ERIC Number: ED167954
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1978
Pages: 15
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Ethnographic Research in the Reading Class.
Forester, Anne D.; Mickelson, Norma I.
Ethnographic research in reading examines process more than outcomes of instruction, considers environmental factors, and studies the behavior of individual learners. There are few descriptive studies in reading to guide researchers in ethnographic research. Some aspects of planning such a study include gaining permission from school administrators and teachers to enter the classroom over a period of time, seeking the teacher's agreement on the frequency and duration of visits, assessing whether two or more children can be observed, adopting a system of recording, developing a consistent system of transcribing data so that verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication are recorded, and evolving a theoretical framework to analyze the data. Some problem areas in this type of research may include difficulties in recording interactions, having the principal researcher in the classroom during much of the recording, and expense. Some of the benefits of this type of research are that it ends the separation of the researcher from the classroom, it serves as a bridge between the theory and practice of reading, and it may add new interest and skill to the teacher's work. (Charts with suggestions for recording data are included.) (TJ)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Guides - General; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference (28th, St. Petersburg Beach, Florida, November 30-December 2, 1978) ; Best copy available