Chapter 3 - Fieldwork and Ethnography

Current forms of ethnographic fieldwork in cultural anthropology are rooted in

early biological models.

turn-of-the-century demographic trends.

modern philosophical debates.

late nineteenth-century globalization.

late nineteenth-century globalization.

How did her fieldwork help Nancy Scheper-Hughes understand the behavior of the mothers in Alto do Cruzeiro as reasonable and rational based on their lived experiences?

After spending a few weeks in the community, Scheper-Hughes learned the mothers in the shantytown had a sixth sense that alerted them when a baby didn’t have a “knack” for living.

Scheper-Hughes’s wealth and privilege allowed her to bring resources into the community she was studying and change the infant mortality rate.

Scheper-Hughes’s fieldwork showed that very few babies died in the first place, so it was easier for mothers to let go of those babies to focus on the living ones.

Scheper-Hughes realized that due to their impoverished and precarious environment, the mothers of Alto do Cruzeiro did not have the luxury of assuming every child born was going to live, and they made the strategic choice to focus their energy on only nurturing “survivors.”

Scheper-Hughes realized that due to their impoverished and precarious environment, the mothers of Alto do Cruzeiro did not have the luxury of assuming every child born was going to live, and they made the strategic choice to focus their energy on only nurturing “survivors.”

Anthropologists conducting fieldwork may experience a particular kind of disorientation from the “strangeness” they discover. Which term is used to describe this experience?

kinship

polyvocality

culture shock

reflexivity

culture shock

Fieldwork is considered a scientific approach to understanding human societies. However, because it involves adaptation, intuition, and interpretation, it is also considered

precise qualitative evaluation.

an art.

a form of exploitation.

intrusive.

an art.

Which of the following statements about culture shock and ethnographic fieldwork is accurate?

Anthropologists may experience culture shock when they return to their home culture.

Anthropologists avoid or deny culture shock whenever possible.

It is unprofessional for an anthropologist to experience culture shock when entering the field.

Culture shock is caused primarily by extreme events such as violence or natural disasters.

Anthropologists may experience culture shock when they return to their home culture.

Franz Boas’s commitment to historical particularism when investigating local cultures is credited as defining which two characteristics of American anthropology?

unilineal evolution and cultural relativism

historical materialism and armchair anthropology

the four-field approach and cultural relativism

comparative ethnology and the four-field approach

the four-field approach and cultural relativism

What did Bronisław Malinowski specifically encourage fellow anthropologists to do in his guidelines?

clearly document the kinship system of the people being studied

get off the veranda and take time to learn the local language of the people being studied

over a short period, carefully document the geographical setting of the people being studied

conduct in-depth analysis of a culture without participating or observing any of its peoples’ behaviors

get off the veranda and take time to learn the local language of the people being studied

Which idea introduced by Bronisław Malinowski is fundamental to all research conducted by contemporary cultural anthropologists?

participant observation

engaged anthropology

archival research

synchronic study

participant observation

Because Nancy Scheper-Hughes has been a community activist and an advocate for her research subjects, what kind of anthropology can we consider her work to be?

experimental

reflexive

engaged

medical

engaged

Which of the following is an example of engaged anthropology?

anthropologists’ sharing of information about Iraqi communities with the U.S. military

Shannon Speed’s work with the Indigenous people of Chiapas, Mexico, in their fight for the return of their ancestral lands and protection of human rights

Franz Boas’s work with the indigenous Kwakiutl people of the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada

E. E. Evans-Pritchard’s ethnography of the life of the Nuer, a Sudanese tribe

Shannon Speed’s work with the Indigenous people of Chiapas, Mexico, in their fight for the return of their ancestral lands and protection of human rights

Sydney Mintz conducted research on sugar production in Puerto Rico in the 1970s and 1980s, examining the way local communities were affected by colonialism and the spread of capitalism. What other problems did his work help to illustrate?

the use of small-scale communities as a subject of research

the changing nature of food production

how local histories and sugar production intersect with global processes

banking systems as a central power in global economies

how local histories and sugar production intersect with global processes

What aspect of Julian Steward and Sidney Mintz’s work introduced a new approach to ethnography?

They conducted a collaborative restudy of the Trobriand Islands.

They researched social life among the Nuer of Africa, while others in the team studied the forgotten peoples of Europe.

They engaged in collaborative, multisited research as their team studied the effects of colonialism in Puerto Rico.

They examined sexuality in Samoa through close collaborative fieldwork.

They engaged in collaborative, multisited research as their team studied the effects of colonialism in Puerto Rico.

