First Review of Interrogating Ethnography

The first review of Interrogating Ethnography has been published in Contexts, which is the membership journal of the American Sociological Association. Here is the opening paragraph:

Contexts, Fall 2017, Volume 16, Number 4)

Watching the ethnographers

by syed ali

Review of:

Interrogating Ethnography: Why Evidence Matters

By Steven Lubet

Oxford University Press, 2017

Steven Lubet is a lawyer and historian who is fascinated by ethnography. He thinks ethnographies are great, but asks how do we know they accurately portray reality? Because we (as readers and fellow researchers) generally don’t have access to the ethnographer’s field notes and interviews the way qualitative researchers more commonly make their data and codes public, the truth basis of ethnographies is basically “trust us.” That doesn’t cut it for this lawyer. The book takes an adversarial approach, putting ethnographies “on trial.” His purpose in the book is “to assess the use of evidence in ethnography— in terms of sources, collection, presentation, and dependability— by comparing it to the standards that have been developed to determine the reliability of evidence in law practice.” Let me cut to the chase and say I think this book is an essential critique of the most public-facing product sociology has to offer. This book really should be required in every sociology (and anthropology—I’m looking at you, too!) graduate methods class, and probably for undergrad methods classes, too. It’s a fast, easy read, and lays bare the issues in an admirably clear way that earns it the Contexts’ Seal of Approval™.

You can read the entire review here.