Ethnographic Research?

Anthropologists, ethnographers, and other social scientists may engage in something called ethnography. Ethnography, simply stated, is the
study of people in their own environment through the use of methods such as participant observation and face-to-face interviewing. As
anthropologist H. Sidky suggests, ethnography documents cultural similarities and differences through empirical fieldwork and can help with
scientific generalizations about human behavior and the operation of social and cultural systems (2004:9). 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.

Contemporary ethnographic research has the added dimension of not only looking at people outside of the county of origin of the researcher,
but also seeks to better understand those who reside within the county of origin. Contemporary ethnographic research looks at what may be
considered ordinary or mundane to those living within a community, for example shopping malls, corporations, towns, cities, cyberspace,
garbage, libraries, parks, etc. Contemporary ethnographic research also differs from classic ethnographic research in that researchers may
have limited amounts of time in which to conduct research. This, however, does not detract from the quality of work produced.

Grounded Theory?
All research is "grounded" in data, but few studies produce a "grounded theory." Grounded Theory is an inductive methodology. Although
many call Grounded Theory a qualitative method, it is not. It is a general method. It is the systematic generation of theory from systematic
research. It is a set of rigorous research procedures leading to the emergence of conceptual categories. These concepts/categories are
related to each other as a theoretical explanation of the action(s) that continually resolves the main concern of the participants in a
substantive area. Grounded Theory can be used with either qualitative or quantitative data.

Phenomenology
First published Sun Nov 16, 2003; substantive revision Mon Dec 16, 2013

Phenomenology is the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view. The central structure of an
experience is its intentionality, its being directed toward something, as it is an experience of or about some object. An experience is directed
toward an object by virtue of its content or meaning (which represents the object) together with appropriate enabling conditions.

Phenomenology as a discipline is distinct from but related to other key disciplines in philosophy, such as ontology, epistemology, logic, and
ethics. Phenomenology has been practiced in various guises for centuries, but it came into its own in the early 20th century in the works of
Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty and others. Phenomenological issues of intentionality, consciousness, qualia, and first-person
perspective have been prominent in recent philosophy of mind.

Philosophical Research
Society, Inc. (P.R.S.) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1934, by Manly Palmer Hall, to promote the study of the
world's wisdom literature. Hall believed the accumulated wisdom of mankind is the birthright of every individual, and built the
facility to serve the general public to this end.

Los Feliz headquarters in 2015 Its current president is Obadiah S. Harris, Ph.D. Under Dr. Harris, in 2000PRS created a subsidiary
which is doing business as the University of Philosophical Research. The University offers two nationally accredited Master’s
programs (M.A. in Consciousness Studies and M.A. in Transformational Psychology) and a newly approved (as of 2014) Bachelor
of Arts program in Liberal Studies. All degree programs are online.

It maintains a research library of over 50,000 volumes, and also sells and publishes metaphysical and spiritual books, mostly those
authored by Hall. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California. The building at 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard in the Los Feliz
neighborhood was designed by architect Robert Stacy-Judd and designated as a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument

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. CRITICAL SOCIAL RESEARCH

To distinguish critical social research from other forms of research practice may, at first sight, seem to be creating an artificial
distinction. For what research process does not embody some notion of criticism? A critical facility is, at least in theory, as
important as an analytic facility when undertaking research. This is undeniable. The difference between critical approaches and
noncritical approaches is not the difference between the presence and absence of critique, rather it is the difference between
approaches in which critique is an integral part of the process and those in which it is peripheral. Critical social research involves
an epistemological perspective in which knowledge and critique are intertwined. Indeed, it is arguable that for a critical
methodologist, knowledge is critique. A critical research process involves more than merely appending critique to an
accumulation of ‘fact’ or ‘theory’ gathered via some mechanical process, rather it denies the (literally) objective status of
knowledge and concerns itself with the processural nature of knowledge. Knowledge is a dynamic process not a static entity.
Knowledge is not a bucket into which grains of information are dropped in the hope that they somehow coalesce into some kind
of explanation of the world.

