This is a book about a distinctive methodological approach inspired by Dorothy Smith_one of Canada's most respected scholars. Institutional ethnography aims to answer questions about how everyday life is organized. What is conventionally understood as 'the relationship of micro to macro processes' is conceptualized and explored in terms of ruling relations. The authors suggest that institutional ethnographers must adopt a particular research stance, one that recognizes that people's own knowledge and ways of knowing are crucial elements of social action and thus of social analysis.