What is one of the typical first steps taken during the planning stages of a fieldwork project?

identifying key informants

charting kinship networks

establishing rapport

conducting a literature review

conducting a literature review

Ethnology is the process of __________ and can be used to examine activities, trends, and patterns of power across cultures.

transformation

mapping

social network analysis

comparison

comparison

You are conducting fieldwork and invite local heads of household to a focus group. During the conversation you realize that key details are not being discussed. These crucial details are referred to as

zeros.

key informants.

patriarchs.

imponderabilia.

zeros.

An anthropologist writes an ethnography of coal miners in West Virginia purely from their so-called insiders’ point of view. What perspective is the anthropologist using?

etic

ethnographic

polyvocality

emic

emic

What perspective do anthropologists use in their ethnographies when they want to take a zoomed-out approach to describing the culture they work with to make comparisons and larger analyses?

etic

thick description

polyvocal

emic

etic

What is the difference between kinship analysis and social network analysis?

Kinship analysis looks at marriage and family ties, while social network analysis examines relationships throughout the community.

Kinship analysis is only done in small towns, and social network analysis is only done in large urban areas.

Kinship analyses involve a smaller number of people.

Social network analyses are done only online.

Kinship analysis looks at marriage and family ties, while social network analysis examines relationships throughout the community.

Which of the following is an example of a zero?

the presence of a local politician from an important community meeting

an interviewee describing in detail how she felt at a particular event

a mother’s avoidance of discussing her children’s deaths

the inability of an anthropologist to collect statistical data

a mother’s avoidance of discussing her children’s deaths

The introduction of global communication methods means anthropologists’ work is now read by new audiences worldwide. What implications does this have with respect to writing and publishing ethnography?

Despite advances in communication, uneven development in communication technologies means that anthropologists can expect that members of informant communities will not read their work.

Regardless of the audience, when they publish their work, anthropologists must strive to be scientific and unbiased by the opinions of the communities being portrayed about how they are portrayed.

Anthropologists write for academic audiences, so their work is rarely accessible to others.

Anthropologists must consider that members of informant communities may read their publications and that they will expect their communities to be accurately portrayed and their concerns appropriately expressed.

Anthropologists must consider that members of informant communities may read their publications and that they will expect their communities to be accurately portrayed and their concerns appropriately expressed.

Increased migration has led anthropologists to conduct ethnographic research in new ways, such as collecting data in two or more locations. What type of ethnography is this?

reflexive

public

extensive

multisited

multisited

An anthropologist publishes a book about their fieldwork in Morocco. The anthropologist interviewed many people in the field and publishes much of those raw interviews as part of the text in each chapter. Why is this a polyvocal approach?

It includes many voices from the people interviewed.

The voices of the informants are used to describe the ethnographer’s personal perspective.

There is no actual survey data in the book.

It uses selective accounts of the informants to tell the whole story.

It includes many voices from the people interviewed.

Jeremiah is conducting research among a group of migrant farmworkers in southern Florida, and he realizes that some of the workers are undocumented. He knows he can protect their identities, even if he publishes his findings widely. Which ethical principle is Jeremiah demonstrating?

polyvocality

anonymity

informed consent

participant observation

anonymity

One way in which anthropologists try to protect informants’ anonymity is by

anonymizing names in publications while continuing to use subjects’ real names in research notes.

using the real names of communities but not those of the people living there.

altering details about people randomly in publications so that the people cannot be identified.

referring to individuals in both research notes and publications using alternate names or codes.

referring to individuals in both research notes and publications using alternate names or codes.

Define zeros and explain their significance for ethnographers. Provide an example. How does the the technique of participant observation make zeros apparent where other research techniques do not? 

Zeros are the elements of a culture that are left unspoken or omitted in conversation, often revealing underlying social norms, values, or power structures. For ethnographers, zeros are significant because they highlight what a society chooses to exclude or avoid discussing, providing deeper insight into cultural beliefs and biases. For example, in a study of gender roles in a workplace, an ethnographer might notice that while employees openly discuss teamwork, they avoid mentioning the lack of women in leadership positions, revealing an unspoken gender disparity. The technique of participant observation makes zeros more apparent than other research methods because it immerses the researcher in daily life, allowing them to notice patterns of omission in conversations and behaviors. Unlike surveys or interviews, where participants may consciously or unconsciously tailor their responses, participant observation captures natural interactions, silences, and body language that indicate unspoken cultural realities. By paying attention to these absences, ethnographers can uncover deeper truths about power dynamics, social taboos, and hidden structures within a community.