Researching Culture

"A long-overdue book and one that is a most-welcome addition to the literature. . . . Now students of cultural studies have a way of empirically informing and connecting their work to the many traditions, perspectives, methods, and strategies that constitute qualitative research, which is a field in its own right. Pertti Alasuutari's work is clearly written, concrete in terms of examples and details, and thoroughly conversant with the most recent controversies that define these two fields of inquiry." --Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign In this comprehensive volume, Pertti Alasuutari introduces approaches and methodological tools available for undertaking critical and rigorous research. Three main methods are considered: the qualitative traditions of sociological and anthropological research, including ethnography and symbolic interactionism; methods for studying images and language, including semiotics, narrative analysis, conversation analysis, and discourse analysis; and the relevance of quantitative analysis to the kind of data produced by research on culture. This fascinating volume will appeal to researchers, scholars, and students in cultural studies, language and discourse analysis, and qualitative methods.