anthropology - method and theory in cultural anthropology

ethnographic fieldwork

a primary research strategy in cultural anthropology that typically involves living and interacting with a community of people over an extended period to better understand their lives

participant observation

research method involving taking part in community life and participating in the events one is observing, describing, and analyzing

field notes

ethnographic data including sights, sounds, smells, feelings, events, conversations, etc.

culture shock

ethnographers usually experience this; nervousness or anxiety experienced when immersed in a new, unfamiliar culture, leading to alienation and frustration as one struggles to interpret a different worldview.

emic

research strategy focusing on local explanations and meaning

example of emic

ethnographers seeks to understand the “native viewpoint”, relying on local people to explain things and to say whether something is significant or not

etic

research strategy phasing the ethnographers explanations and categories

etic example

members of a culture often are too involved in what they are doing to interpret their culture impartially

ethnographers combine what in fieldwork

emic and etic perspectives

key informant

a community member who advises the anthropologist, provides feedback and guidance, and aids their research. Teach an ethnographer about their culture

what is another name for key informant

cultural consultants

rapport

relationship of trust and familiarity that an anthropologist develops with members of the community under study

what is something that is required when preparing for fieldwork

conducting a literature review

quantitative data

statistical information that can be measured and compared

qualitative data

descriptive data from personal stories, interviews, life histories, and participant observation

institutional review board rules

anthropologist must identify possible risk, inform their potential participants, and mitigate risk as much as possible

informed consent

agreement to take part in research after having been informed about its purpose, nature, procedures, and possible impacts

ethical issues of IRB

informed consent

do not harm

use of pseudonyms

code of ethics of the American antropological association primary obligation

do not harm to those being studied

theory

turns data into knowledge by organizing and making sense of what we record and experience. meant to be tested

inductive theory

infers general laws from particular instances

deductive theory

infers particular instances from general laws

armchair anthropologist

used others accounts of foreign peoples to generalize about “primitive” life

unilinear evolutionism

places cultures on a single line or path of cultural development from “savage” to “civilized”

historical particularism

culture must be understood as arising from its own unique historical context

franz boas

was the founder of American four-field anthropology.

what person contributed to cultural, biological, and linguistic anthropology? and argued against evolutionary approaches

franz boas

functionalism

an approach focusing on the role and function of sociocultural practices in social system

bonsilaw Malinowski

participant observation in the trobriand island

cultural materialism

the physical world strongly impacts and constrains the forms that cultural takes

what person insisted that anthropology is a science, and focused on technological adaption to the environment

Marvin Harris

Marvin Harris

wrote about indias sacred cow and that all societies have infrastructure, structure, and superstructure

imperative antropology

culture must be understood through the interpretations and experiences of the members themselves. study of culture as a system of meaning.

what person defined culture as ideas based on cultural learning and symbols

Clifford geertz

what is an example of “thick description” from Clifford Geertz

the balinese cockfight

postmodernism

questions the existence of objectivity and universally-valid knowledge

postmodernism - reflexivity

focus on the unique positioning of the ethnographer