Subcultural Mosaics and Intersubjective Realities

Robert Prus is Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Waterloo. He is the author of Symbolic Interaction and Ethnographic Research: Intersubjectivity and the Study of Human Lived Experience, also published by SUNY Press, as well as Pursuing Customers: An Ethnography of Marketing Activities and Making Sales: Influence as Interpersonal Accomplishment. He is the co-author of Road Hustler: The Career Contingencies of Professional Card and Dice Hustlers; Hookers, Rounders, and Desk Clerks: The Social Organization of the Hotel Community; Road Hustler: Grifters, Magic, and the Thief Subculture; and Doing Everyday Life: Ethnography as Human Lived Experience.

• Preface Part I. Establishing the Conceptual Foundations 1. Studying the Human Condition: An Interactionist Approach to the Ethnographic VentureTheoretical and Methodological FoundationsOutlining the Premises Human Group Life is IntersubjectiveHuman Group Life is (Multi)PerspectivalHuman Group Life is ReflectiveHuman Group Life is Activity-basedHuman Group Life is NegotiableHuman Group Life is RelationalHuman Group Life is Processual Conceptual and Methodological Implications 2. Subcultural Mosaics and Intersubjective Realities: Acknowledging Ambiguity, Activity, and AccomplishmentReformulating the Cultural ProblematicAcknowledging the Subcultural MosaicCulture as "Something in the Making"Attending to Subcultural EnterprisesWorking Notions of Subcultural Variants Local, Embedded, and Transcontextual AssociationsTotalizing, Focused, and Interfused SubculturesCyclical, Occasional, and Supportive Subcultural Phenomena Toward a Conclusion 3. Subcultural Involvements: Experiencing, Forming, and Coordinating Subcultural AssociationsBecoming Involved in Subcultural EnterprisesGetting Started (Initial Involvements)Sustaining and Intensifying Involvements (Continuities)Becoming DisinvolvedBecoming ReinvolvedExperiencing Subcultural Life-WorldsAcquiring PerspectivesAchieving IdentityDoing ActivityExperiencing RelationshipsExperiencing EmotionalityDeveloping Communicative FluencyForming and Coordinating (Subcultural) AssociationsEstablishing AssociationsObjectifying AssociationsEncountering Outsiders Part II. Pragmatizing the Social Sciences: A Research Agenda 4. Achieving Intersubjectivity, Managing Place and Space, and Maintaining PresenceSubcultural Mosaics: Examining Realms of Human EndeavorAchieving IntersubjectivityManaging Symbolic InterchangeDeveloping Stocks of KnowledgeDealing with ObjectsManaging Place and SpaceAcknowledging the Physical (Geographical) EnvironmentObtaining and Maintaining Spaces and AccommodationsAchieving Mobility and TransportationMaintaining PresenceLocating and Consuming Foods (Including Liquids and Other Substances)Developing and Using ClothingProviding Person-Directed ServicesObtaining Negotiables for Exchange 5. Encountering the Other, Managing Morality, and Emphasizing Community PresenceEncountering the Interpersonal OtherAcknowledging Family LifeEncountering the Broader CommunityExperiencing Intimacy and SexualityManaging Intergroup Relations within the CommunityVenturing and Moving into New CommunitiesParticipating in Collective EventsManaging MoralityParticipating in Religious and Cultic MovementsDefining Propriety (and Deviance)Identifying Deviants and Regulating DevianceBecoming Involved in DevianceEmphasizing Community PresenceImplementing Political (Governmental) ForumsCreating Military Agendas and AgenciesEnhancing Communications (and Generating the Media) 6. Experiencing the [Intersubjective] SelfAcknowledging the Contextualized SelfAttending to the Physical (Physiological and Imaged) SelfDeveloping an Ownership SelfAppreciating the Proficient and Accomplished SelfAttending to the Relational SelfInvoking the Tactical (Target and Tactician) SelfManaging the Centralizing and Fragmented SelfToward a Conclusion Part III. Pursuing the Ethnographic Venture 7. Doing Ethnographic Research: Fieldwork As Practical Accomplishment (with Mary Lorenz Dietz and William Shaffir)Ethnographic ResearchThe Ethnographic AdvantageClarifying Ethnographic AssumptionsAccessing Human Lived ExperienceMethodological PracticesSubstantive SettingsAnalytical FociMaking Contact with the OtherInteracting with the OtherManaging Oneself in the Ethnographic ContextRecording Information in Ethnographic ContextSampling ConcernsAnalyzing Human Lived ExperiencesCoding Ethnographic MaterialsToward an Interactionist AnalysisContextualizing Human Lived Experiences 8. Writing Ethnographic Research Reports: Some Practical Considerations for Students (with William Shaffir and Mary Lorenz Dietz)Formatting the Ethnographic TextThe Title: Providing Preliminary DirectionsThe Introduction: Contextualizing the StudyThe Data and Analysis Taking a Natural History Approach (Studying Events)Studying Careers of InvolvementExamining Role Performance (Activity)Exploring Subcultural Life-WorldsDeveloping Generic Social Process Projects The ConclusionEpilogues and AppendicesReferencesAssembling the PaperManaging the DataWriting for the Other References Index of Names Index of Terms

"Prus has written a textbook on qualitative research—a textbook in the best sense of being the summation of a discipline presented in a manner that can be put to use by students." — Marvin Scott, Hunter College, City University of New York"This book is rich in texture and shines as exemplary in its practical application for both students and professionals who are engaged in ethnographic research. In fact, everyone doing field research must have this text as a handy reference. It is the best I have seen in both describing the nature of ethnographic research and taking the reader through the pragmatic process of field work, analysis, and writing up results." — Helen Rose Ebaugh, University of Houston"In addition to laying out an 'encyclopedia' of social processes, this book rethinks, in a fresh and stimulating manner, an old and tired concept—that of subculture. I would think that almost anyone who does qualitative research—whether in sociology, anthropology, education, nursing, or social policy and welfare would want a copy of this book on their shelves." — Arnold Arluke, Northwestern University"The topic of this book is, perhaps, the one most central to current debates and discussion on ethnography and intersubjective approaches to social science." — Stanford M. Lyman, Florida Atlantic University