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Ethnographic discovery after fieldwork with troubled youth

Åkerström, Malin LU and Wästerfors, David LU (2021) p.171-189
Abstract
The cultivation of ethnographic discovery is not only about being insightful in the field by paying attention to unexpected events and unforeseen social processes. We should also search for potentially surprising or disturbing findings after the fieldwork. This can provide additional ways to create an original and sustainable understanding of research material. In this chapter, we discuss a study of a public youth care project in Sweden to exemplify post- fieldwork ethnographic discovery. While attentively processing field notes, transcripts and documents and bracketing conventional social problems in the settings, it was possible to discover an unexpected but striking emphasis on meetings ... (More)
The cultivation of ethnographic discovery is not only about being insightful in the field by paying attention to unexpected events and unforeseen social processes. We should also search for potentially surprising or disturbing findings after the fieldwork. This can provide additional ways to create an original and sustainable understanding of research material. In this chapter, we discuss a study of a public youth care project in Sweden to exemplify post- fieldwork ethnographic discovery. While attentively processing field notes, transcripts and documents and bracketing conventional social problems in the settings, it was possible to discover an unexpected but striking emphasis on meetings and administrative work among the service professionals, which the fieldworkers, unbeknownst to them, had inadvertently documented but not reflected upon analytically. This provided an empirical platform for post- fieldwork creativity, eventually generating a number of publications and new research ideas. The chapter ends with an attempt to turn our experiences from the youth project into proposed guidelines for how to discover unanticipated topics in ethnographic data after fieldwork has ended by way of key readings. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
ethnography human service administration troubled youth
host publication
Doing Human Service Ethnography
editor
Jacobsson, Katarina and Gubrium, Jaber
pages
19 pages
publisher
Polity Press
ISBN
978-1-4473-5579-3
978-1-4473-5580-9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6491bea8-8e5e-4c04-9720-de15a572b60f
alternative location
https://library.oapen.org/viewer/web/viewer.html?file=/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/49673/9781447355809.pdf?sequence=14&isAllowed=y
date added to LUP
2021-12-30 14:28:01
date last changed
2023-02-06 11:26:26
@inbook{6491bea8-8e5e-4c04-9720-de15a572b60f,
  abstract     = {{The  cultivation  of  ethnographic  discovery  is  not  only  about  being  insightful in the field by paying attention to unexpected events and unforeseen  social  processes.  We  should  also  search  for  potentially  surprising or disturbing findings after the fieldwork. This can provide additional ways to create an original and sustainable understanding of research material. In this chapter, we discuss a study of a public youth care  project  in  Sweden  to  exemplify  post-  fieldwork  ethnographic  discovery.  While  attentively  processing  field  notes,  transcripts  and  documents and bracketing conventional social problems in the settings, it  was  possible  to  discover  an  unexpected  but  striking  emphasis  on  meetings  and  administrative  work  among  the  service  professionals,  which  the  fieldworkers,  unbeknownst  to  them,  had  inadvertently  documented  but  not  reflected  upon  analytically.  This  provided  an  empirical platform for post- fieldwork creativity, eventually generating a number of publications and new research ideas. The chapter ends with  an  attempt  to  turn  our  experiences  from  the  youth  project  into proposed guidelines for how to discover unanticipated topics in ethnographic data after fieldwork has ended by way of key readings.}},
  author       = {{Åkerström, Malin and Wästerfors, David}},
  booktitle    = {{Doing Human Service Ethnography}},
  editor       = {{Jacobsson, Katarina and Gubrium, Jaber}},
  isbn         = {{978-1-4473-5579-3}},
  keywords     = {{ethnography human service administration troubled youth}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{171--189}},
  publisher    = {{Polity Press}},
  title        = {{Ethnographic discovery after fieldwork with troubled youth}},
  url          = {{https://library.oapen.org/viewer/web/viewer.html?file=/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/49673/9781447355809.pdf?sequence=14&isAllowed=y}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}