Using Carspecken's critical ethnography in nursing research

Critical ethnography is an increasingly popular methodology for nursing research, but little advice is available as to what forms it may take, their applicability and their relative strengths and weaknesses. This paper introduces and assesses the method developed and described by Phil Carspecken for use in educational research, presented in his book Critical Ethnography in Educational Research (1996). It outlines some of the philosophical and social theories which drive the methodology, and describes the steps in the research method with reference to nursing situations. Strengths and weaknesses are noted, and it is concluded that Carspecken's approach is useful for researching issues of interest to nurses who locate themselves in the critical theoretical tradition.