ETHICAL INQUIRY

In this regular online series, we call attention to a wide range of issues with implications that may be personal, political, even
global. We highlight a broad array of opinions from journalism, academia, and advocacy organizations. Our intent is to illuminate
and explore the complexity of some of the most vexing ethical questions of our time. We invite you to join us in "Ethical Inquiry."

Activist Research:
Activist research is about using or doing research so that it changes material conditions for people or places. It is different than
cultural critique, where texts are written with political conviction, but no concrete changes are made on the ground. A good reading
for this is: Hale, C. R. (2001). What is activist research? Social Science Research Council, 2(1-2), 13-15.

FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH

The scope of foundational research is across an entire industry, market, category or consumer group(s) and includes
understanding things like: habits & practices, unmet needs, attitudes, beliefs and values, category drivers and
motivations, consumer segmentation and profiling.

Historical Research
Historical method refers to the use of primary historical data to answer a question. Because the nature of the data depends on
the question being asked, data may include demographic records, such as birth and death certificates; newspapers articles;
letters and diaries; government records; or even architectural drawings.

Historical research design involves synthesizing data from many different sources. Stan could interview former Nazis or read
diaries from Nazi soldiers to try to figure out what motivated them. He could look at public records and archives, examine Nazi
propaganda, or look at testimony in the trials of Nazi officers. There are several steps that someone like Stan has to go through
to do historical research

VISUAL ETHNOGRAPHY
Ethnography is the study and interpretation of social organisations and cultures in everyday life. It is a research-
based methodology, and when this research is conducted using photography, video or film, it is called visual
ethnography
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is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to researches on 1) the production and use of images and audio-visual media
in the socio-cultural practices; 2) digital cultures; 3) contemporary art and anthropology; 4) anthropology of art; 5)
vision and gaze; 6) senses and culture; 7) objects, design, architecture and anthropology; 8) bodies and places in an
anthropological perspective; 9) theories and methods in anthropology.

The topics of VISUAL ETHNOGRAPHY cross visual anthropology, anthropology of media, digital and visual cultures,
museography, contemporary art, photography, film studies, cultural studies, anthropology of the senses,
anthropological theory.

VISUAL ETHNOGRAPHY publishes two issues per year with articles in English, Italian, French, Spanish and
Portuguese. VE is published in printed and online version.

VISUAL ETHNOGRAPHY is indexed in Scopus and Web of Science

Autoethnography
is a form of qualitative research in which an author uses self-reflection and writing to explore their personal
experience and connect this autobiographical story to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and
understandings. Autoethnography is a self-reflective form of writing used across various disciplines such
as communication studies, performance studies, education, English literature, anthropology, social
work, sociology, history, psychology, marketing, business and educational administration, arts
education and phsyiotherapy.

Applied research

is a form of systematic inquiry involving the practical application of science. It accesses and uses some part of
the research communities' (the academia's) accumulated theories, knowledge, methods, and techniques, for a
specific, often state-, business-, or client-drivenpurpose. Applied research is contrasted with pure
research (basic research) in discussion about research ideals, methodologies, programs, and projects. Applied
research deals with solving practical problems[2] and generally employs empirical methodologies. Because
applied research resides in the messy real world, strict research protocols may need to be relaxed. For
example, it may be impossible to use a random sample. Thus, transparency in the methodology is crucial.
Implications for interpretation of results brought about by relaxing an otherwise strict canon of methodology
should also be considered. Since Applied Research has a provisional close to the problem and close to the
data orientation it may also use a more provisional conceptual framework such as working hypothesis or pillar
questions The OECD's Frascati Manual describes Applied Research as one of the three forms of research,
along with Basic research & Experimental Development.

