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.