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View exercise overviewOverview Exercise ID: 4.6 Level(s): I
Learning Objectives Does the exercise compare 2 or more cultures? Yes Classroom Guide Instructions for navigating eHRAF included? No Francine Barone, Human Relations Area Files at Yale UniversityEthnographic FieldworkEthnographic fieldwork is how anthropologists gather data. Fieldwork is the process of immersing oneself in as many aspects of the daily cultural lives of people as possible in order to study their behaviors and interactions. Nearly any setting or location can become “the field”: a village along the Amazon river, a large corporate office in Tokyo, a small neighborhood café in Seattle, or even a social networking site like Facebook. Fieldwork takes time. Anthropologists enter the field location much like a newborn child. They may have trouble communicating until they have learned the local language. They will likely make mistakes, and locals will find them funny or strange. It can take months or years to begin to accustom themselves to the society or community within which they will live and learn. In the fieldwork process, anthropologists eventually piece together ideas about kinship, language, religion, politics, and economic systems, which allows them to build a picture of the society. Ethnography can mean two things in anthropology: a) the qualitative research methods employed during fieldwork Doing ethnographyThe hallmark method of ethnographic field research in anthropology is known as participant-observation. This type of data-gathering is when the anthropologist records their experiences and observations while taking part in activities alongside local participants or informants in the field site. Anthropologists also engage in informal conversations, more formal interviews, surveys, or questionnaires, and create photos, sound or video recordings, as well as conduct historical or archival research into correspondence, public records, or reports, depending on their research area. Some anthropologists use quantitative methods when analyzing their research, such as producing statistics based on their findings. Writing ethnographyEthnographic writing differs from other types of academic, historical, journalistic, or travel writing about peoples and places. While ethnographers may also keep a fieldwork diary containing personal notes, ethnography is much more than a recounting of daily events. Ethnography engages with the theoretical foundations of anthropology and is written with cultural contextualization in mind, speaking to anthropology as a discipline as well as furnishing greater understanding of the cultural world that has been explored. The aim of ethnographic writing is to produce work that contributes to, and advances, the comparative interpretation of human cultures and societies. An insider’s viewEthnography is a collaborative effort between the ethnographer and their research participants. Anthropologists have ethical codes that guide their behavior in the field as they rely on relationships with others in order to conduct their research. In the ethnographic process, informants or key participants can help to induct the ethnographer into the society and explain its customs and ways. Traditionally, anthropologists have attempted to arrive at an emic perspective or “insider’s point of view”. In other words, ethnographers wish to understand the structures, categories, and patterns of behavior as conceptualized by members of the culture they are studying. This is contrasted with etic models, which are analyses of cultural meaning as seen from the “outside” by an objective observer. This uneasy simplification of emic vs. etic gets at the heart of the paradox of doing ethnography: what people say they do, what they say they should do, and what they actually do, rarely – if ever – coincide. Anthropologists today are increasingly aware of their own views and biases that they carry with them into the field from their home cultures, acknowledging wherever possible how this affects their methods and findings. Despite all of the best intentions, any practicing fieldworker can tell you that fieldwork is, at best, unpredictable. A reflexive approach to ethnography acknowledges that no researcher can be 100% objective, and that fieldwork constitutes an ongoing dialogue of consent and mutual respect between participants and the ethnographer. Workbook Activity 1: The Fieldwork ExperienceRead the following passages in eHRAF World Cultures that describe different aspects of fieldwork and conducting ethnography. Then, answer the questions. Malinowski (1922) – Argonauts of the Western Pacific, Chapter 1, Section VII, pages 17-21 on participant-observation
Stross (1971) – Aspects of Language Acquisition by Tzeltal Children, “Appendix B: The Fieldwork”, pages 201-202 on data collection in the field
Textor (1973) – Roster of the Gods, Appendix One, pages 855-858 on working with key informants
Landsman (1988) – Sovereignty and Symbol, pages 7-8 on taking notes with informants
Hill (1972) – Rural Hausa: A Village and Setting, page 148 on the anatomy of poverty
Workbook Activity 2: Thinking EthnographicallyHow would you observe the following cultural practices ethnographically?
Choose one of these or select your own scenario. Write a brief ethnographic account of everyday events. Consider methods such as participant-observation, interviews, surveys, and engaging with informants. If you are unable to participate in these activities face-to-face, simply try and imagine how you would describe them to an outsider not familiar with your culture. Begin by recording your “field notes”, keeping track of everything that you see and do, and what you observe others saying and doing. Then, describe what’s happening from both emic and etic perspectives. For the emic perspective, consider the activity you are engaged in and how it is viewed in your own culture. What are the established “rules” or patterns of each interaction that make up the scene you have chosen?
For the etic perspective, look beyond your notes and step outside your own cultural expectations. What over-arching structures, symbols, or meaning are at play in this setting?
References Hill, Polly. 1972. Rural Hausa: A Village and Setting. Cambridge, England: University Press. https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ms12-018. Landsman, Gail H. 1988. Sovereignty and Symbol: Indian-White Conflict at Ganienkeh. Albuquerque, N.Mex.: University of New Mexico Press. https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=nm09-058 Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1922. Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea. London: George Routledge & Sons, Ltd. https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ol06-001. Stross, Brian. 1971. Aspects of Language Acquisition by Tzeltal Children. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms. https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=nv09-010. Textor, Robert B. 1973. “Roster of the Gods: An Ethnography of the Supernatural in a Thai Village.” In Ethnography Series, 3, 44, 911 leaves. New Haven, Conn.: Human Relations Area Files. https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ao07-011. What research methods do ethnographers use?Individual methods which are available within an ethnographic study include: participant observation, interviews and surveys. All of these ethnographic methods can be very valuable in gaining a deeper understanding of a design problem.
What are the 4 ethnographic techniques?Ethnographic methods are qualitative, inductive, exploratory and longitudinal.
What type of data do ethnographers use to study people and cultures?Ethnographic research is the observation of groups of people or a culture in the field or, in other words, in a natural setting. Observations are the main form of data collection, but interviews are often used to clarify the researcher's observations.
What is the most important technique in the ethnographic method?Of the various techniques and tools used to conduct ethnographic research, observation in general and participant observation in particular are among the most important.
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