Research Development
encompasses a set of strategic, proactive, catalytic, and capacity-building activities designed to facilitate individual
faculty members, teams of researchers, and central research administrations in attracting extramural research
funding, creating relationships, and developing and implementing strategies that increase institutional
competitiveness.

Research Development professionals initiate and nurture critical partnerships and alliances throughout the
institutional research enterprise and between institutions—and with their external stakeholders. With the goal of
enabling competitive individual and team research and facilitating research excellence, Research Development
professionals build and implement strategic services and collaborative resources that span across disciplinary and
administrative barriers within their organizations and beyond.

Research Development includes a broad spectrum of activities that vary by institution, including: funding
opportunity identification and targeted dissemination; grant/contract proposal development; research team
building; interaction with funding agencies and institutional research administration and leadership; interaction
with institutional federal relations; and outreach activities and training.

The Art of Discipline

There is often an assumption made that creativity is an unbounded force, flowing freely and continually to the
artist. The canvas is never blank, the page never empty, the clay never unformed. The artist never experiences
boredom or tedium with regards to her craft, but instead experiences the effortless flow of creative energy each
and every day. There is little need for discipline or structure in the artist’s world, or so we assume.

In contrast, most artists will tell you that creativity is something that must be practiced—exercised, as it were, just
like any muscle. In fact, creativity achieves its greatest potential when bounded by discipline, and a tireless
commitment to practice, routine, and structure. The painter, Wayne Thiebaud, once said that “an artist has to train
his responses more than other people do. He has to be as disciplined as a mathematician. Discipline is not a
restriction but an aid to freedom.”(1) Thiebaud insists that rather than being opposed to creativity, discipline
provides the conduit through which creative engagement grows and develops freely.

THE SCIENCE OF DISCIPLINE

The term discipline, according to Websters International Dictionary, is used in ten different contexts. Seven of these
are nouns with contexts such as “punishment,” and “rules to be obeyed (military discipline).” The transitive verbs
include “knowing and applying rules of evidence” (science differing from history), and, fmally, a method or actions
“to impose order and measure upon: to bring into order (e.g., enormous, confused, and unruly material has been
disciplined into a coherent narrative).” Since both science and education deal with creating coherence from
confused and unruly material (whether chemicals or children), a verb form seems appropriate for examining
science education as a discipline. What then are the behaviors, the “rules of the game,” that set science education
apart from other fields of inquiry and application? Because these do not readily com

DISCIPLINE OF PHILOSOPHY
From the Greek: philosophia: love of (philo-), wisdom (-sophia). Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom through
the critical investigation of the nature, causes, or foundations of reality, knowledge, or values, rather than
relying purely on empirical investigation.
Philosophy begins in the human’s experience of reality, being the most ancient of all intellectual disciplines;
philosophy is the mother of the human and natural sciences. As the love of wisdom, Philosophy is more than
just knowledge, seeking to open its students’ minds to critically become aware of illusions, fraudulent claims,
and flawed reasoning.Philosophy at UNISA attempts to explore wisdom in both the African and Western
intellectual traditions, making ourselves relevant to the changing socio-cultural environment of our continent.

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THE DISCIPLINE OF HUMANITIES
These courses inform students of a discipline’s scope or methodology, prepare students effectively for advanced
classes, or both. Students are advised about a discipline’s suitability as a major or are prepared for advanced course
work in the field. Most of these courses are required of majors.

Most do not require prerequisites. The three categories are Introduction to Humanities and Arts (IH code),
Introduction to Natural Sciences (IN code), and Introduction to Social Sciences (IS code).

Only one IH requirement can be satisfied with a course (equivalent to 5 credits) from the Arts Division (art, film and
digital media, history of art and visual culture, music, or theater arts); these departments are designated with the
asterisk (*).

Only one language course may be used to satisfy the IH requirement.

And only one literature course may be used to satisfy the IH requirement.

Note: Transfer courses designated as IH from English departments are considered “literature” for general education
purposes