work and Ethnography
• 2 Development and Execution of Ethnography
• 3 Ethnographic Spaces and Educational Ideas
• 4 Analysing, Writing and Presenting Data
• 5 Reflexivity: Tool or Method?
• Conclusion
• References
• Index