ch 3 Research Process in Linguistic Anthropology Notes

The Research Process in Linguistic Anthropology

Research Questions in Linguistic Anthropology

  • Research begins with questions, sometimes vaguely formed, other times clearly articulated, often concerning how language reflects and/or shapes social life.
  • This focus on real-life language settings distinguishes linguistic anthropologists from scholars in linguistics or psychology.
  • Research questions may evolve during long-term fieldwork as initial assumptions are challenged.
  • Researchers incorporate insights from fieldwork to reflect the perspectives of research subjects.
  • The research question is often a work in progress.
Examples of Research Questions:
  • How place names and their use illustrate and reinforce Apache social relations and cultural values (Basso 1996)?
  • What arguments, storytelling, and gossip of African American children reveal about gendered conversations and the creation of complex social worlds (Goodwin 1990)?
  • How the use of Spanish and English among Puerto Ricans sheds light on unequal racial, ethnic, political, and economic relations in New York City (Urciuoli 1996)?
  • How the presence or absence of grammatical markers in Samoan political speeches strengthens existing power relations (Duranti 1994)?
  • How minority languages like Catalan become authoritative and challenge naturalistic ideologies (Woolard 2016)?
  • What are the meanings of "troubles talk" in Bangladesh, and how do they illuminate conceptions of illness, emotion, and gender (Wilce 1998)?
  • How are race and language linked and naturalized for Latinx high schoolers in Chicago (Rosa 2019)?
  • How does "Mock Spanish" index speakers’ attitudes about Spanish speakers (Hill 1998, 2005, 2008)?
  • How does love-letter writing contribute to changing marriage practices and gender relations in Nepal (Ahearn 2001a)?
  • How do “Beijing yuppies” use innovative stylistic resources in Mandarin to create a new cosmopolitan Chinese identity (Zhang 2018)?
  • What are the causes and implications of the eradication of a form of Irish Sign Language used solely by women (LeMaster 2006)?
  • How does singing intersect with literacy and orality in Mazatec ethnic and linguistic revival in Mexico (Faudree 2013)?
  • How do acts of commemoration at Israel’s Ammunition Hill contribute to gendered ideologies of the nation (Noy 2015)?
Grounded Theory
  • Insights from initial fieldwork can redirect inquiries in unanticipated ways.

