An Invitation to Ethnomethodology: Language, Society and Interaction

by David Francis, Stephen Hester

This book offers a new and rigorous approach to observational sociology that is grounded in ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Throughout the authors encourage the reader to explore the social world at first hand, beginning with the immediate family context and then moving out into the public realm and organizational life. Examples of observational analysis are given with reference to topic areas such as family life, education, medicine, crime and deviance, and the reader is shown how to conduct their own inquiries, using methods and materials that are readily and ordinarily available. Drawing on both original material and published studies, Francis and Hester demonstrate how observational sociology can be carried out with an attention to detail typically overlooked by more traditional ethonographic approaches.

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

David Francis, based in Los Angeles where he works for the Norton Rose Fulbright law firm, spends part of each year back on his family’s farm in Australia. He is the author of The Great Inland Sea, published to acclaim in seven countries, and Stray Dog Winter, Book of the Year in The Advocate, winner of the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Prize for Literature, and a LAMBDA Literary Award Finalist. He has taught creative writing at UCLA, Occidental College, and in the Masters of Professional Writing program at USC. His short fiction and articles have appeared in publications including Harvard Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Southern California Review, Best Australian Stories, Australian Love Stories, and The Rattling Wall. He is Vice President of PEN Center USA.

Reviews

[Sandro Brincher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este livro oferece uma efetiva e acessível introdução à Etnometodologia e à Análise da Conversa.
Ao longo da obra, os autores incentivam o leitor a explorar o mundo social em primeira mão, começando com o contexto familiar e terminando com o domínio público e a vida organizacional. Os exemplos são dados com referência a áreas temáticas, como vida familiar, educação, medicina, crime e desvio. O leitor é estimulado a descobrir como conduzir suas próprias investigações, usando métodos e materiais disponíveis a qualquer um.
Francis e Hester defendem a ideia de que é possível ser um dedicado observador social sem necessariamente passar por estudos exegéticos da tradição sociológica, e demonstram que um dos caminhos para isso é dar atenção aos detalhes geralmente negligenciados pelas abordagens etnográficas mais tradicionais, que é exatamente o "método" utilizado pela Etnometodologia: tratar com importância aquilo que é dado como garantido por outras áreas do conhecimento.