<p>Analytical theory should serve as both the point of departure and the target of reconstruction in any ethnographic project. Without reflexively engaging social science that bridges microprocesses to macroforces, ethnographers risk uncritically reproducing the folk theories of those they study. A central objective of sociology should be to either elaborate on or break from folk theory in explicit conversation with analytical theory. Grounded theory fails us in this regard, and to a lesser extent so too does abductive analysis. Theory-driven ethnography is the only answer. So-called <i>thick construction</i> offers a worthwhile model because it is a variant of this broader approach. However, its deep-rooted commitments to a theory of Bourdieusian social space should give us pause. Our baseline commitment should not be to Bourdieu specifically but instead to the broader sociological promise: the craft of linking personal troubles to public issues through and with analytical theory.</p>