The guiding theme of this book is the interplay between empirical research and methodological reflection. It explores the nature, the methods, the role and the limitations of ethnographic research in school classrooms. It begins with examples of Hammersley's empirical research including his essay on "School Learning". It then moves on to a number of reflections about the methodology of ethnographic research, covering such matters as the role of theory and the relative contributions of qualitative and quantitative work.