R. Jack Fishman Library: Sociology Class Supplement: Cultural Anthropology

Ethnography/Fieldwork

Ethnography/Fieldwork

"Because anthropology as a discipline is holistic (meaning it looks at the past, present and future of a community across time and space), ethnography as a first hand, detailed account of a given community or society attempts to get a comprehensive understanding of the circumstances of the people being studied. Ethnographers, then, look at and record a people’s way of life as seen by both the people and the anthropologist; they take an emic (folk or inside) and etic (analytic or outside) approach to describing communities and cultures.

Classic ethnographic research involves a detailed description of the whole of a culture outside of the country of origin of the researcher. Traditionally those engaging in ethnographic research spend years in the place of study, also known as the “field.” As a result of the time spent living among communities, ethnographers have been able to produce thick written cultural descriptions known as ethnographies that communicate the information found in the field."

Resources:

Duke University Thompson Writing Program's Handout on Writing Ethnographies

The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's Handout on Anthropology

Contemporary Studies in Ethnography by Alfonso Ivarra; Penelope Aguero
ISBN: 9781606923771
Publication Date: 2009-07-01
Ethnography is a research based method on observing people in their natural environment rather than in a formal research setting. Because people and culture are so incredibly complex, ethnography offers a way to make sense of this complexity. It goes beyond a person's preconceptions by immersion into the world of others. Some cultural anthropologists consider ethnography the essence of the discipline. This book provides suggestions on how the analytical process and findings of ethnography and other forms of social science research may be applied. It also describes conceptual and methodological challenges related to qualitative research in general, and ethnography in particular. Ethnographic research that seeks to create understanding of abused children and their well-being is also included in this book.
Doing Ethnography by Dorothy Pawluch (Editor); William Shaffir (Editor); Charlene Miall (Editor)
ISBN: 9781551302454
Publication Date: 2005-10-30
Doing Ethnography is an essential text for courses in ethnography, research methods (qualitative emphasis), applied sociology, and related subjects across Canada. This unique volume first considers the merits of qualitative research, profiles interviewing strategies, and discusses the relationships to respondents and how to write about social life. The second portion of Doing Ethnography contains three sections: constructing perspectives, constructing identities, as well as doing and relating. Case studies and original research are featured throughout. The editors, Dorothy Pawluch, William Shaffir, and Charlene Miall, emphasize the importance of studying social interaction. ""In truth, any question about society, big or small, is ultimately about people interacting with each other. Whether the issue is changing gender relationships, corporate deeds and misdeeds, class structures, or the school performance of children from cultural minorities, it all comes down to one thing: people doing things together.
How to Read Ethnography by Huon Wardle; Paloma Gay y Blasco; Paloma Gay y Blasco
ISBN: 9780415328661
Publication Date: 2006-12-12
How to Read Ethnography is an invaluable guide to approaching anthropological texts. Laying bare the central conventions of ethnographic writing, it helps students to develop a critical understanding of texts and explains how to identify and analyse the core ideas in order to apply these ideas to other areas of study. Above all it enables students to read ethnographies anthropologically and to develop an anthropological imagination of their own. Combining lucid explanations with selections from key texts, this excellent guide is ideal reading for those new to the subject or in need of a refresher course. Includes excerpts from key ethnographies Offers balanced and progressive reader activities and exercises Provides reading exercises, a glossary and full chapter summaries Teaches an independent approach to the study of anthropology

Participant Observation

Participant Observation

From the University of Toronto:

"Participant observation (PO) is a research methodology where the researcher is immersed in the day-to-day activities of the participants. The objective is usually to record conduct under the widest range of possible settings. In this way, PO differs from naturalistic observation, because the latter does not involve interaction between the researcher and participants. PO was historically associated with a form of research in which the researcher resides for extended periods of time in a small community. Currently, PO is used in a wide variety of settings, and over varied periods of time, from single interactions to many years."

Resources:

Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K.M., Guest, G., & Namey, E. (2005).Qualitative research methods: A data collector's field guide. Family Health International. (Module 2 via Duke University Library)

Harvey, L. (2023). Social Research Glossary. Quality Research International.