Data Collection Methods in Linguistic Anthropology

  • Linguistic anthropologists use a diverse range of research methods.
  • Data collection can vary from videotaping conversations to analyzing government language policies or conducting Google searches preceded by ethnographic and linguistic fieldwork.
  • Multiple methods are often employed to gather different types of data.
  • Data can be quantitative, qualitative, or both.
Quantitative Data
  • Data that can be counted.
  • Examples: surveys, measurement of pauses in speech.
Qualitative Data
  • In-depth examination of human behavior for deeper understanding.
  • Examples: long-term residence in communities for observation and participation in daily life.
Triangulating Data
  • Using multiple methods to gather different kinds of data for a fuller picture.
Common research methods:
  • Participant observation.
  • Interviews.
  • Surveys and Questionnaires.
  • Naturally occurring conversations.
  • Experimental methods.
  • Matched guise tests.
  • Written texts.
Participant Observation
  • Involves months or years of residence in a community.
  • Becoming fluent in local language(s).
  • Becoming familiar with local social norms, cultural meanings, and linguistic practices.
  • Taking detailed fieldnotes.
  • Builds rapport with research subjects.
Interviews
  • Used to gather information with varying formats:
    • Structured (same questions in the same order).
    • Semi-structured (general areas to discuss).
    • Open-ended (informal conversations).
  • Used to gather background information, opinions about linguistic usages, and meanings of complex words and concepts.
  • Important for documenting endangered languages.
  • Interviews are not transparent; the context is crucial.
  • The interviewer is a co-participant, influencing the interaction.
  • Meaning emerges in social interactions.
  • Videotaping or audiotaping facilitates nuanced analysis.
  • Interviews may not be suitable in all societies.
  • Researchers should “learn how to ask” in culturally appropriate ways (Briggs 1986:93).
  • Ideas expressed in interviews circulate in various venues.
  • Interviews are complex, culturally mediated social interactions.
Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Collect demographic data (age, education, languages spoken, income, etc.).
  • Gather information about opinions, experiences, or beliefs.
  • Same caveats apply as with interviews.
Naturally Occurring Conversations
  • Recording actual utterances in everyday interactions.
  • Recording folk tales, political speeches, rituals, songfests, performances, and other speech events.
  • Addressing the artificiality of recording:
    • Every context is “natural”.
    • Participants get used to being recorded.
    • Participants control recorders or recorders run without researcher presence.
    • Surreptitious recording (with ethical considerations).
  • Requires informed consent to record people surreptitiously at some point in the future.
  • Transcription is time-consuming (6 hours per 1 hour of conversation).
  • Words can become detached from social contexts.
  • The amount of data can be overwhelming.
  • Allows detailed study of multimodal linguistic practices.
  • Avoids conclusions based on faulty memories, received notions, or language ideologies.
  • Transcriptions are selective, theory-laden, and partial (Bucholtz 2000, 2011:39–41; Duranti 1997:122ff; Duranti 2006a; Ochs 1979).
  • Transcription choices depend on the focus of the analysis.
Experimental Methods
  • Used to hold constant variables in a given situation.
  • Common in studies of cognition and/or child language acquisition/socialization.
  • Example: experiments on spatial relations perception (Levinson 2003b).
  • Example: skits with dolls to assess children’s language abilities and understanding of intentions (e.g., Villiers and Villiers 2003).
Matched Guise Tests
  • Recording individuals reading in two or more languages or dialects (“guises”).
  • Listeners rank recordings, rating each according to traits like honesty and intelligence.
  • Reveals unconscious language ideologies related to racial prejudices.
  • Example: Ciscel’s study of linguistic practices in Moldova (2007:100; cf. Bilaniuk 2005; Booth 2009b; Urciuoli 1996).
  • Listeners ranked mixed Romanian/Moldovan dialect lowest in status.
  • Helps reveal unconscious language ideologies and social hierarchies.
  • Useful when combined with other ethnographic methods.
Written Texts
  • Analysis of historical documents, personal letters, newspaper articles, e-mails, official documents.
  • Studying literacy practices - how people produce, consume, or refer to written texts in their everyday lives also known as the "linguistic landscapes” (cf. Shohamy et al. 2010; Blackwood et al. 2016).
  • Analyzing mundane texts like shopping lists or billboards.
  • Paying attention to the intersections between texts and contexts.

Data Analysis in Linguistic Anthropology

  • Involves interpretation at all stages of research.
  • Researchers must be aware of imposing their own culturally specific categories.
  • Constant reassessment is required.
  • Example: Ahearn’s research on marriage in Nepal.
Interpretation
  • Searching for patterns to answer research questions that inspired the project, or to answer questions that emerge during the analysis of the data.
  • Reading and rereading field-notes and other documents, transcribing interviews and naturally occurring conversations, and statistically analyzing survey responses.
  • Micro-level analysis of conversational data.
  • Focusing on data concerning language policies or ideologies at a broader scale.
Conversation Analysis (CA)
  • A micro-level analysis of linguistic data.
  • Developed in the 1960s and 1970s.
  • Outgrowth of ethnomethodology (Garfinkel 1967).
  • Uncovers how people establish and maintain social structures.
  • Used alongside other methods.
Data Analysis Process
  • Organizing data (index cards, flow charts, computer software).
  • Identifying themes or codes.
  • Conducting statistical analysis.
  • Discovering patterns, making connections, and drawing conclusions.

Products of Linguistic Anthropology Research

  • Identifying target audiences (students, academics, general public).
  • Writing papers, theses, dissertations, articles, and books.
  • Experimenting with other written genres (poetry, song).
  • Creating blogs or “ethno-vlographies.”
  • Creating films, letters of protest, artistic pieces, syllabi, reports, or data visualizations.

Ethical Issues in Linguistic Anthropology

  • Micro and macro-political considerations.
  • Unequal power dynamics between researcher and subjects.
  • Relationships of trust, friendship, or kinship.
  • Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight.
  • American Anthropological Association (AAA) code of ethics (revised in 2012).
  • "Do no harm" principle.
  • Consideration of vulnerable populations.
  • Avoiding direct and immediate harm.
  • Weighing potential consequences and inadvertent impacts.
  • Conflicting responsibilities.
  • Studying child abusers or corrupt politicians versus protecting victims.
  • “Informed consent” is essential.
  • Ongoing and adapted to the research setting.
Other Ethical Questions
  • Fair wages for research assistants.
  • Appropriate reciprocity for information and assistance.
  • Obligations when