A particularly useful general introduction to the use of ethnography for educational research:

LeCompte, M. & Preissle, J. Ethnography and Qualitative Design in Education Research. Academic Press, 1984.

Various journals:

• Qualitative Inquiry
• Qualitative Research

Bibliographies:

• Roberta-Anne Kerlin
• Some other works not included in Kerlin's list or on my syllabus. This was compiled and annotated by Kimberly Powell
  • Becker, H. Writing for Social Scientists. How to think and write about research  in a broad sense.
    
    Becker, H. Tricks of the Trade. "I like the interplay between these two books: The Merriam book is very thoughtful and straightforward with chapters on interviewing,  field observation, collecting artifacts, and so on.  The Becker book (Tricks of the Trade) is also thoughtful, but takes an entirely different cut through the process of social inquiry--with chapters on imagery, concepts, logic, etc."
    
    Delamont, S. (2001). Fieldwork in Educational Settings: Methods, Pitfalls and Perspectives. London, Falmer Press. "I ... hand out a copy of one page from this, a list called The Basic Rules (p. 151), which is the best concise guide to data analysis and analytic thinking that I know of."
    
    DeMarrais, K. B. (Ed.). (1998). Inside stories: Qualitative research reflections. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. ..."It helped students see research method decision-making from the perspectives of those who made the decisions.  It would be particularly useful in tandem with a curriculum that had students designing and initiating their own research projects."
    
    deMarrais, K. and S. D. Lapan, Eds. (2004). Foundations for Research: Methods of Inquiry in Education and the Social Sciences. Inquiry and Pedagogy across Diverse Contexts. Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum. An anthology.
    
    Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.) (1998). Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry. Sage Publications. A good comprehensive text for beginners.
    
    Emerson, R. Fretz, R., & Shaw, L. (1995) Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Antrhopological and sociological research perspectives and guidance.
    
    Esterberg, K.D. (2002). Qualitative Methods in Social Research. McGraw-Hill.
    
    Glesne, C. (1999). Becoming Qualitative Researchers:  An Introduction. New York, Longman. Others also recommended previous editions, published with Alan Peshkin. Very accessible for students in an intro course.
    
    Hammersely, M.  &  P.  Atkinson. Ethnography: Principles in Practice. "... a single introductory discussion I still like the best of all...."
    
    LeCompte, M., & Schensul, J. (Eds.). (1999). The Ethnographer's Toolkit.  Rowman and Littlefield's Altamira Press. 7 books.
    Book #1:  "a general introduction to the uses, implementation, data collection strategies, and analyses of
    qualitative and ethnographic data. It includes a section on research designs and one on IRBs and how to work with them. Those aren't usually included in general texts."
    #2: Essential Ethnographic Methods. "I find volume 2 especially useful for students."
    #3: Focus groups, Elicitation techniques, audio and video recording.
    #5: Analysis techiques (both quant. and qual.), chapter on statistics, coding, inductive analysis, displaying data, and interpretation
    #6. Researcher role and research partnerships, IRBs.
    
    Mason, J. Qualitative Researching, 2nd edition, Sage Publications. Clearly written: "... students often remark on how useful it is in the class and later as they prepare their own dissertation proposals."
    
    Maxwell, J.A. (2005). Qualitative Research Design. An Interactive Approach (Second Edition). Sage Publications. Straightforward information that students find very useful in terms of guiding research design. Sample design very helpful.
    
    Merriam, S. Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. "I like the interplay between these two books: The Merriam book is very thoughtful and straightforward with chapters on interviewing,  field observation, collecting artifacts, and so on.  The Becker book (Tricks of the Trade) is also thoughtful, but takes an entirely different cut through the process of social inquiry--with chapters on imagery, concepts, logic, etc."
    
    Nespor, J. website: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/nespor/ "Although not a part of course work, I want to add that one of the best resources I have found for actually *doing* qualitative research is Jan
    Nespor's website."
    
    Rossman, and Rallis, S. Learning in the Field. Follows three graduates students through their first qualitative course.
    
    Seidman, I.E. (1991). Interviewing as Qualitative Research. A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. Teachers College Press. Small and easy to read for beginners.
    
    UGA (University of Georgia) introduction to qualitative research website: http://www.coe.uga.edu/leap/qual/index.html)
    
    Wax, R. (1971). Doing Fieldwork, Warnings and Advice. Recommended for those who will do extended ethnographic fieldwork, drawing from author's own experience.
    
    Weis, L. & Fine, M. (2000). Speed Bumps: A Student-Friendly Guide to Qualitative Research. New York: Teachers College Press. " I used [it] with undergraduate seniors and they really liked it."
    
    Weiss, R. (1995). The Art and practice of Qualitative Interview Studies. Out of print but available through Amazon.com
    
    Whyte, W. (1984). Learning from the Field. Recommended for those doing extended ethnographic fieldwork, drawing from author's own experience.