Critical ethnography: investigating practice in police firearms training

This research case study examines how critical ethnography was used during a research project in the context of Police firearms training. I first set out the background to the project and how my colleagues and I became involved in a collaborative way. I then discuss the ways in which research questions developed in this context, before describing the process of deciding how they would be answered. The issues which these decisions entailed are then discussed. I then turn to the practical implications of the project and how it was designed. My discussion of the methods used and how they worked out in practice raises some of the limitations of the study, and I also list the practical lessons learned from this project. In particular, I recognize some of the problems raised by critical ethnography in contexts such as policing, while suggesting that these weaknesses are also a source of rich data and useful insight.