Tacchi, J., Fildes., J., Martin, K., Mulenhalli, K., Baulch, E., & Skuse, A. (2007). Ethnographic Action Research Training Handbook. ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation. (Chapter 2.2: Participant Observation and field notes)

Anthropologists in the Field by Lynne Hume (Editor); Jane Mulcock (Editor)
ISBN: 9780231130042
Publication Date: 2004-12-14
All too often anthropologists and other social scientists go into the field with unrealistic expectations. Different cultural milieus are prime ground for misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and interrelational problems. This book is an excellent introduction to real-world ethnography, using familiar and not-so-familiar cultures as cases. The book covers participant observation and ethnographic interviewing, both short and long term. These methodologies are open to problems such as lack of communication, depression, hostility, danger, and moral and ethical dilemmas--problems that are usually sanitized for publication and ignored in the curriculum. Among the intriguing topics covered are sexualized and violent environments, secrecy and disclosure, multiple roles and allegiances, insider/outsider issues, and negotiating friendship and objectivity.
Doing Community-Based Research by Greg Halseth; Sean Markey; Laura Ryser; Don Manson
ISBN: 9780773547278
Publication Date: 2016-06-15
Community-based research (CBR) offers useful insights into the challenges associated with conducting research and ensuring that it generates both excellent scholarship and positive impacts in the communities where the research takes place. This depends on two important variables: the capacity of CBR to generate good information, and the extent to which CBR is understood and constructed as a two-way relationship that includes a set of responsibilities for both researchers and communities. Offering expert advice on the crucial relationship between communities and researchers, the authors outline the main stages of the CBR process to guide researchers and practitioners. They discuss the reasons for conducting CBR, provide tips on how to design research, and detail how researchers and communities should get to know one another, as well as how best to work in the field and how to turn fieldwork into research that counts. By focusing on the lessons learned from the use of CBR, the authors make the messages, lessons, and practices applicable to a variety of research settings. Drawing collectively from decades of community-based research experience and including vignettes from researchers from around the world who share their CBR experiences, Doing Community-Based Research is an essential book for scholars, students, practitioners, and the educated public.
Toward Engaged Anthropology by Sam Beck (Editor); Carl A. Maida (Editor)
ISBN: 9780857459107
Publication Date: 2013-07-01
By working with underserved communities, anthropologists may play a larger role in democratizing society. The growth of disparities challenges anthropology to be used for social justice. This engaged stance moves the application of anthropological theory, methods, and practice toward action and activism. However, this engagement also moves anthropologists away from traditional roles of observation toward participatory roles that become increasingly involved with those communities or social groupings being studied. The chapters in this book suggest the roles anthropologists are able to play to bring us closer to a public anthropology characterized as engagement.

Secondary Sources/Literature Review

From Sonoma State University:

"A literature review provides an overview of previous research on a topic that critically evaluates, classifies, and compares what has already been published on a particular topic. It allows the author to synthesize and place into context the research and scholarly literature relevant to the topic. It helps map the different approaches to a given question and reveals patterns. It forms the foundation for the author’s subsequent research and justifies the significance of the new investigation."

Resources

"How to Write a Literature Review- Anthropology" from San Jose State University Libraries

"Writing a Literature Review" from Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

