ANTH1220 Week 3

Fieldwork

An extended period of close involvement with the people in whose way of life anthropologists are interested in. Anthropologists ordinarily collect most of their data from this work

What are some steps to prepare for fieldwork?

Select and research a site, develop a proposal, look at logistics, obtain institutional approval and required visa, obtain funding, ethics clearance, etc.

What are some ethics to make sure about when doing fieldwork?

Do no harm/embarass people, always ask for consent and inform, ask for anonymity if you can, accessibility is important

Culture Shock

The feeling of being in an unfamiliar place where you can’t adjust fast enough. Causes a lot of effects like anxiety, disorientation, anger, etc. Anthropologists experience this in the field

Reverse Culture Shock

Culture shock but when you come back home. Anthropologists experience this when they come home

Where was participant observation invented in?

The U.S and england, seperately

Which group of individuals did Franz Boas do participant observation on?

Kwakiutl

Which group of individuals did Bronislaw Malinowski do participant observation on?

Trobriand Islanders

Which group of individuals did Margaret Mead do participant observation on?

American Samoans

Positivism

The view that there is a reality “out there” that can be detected through the senses, and that there is a scientific method for investigating that reality

Objective knowledge

Knowledge about reality that is absolute and true for all people, in all times and places

Positivism in Anthropology

Positivist anthropologists engaged in controlled comparison, results of a positivistic approach are not value-fee when humans are both the subjects and instruments of data collection. It introduced methods such as Anthropology as dialoge and recognition of dissent. Field data is intersubjective

Emic

A perspective of anthropological research, the perspective of the culture being studied. Often collected using participant observation. It guards against ethnocentrism. The insider’s view

Etic

A perspective of anthropological research, the perspective of an outside observer. It is scientific and contextualized. Anthropologists share these perspectives with one another. The outsider’s view

Reflexivity/Reflexive Approach

Critically thinking about the way one thinks, reflecting on one’s own experience. It is situated, which means making it explicit exactly who you are as an anthropologist. Bronislaw Malinowski did this approach

Polyvocality

A narrative technique using multiple voices, perspectives, and viewpoints within a single work

What is the significance of fieldwork being a dialectic?

Fieldwork is a process of building a bridge of understanding between an anthropologist and their informants. So that they begin to understand each other. Anthropological knowledge is intersubjectively constructed in a process of translation.

What is the significance of ruptures in communication between the anthropologist and informant?

It could lead to new insights. For example, Jean Briggs had inappropriate displays of anger among the Utku of Nunavut and Paul Rabinow stood up for himself at the risk of losing an informant and gained respect

What are some techniques in fieldwork?

Conversations and interviews, life histories, genealogical method, key informants, field notes, etc.

Multi-sited Fieldwork

Type of fieldwork that allows for ethnographic research on cultural processes that are not contained by social, ethnic, religious, or nation boundaries. Often allowing for ethnographic analysis to people that were traditionally never subject to it.

What are the limitations of multi-sited fieldwork?

It dilutes intensity of anthropological relationships and undercuts responsibility of primary informants

What are the benefits of multi-sited fieldwork?

It allows anthropologists to capture the increasing complexities produced by globalization

What are the effects of fieldwork on those being studied?

Positive/neutral as long as you follow the code of ethics

What are the effects of fieldwork on the researcher?

Culture shock, friendship, career, and learning

What are the effects of fieldwork on humanity?

Understanding human nature, human society, and human history better