Ethnography in counseling psychology research: Possibilities for application.

The emphasis placed on prolonged engagement, fieldwork, and participant observation has prevented wide-scale use of ethnography in counseling psychology. This article provides a discussion of ethnog-raphy in terms of definition, process, and potential ethical dilemmas. The authors propose that ethno-graphically informed methods can enhance counseling psychology research conducted with multicultural communities and provide better avenues toward a contextual understanding of diversity as it relates to professional inquiry. Ethnography constitutes a major focus in the psychological literature; however, debates continue regarding the usage of these qualitative methods (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000a). Despite the fact that ethnographic methods fall within the purview of postpositiv-ism and constructivism–interpretivism frameworks, positivists, postpositivists, and postmodernists currently argue over the defi-nition of ethnography and criteria for evaluating ethnographic work. This article seeks to explore the meanings and manifesta-tions of ethnography, as well as the utility of these methods for