In this section I describe and explore a number of core principles of the ethnographic work that has practiced and developed the ‘open exploratory spirit’ described elsewhere in this text, and espoused in the teaching of fieldwork methods at Cardiff. There are, I suggest, various strands of work that have been influenced by the earlier seminal ethnographies of Atkinson and Delamont, and their methodological writings and teaching that, although certainly distinct, bear out a family resemblance in terms of their commitment to thoroughly sociological analysis and critical engagement with methodological development and innovation in various substantive projects. Here, I discuss the various methodological contributions made by Cardiff ethnographies and the lessons that such studies have for others looking to do ethnography ‘tidy’
