About the Author

Jean J. Schensul is founding director and senior scientist at the Institute for Community Research in Hartford, Connecticut. Margaret D. LeCompte is professor emerita of education and sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Reviews

Ethnography in Action is an indispensable resource for community-based researchers, whether experienced or just starting off. It lights the way for any social scientist who desires to work alongside community members in mapping power dynamics, theorizing paths for social change, and communicating research beyond the academy. -- Krista Harper, University of Massachusetts Amherst
As ethnographers search for ways to make their research relevant to multiple publics, Jean Schensul and Margaret LeCompte provide a definitive treatment of collaborative, participatory ethnographic research. In clear, accessible language, the authors lead readers through the interfaces of research, theory, and praxis in which ethnography is a partnership designed to effect sustainable social change. Chock full of concrete examples from the authors' extensive ethnographic work, they address challenging issues of identifying research questions in tandem with local stakeholders, developing locally informed theory, designing ethnographic evaluations, and impacting public policy. There are lessons for those who teach applied ethnography as well. In a world in which solutions to problems must increasingly embrace the local and the global, Ethnography in Action is an indispensable guide to conducting principled and effective action research. -- Teresa L. McCarty