Anthropological Fieldwork Methods

Distinguishing Features of Ethnographic Fieldwork

• Ethnographic methods are effective tools for understanding social complexities.
• Holistic Approach: Traditionally studying all aspects of social life simultaneously.
• Long-term Fieldwork: In a community for at least a year or more.
• Cultural Relativism: Applying an open-minded perspective.

Fieldwork: The Defining Method

• Insights: Allows insights not possible with short visits, surveys, or brief interviews.
• Understanding: Yields understandings of culture and behaviors people might not be aware of.

Seeing the World from “The Native’s Point of View”

• Long-term immersion: Living among a population for a long period increases the likelihood of understanding their perspective.
• Emic Perspective: Moving beyond the etic perspective to see the world from an insider’s perspective.

Avoiding Cultural “Tunnel Vision”

• Ethnocentrism: Anthropologists are subject to tunnel vision, which may lead to ethnocentrism.
• Informant Perspective: Informants often feel their ways are correct, while others are flawed.
• Aim: Attempting to unravel the local cultural logic.

Ethnographic Fieldwork Practices

• Fieldwork integrates holism, cultural relativism, and ethical behavior.
• Participant Observation
• Interviews
• Scribbling (Fieldnotes)

Participant Observation

• Disciplined “Hanging Out”: Establishing rapport as a “professional stranger” requires discipline and acceptance of local customs.
• Direct Participation: Participating in activities and events of a host culture and keeping records of observations.
• Records: Creating various types of records, including field notebooks, computer files, digital recordings, photographs, and films.
• Object Collection: Collecting objects as well.

Interviews

• Types of Interviews:
  • Highly structured (formal, scripted)
  • Unstructured (open-ended)
• Permission: Must be given to create a recording or use it in future projects.

Scribbling: Taking Fieldnotes

• Importance: Essential since details can easily be forgotten over time.
• Headnotes: Anthropologists may also write down headnotes expressing personal frustrations and thoughts.

Thinking Like an Anthropologist

• Fieldwork can be conducted in any social setting where people are interacting.

Other Methods Used by Anthropologists

• Participant observation and open-ended interviews are core methods, but additional strategies may be required.
• Comparative Method
• Genealogical Method
• Life History
• Ethnohistory
• Rapid Appraisals
• Action Research
• Anthropology at a Distance
• Analyzing Secondary Materials

The Comparative Method

• Data Collection: Lewis Henry Morgan gathered kinship data via mail.
• Published in “Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family (1871)”.
• Modern Relevance: Comparative information is still relevant and available via the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF).

The Genealogical Method

• Pioneered: First employed by William H. R. Rivers in 1898 in the Torres Strait.
• Classification: Rivers developed a systematic way of classifying kin, still used today.

Life Histories and Ethnohistory

• Life Histories: Help understand how age affects social roles by recording multiple life histories within a society.
• Ethnohistories: Important in studying non-literate communities, where history is rarely recorded, and can provide additional perspectives on official history.

Rapid Appraisals

• Use Case: May be required for specific questions or when funding cannot support long-term field research.
• Also known as “parachute ethnography.”

Action Research

• Advocacy: In the 1950s, Sol Tax advocated for action anthropology.
• Participatory Action Research: Some anthropologists use this today.

Anthropology at a Distance

• Circumstances: Used when anthropologists are unable to travel to the field due to war or political repression.
• Example: Ruth Benedict interviewed Japanese people in the U.S. during World War II and published “Chrysanthemum and the Sword” (1946).

Secondary Materials

• Importance: Much can be learned from secondary materials like manuscripts or objects.
• Critical Reading: Secondary materials must be read critically, considering the author’s motivations and biases.
• Archival Collections: Contain significant manuscripts that are preserved.
• Access Policies: Archives typically impose strict policies on access.
• Research Process: The first step is usually reviewing an index or list of available resources.

Secondary Materials: Three-Dimensional Collections

• Storage: Objects like basketry and pottery are housed separately.
• Preservation: Special attention is paid to temperature and moisture levels.
• Organization: All objects must be well-organized for accessibility.

Challenges of Anthropologists Working in Their Own Societies

• Familiarity: Benefits and drawbacks; familiarity with language and customs can blind them to patterns.
• Engagement: Many become more engaged with addressing social problems in their own countries.

Ethical Dilemmas Ethnographers Face

• Common Dilemmas: Commitment to do no harm, considerations about responsibility, and control of findings.
• Protection of Informants: Using pseudonyms and concealing identities.
• Legal Obligations: Field data may be subject to subpoena.
• Protocols: Following protocols established by Institutional Review Boards (IRB) and specific to the culture being studied.

Ownership

• Past Practices: Anthropologists or institutions assumed ownership of collected items and publication rights.
• Current Questions: Tribal peoples question whether objects should be considered property of repositories, especially human remains.

Ownership: Who Should Have Access to Fieldnotes?

• Privacy: Most view field notes as too private for publication, except in edited excerpts.
• Informant Access: It is questionable whether field notes should be available to informant communities.
• Ethical Concerns: Data belongs to informants but may contain details they don't want publicly exposed.
• Intellectual Property: Protocols now often assign ownership of ethnographic content to informants.
• IRB Consent: Paperwork should address ethical concerns and allow informants to choose their level of participation.

Ownership: Repatriation

• Definition: Restoring human remains and/or objects of religious or cultural importance to their originating peoples.
• Legal Framework: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in the U.S. (1990); Directive 93/7/EEC in Europe (1993).
• Historical Context: Prior to 1990, Indigenous peoples in the U.S. had no legal means to reclaim remains collected since the 19th century.
• National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA): Passed in the US in 1966 to protect and preserve historic sites and properties. Impacted Indigenous communities and resources.
• Unesco Convention (1972): Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention).

Provenance

• Challenge: Many artifacts and remains lack clear provenance.
• Definition: Detailed information about where an artifact was found.
• Issue: Wide regions as origin make it unclear which specific tribal culture an artifact relates to.

Anthropology and War

• Obligations: During wartime, are anthropologists obligated to informants, government, or both?
• Ethical Controversy: Embedding social scientists with combat units has created an ethical controversy.
• Moral Obligation: Some argue Americans have a moral obligation to help fight terrorism.

Anonymous Fieldwork Ethics

• Undercover: Ways the anthropologist was “undercover” and ethical responsibilities to maintain informant confidence.
• Criminal Activity: Does research enable criminal activity by not reporting observed crimes?
• Responsibilities: Other ethical responsibilities in this situation.

Act Like an Anthropologist! The Silent Observation Challenge

• Questions to consider:
  • "What patterns did you see? What ‘rules’ might exist?"
  • "How accurate were your guesses? What biases did you have?"
  • "Why is participant observation both powerful and limited?"

Backpack Ethnography

Learning Outcomes

• Describe fieldwork methods used to study societies.
• Distinguish between comparative, genealogical, life history, and applied methods.
• Clarify “the native’s point of view” and “cultural tunnel vision.”
• Understand ethical challenges in ethnographic fieldwork.