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Multi‐sited ethnography: Opportunities for the study of race
Author(s) -
Carney Nikita
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
sociology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1751-9020
DOI - 10.1111/soc4.12505
Subject(s) - ethnography , sociology , race (biology) , ethnic group , complement (music) , set (abstract data type) , gender studies , epistemology , social science , anthropology , computer science , biochemistry , chemistry , philosophy , complementation , programming language , gene , phenotype
Abstract Multi‐sited ethnography (MSE) is an underutilized research method that presents particular challenges and unique possibilities for generative research that can build upon existing theories of race and ethnicity. This review discusses the theoretical and methodological components of MSE and provides examples of both transnational and translocal ethnographic studies. These examples illustrate how MSE as a method can enrich analyses of race and ethnicity by enabling ethnographers to identify site‐specific phenomena as well as social processes that transcend a single locale. MSE, when intentionally paired with methodological framings in line with research priorities, can enable scholars to produce rigorous sociological analysis and theory building. Multi‐sited ethnographies of race can provide a set of analyses that complement a range of other sociological research tools, including single‐sited ethnography and quantitative studies, to deepen our understandings about the production and maintenance of racial and ethnic categories in the United States and transnationally.