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Engaging the Sociological Imagination: My Journey into Design Research and Public Sociology
Author(s) -
Mehan Hugh
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
anthropology and education quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1548-1492
pISSN - 0161-7761
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1492.2008.00006.x
Subject(s) - sociology , sociological imagination , sociological research , ethnography , wright , educational research , phenomenon , public sociology , social science , sociological theory , epistemology , anthropology , art history , art , philosophy
I chronicle the changes in my research, especially those that have moved me closer to C. Wright Mills's call for a “sociological imagination” and Dell Hymes's reinvented anthropology. As I spend more time attempting to create and describe equitable educational environments and less time documenting educational inequality, I have adopted a version of “design research.” I describe the possibilities and limitations of trying to conduct research while participating in the phenomenon under investigation. [sociological imagination, critical ethnography, public sociology, design research]