"Guide for Writing in Anthropology" from Southwestern University

What Is Anthropology? by Thomas Hylland Eriksen
ISBN: 9780745399669
Publication Date: 2017-08-15
When it was first published, What Is Anthropology? immediately ignited the discipline, proving how anthropology can be a revolutionary way of thinking about the modern human world. In this fully updated second edition, Thomas Hylland Eriksen brings together examples from current events as well as within anthropological research in order to explain how to see the world from below and from within--emphasizing the importance of adopting an insider's perspective. The first section of the book presents the history of anthropology, and the second discusses core issues in greater detail, covering economics, morals, human nature, ecology, cultural relativism, and much more. Throughout, he reveals how seemingly enormous cultural differences actually conceal the deep unity of humanity. Perfect not only for students, but also for those who have never encountered anthropology before, What is Anthropology? presents the discipline in an exciting and innovative way.
The History of Anthropology by Regna Darnell
ISBN: 9781496224170
Publication Date: 2021-10-01
In The History of Anthropology Regna Darnell offers a critical reexamination of the Americanist tradition centered around the figure of Franz Boas and the professionalization of anthropology as an academic discipline in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Focused on researchers often known as the Boasians, The History of Anthropology reveals the theoretical schools, institutions, and social networks of scholars and fieldworkers primarily interested in the anthropology and ethnography of North American Indigenous peoples. Darnell's fifty-year career entails seminal writings in the history of anthropology's four fields: cultural anthropology, ethnography, linguistics, and physical anthropology. Leading researchers, theorists, and fieldwork subjects include Edward Sapir, Daniel Brinton, Mary Haas, Franz Boas, Leonard Bloomfield, Benjamin Lee Whorf, Stanley Newman, and A. Irving Hallowell, as well as the professionalization of anthropology, the development of American folklore scholarship, theories of Indigenous languages, Southwest ethnographic research, Indigenous ceremonialism, text traditions, and anthropology's forays into contemporary public intellectual debates. The History of Anthropology is the essential volume for scholars, undergraduates, and graduate students to enter into the history of the Americanist tradition and its legacies, alternating historicism and presentism to contextualize anthropology's historical and contemporary relevance and legacies.

Interviewing

Interviewing

From Family Health International:

"The in-depth interview is a technique designed to elicit a vivid picture of the participant’s perspective on the research topic. During in-depth interviews, the person being interviewed is considered the expert and the interviewer is considered the student. The researcher’s interviewing techniques are motivated by the desire to learn everything the participant can share about the research topic. Researchers engage with participants by posing questions in a neutral manner, listening attentively to participants’ responses, and asking follow-up questions and probes based on those responses. They do not lead participants according to any preconceived notions, nor do they encourage participants to provide particular answers by expressing approval or disapproval of what they say."

Resources:

Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K.M., Guest, G., & Namey, E. (2005).Qualitative research methods: A data collector's field guide. Family Health International. (Module 3: In-Depth Interviews)

The Interview by Jonathan Skinner (Editor)
ISBN: 9781847889409
Publication Date: 2012-09-01
"What are new interview methods and practices in our new interview society' and how do they relate to traditional social science research? This volume interrogates the interview as understood, used - and under-used - by anthropologists. It puts the interview itself in the hotseat by exploring the nature of the interview, interview techniques, and illustrative cases of interview use.What is a successful and representative interview? How are interviews best transcribed and integrated into our writing? Is interview knowledge production safe, ethical and representative? And how are interviews used by anthropologists in their ethnographic practice?This important volume leads the reader from initial scrutiny of the interview through to interview techniques, via a wide range of explorations of interview examples. It is experimental, innovative, and covers in detail matters such as awkwardness, silence and censorship in interviews that do not feature in general interview textbooks. It will appeal to social scientists engaged in qualitative research methods in general, and anthropology and sociology students using interviews in their research and writing in particular."
Extraordinary Encounters by Katherine Smith (Editor); James Staples (Editor); Nigel Rapport (Editor)
ISBN: 9781782385899
Publication Date: 2015-03-01
Given the anthropological focus on ethnography as a kind of deep immersion, the interview poses theoretical and methodological challenges for the discipline. This volume explores those challenges and argues that the interview should be seen as a special, productive site of ethnographic encounter, a site of a very particular and important kind of knowing. In a range of social contexts and cultural settings, contributors show how the interview is experienced and imagined as a kind of space within which personal, biographic and social cues and norms can be explored and interrogated. The interview possesses its own authenticity, therefore--true to the persons involved and true to their moment of interaction--whilst at the same time providing information on human capacities and proclivities that is generalizable beyond particular social and cultural contexts.

Sociology Class Supplement: Cultural Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology Research Methods

Ethnography/Fieldwork

Participant Observation

Secondary Sources/Literature Review

Interviewing