Ch.3 Ethnographic Fieldwork

Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Death Without Weeping

Ethnographic fieldwork:

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

Culture shock:

a sense of disorientation caused by overwhelmingly new and unfamiliar people and experiences encountered every day

Armchair anthropology:

the analysis of others’ data instead of conducting fieldwork themselves

Franz Boas and salvage ethnography 

Salvage ethnography: fieldwork strategy developed by Franz Boas to collect cultural, material, linguistic, and biological information about native American populations being devastated by the westward expansion of European settlers.

Bronislaw Malinowski and participant observation 

Participant observation: a key anthropological research strategy involving both participation in and observation of the daily life of the people being studied

Margaret Mead and Coming of Age in Samoa

Zora Neal Hurston and fieldwork in the American South 

Reflexivity:

a critical self-examination of the role anthropologist plays and an awareness that one’s identity affects one’s fieldwork and theoretical analyses

Literature review:

comprehensive summary of existing research on a specific topic (looking at various credible sources) and often identifying gaps or areas needing further research

o   Start by reading everything we can find about our research site and the particular issues we will be examining

Qualitative vs. Quantitative data

o   Quantitative data: statistical information about a community that can be measured and compared

o   Qualitative data: descriptive data drawn from nonstatistical sources, including personal stories, interviews, life histories, and participant observation

Rapport:

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

Key informant:

a community member who advises the anthropologist on community issues, provides feedback, and warns against cultural miscues. Also called cultural consultant. 

Field notes:

the anthropologist’s written observations and reflections on places, practices, events, and interviews

Mapping:

he analysis of the physical and/or geographic space where fieldwork is being conducted

Zeroes:

elements of a story or a picture that are not told or seen and yet offer key insights into issues that might be too sensitive to discuss or display publicly

Mutual transformation:

·       the potential for both the anthropologist and the members of the community being studied to be transformed by the interactions of fieldwork

Ex., Michael Wesch in Papua New Guinea (assigned with readings)

Emic (insider) vs etic (outsider)

o   Emic: an approach to gather data that investigates how local people think and how they understand the world

o   Etic: description of local behavior and beliefs from the anthropologist’s perspective in ways that can be compared across cultures

Do no harm

-at the core of our ethics code is the mandate to do no harm
-as anthropologists, they must not study cultures, economic, or political problems at the expense of the people they study
-requires researchers to avoid harming the communities they study

Informed consent:

a key strategy for protecting those being studied by ensuring that they are fully informed of the goals of the project and have clearly indicated their consent to participate

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Multisited fieldwork

-the study of particular human activity that takes place in several locations (ex: the ethnographic film Mardi Gras: Made in China)

Ch 3 readings

o   Lee, Richard Borshay. 1969. “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari.” Natural History.

 

o   King, Cecil. 2012. “Here Come the Anthros.” In Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthropological Reader, edited by Antonius C. G. M. Robben and Jeffrey A. Sluka, 191–3. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.