Books by Peter Tolmie

This book aims to deconstruct ethnography to alert systems designers, and other stakeholders, to the issues presented by new approaches that move beyond the studies of 'work' and 'work practice' within the social sciences (in particular anthropology and sociology).

Examination of both everyday lay accounts and professional social scientific accounts of intimacy reveals that they all tend to make the same kinds of assumptions about intimacy. For everyday conduct this is wholly unproblematic. However, by taking the recognizability of intimacy for granted they miss how interaction that might be called intimate is actually accomplished. Thus the grounds for many ¿expert'' claims regarding intimacy are open to question. In this book ¿intimacy'' is respecified as a topic for investigation. A close analysis of the testimony during the Clinton-Lewinsky affair is undertaken first of all to examine how people talk about intimacy. Then an instance of ¿kissing'' in an ordinary home setting is used to discuss how intimacy can be recognized. These analyses are used to show how the ¿intimacy'' works as a moral ascription in people''s ordinary everyday affairs. The book should be of interest to a wide range of students in the social sciences, especially those interested in interaction analysis, conversation analysis, and the sociology and psychology of emotion. It also offers a strong alternative to attachment theory which is widely-used in social work.

This book outlines the specific character of the ethnomethodological approach to ''play''; that is, to everyday sport and leisure activities that people generally engage in for enjoyment, at home or as a ''hobby''. With chapters on cooking, running, playing music, dancing, rock climbing, sailing, fly fishing and going out for the day as a family, Ethnomethodology at Play provides an introduction to the key conceptual resources drawn upon by ethnomethodology in its studies of these activities, whilst exploring the manner in which people ''work'' at their everyday leisure. Demonstrating the breadth of ethnomethodological analysis and showing how no topic is beyond ethnomethodology''s fundamental respecification, Ethnomethodology at Play sets out for the serious reader and researcher the precise contribution of ethnomethodology to sociological studies of sport and leisure and ordinary domestic pastimes. As such this groundbreaking volume constitutes a significant contribution to both ethnomethodology and sociology in general, as well as to the sociology of sport and leisure, the sociology of domestic and daily life and cultural studies.

Bringing together one of the most important bodies of research into people''s working practices, this volume outlines the specific character of the ethnomethodological approach to work, providing an introduction to the key conceptual resources ethnomethodology has drawn upon in its studies, and a set of substantive chapters that examine how people work from a foundational perspective. With contributions from leading experts in the field, including Graham Button, John Hughes and Wes Sharrock, Ethnomethodology at Work explores the contribution that ethnomethodological studies continue to make to our understanding of the ways in which people actually accomplish work from day to day. As such, it will appeal not only to those working in the areas of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, but also to those with interests in the sociology of work and organisations.

Organized in a complementary series of self-contained chapters, this book elaborates the ethnomethodological perspective on ethnography, a distinctive approach that provides canonical 'studies of work' in and for system design.

Demonstrating the breadth of ethnomethodological analysis and showing how no topic is beyond ethnomethodology's fundamental respecification, Ethnomethodology at Play sets out for the serious reader and researcher the precise contribution of ethnomethodology to sociological studies of sport and leisure and ordinary domestic pastimes.