Methods In Cultural Anthropology: Ethnography

Cultural

anthropologists conduct research in libraries and museums but they rely most heavily on experiential fieldwork

 As a research strategy, fieldwork is experiential this

involves: *living with the people they study *learning the language of those they study *asking questions *surveying environments/material possessions *spending long periods observing everyday behaviors and interactions in a natural setting

 Has fieldwork always been a central part of the

discipline?

 his or her people No explanation of field methods

or of the fieldwork experience ?how long in the field ?how many interviewed/observed ?how were samples collected ?what data collection techniques were used ?problems encountered ?how was data analyzed

 Shift from fieldwork on small-

scale, non-Western cultures to research in sites closer to home, urban neighborhoods, retirement homes, industrial plants, hospitals, elementary schools, prisons, administrative bureaucracies to recreational vehicle owners

 Anthropologists have recently blended traditional

ethnographic methods with survey methods Differences between the two: Ethnographies take a holistic view by studying complete, functioning societies, while survey research focuses on a representative sampling of a larger population

 Ethnographies use first-hand experiential methods

while survey researchers have indirect contact with their subjects

 Survey researchers who work almost exclusively in

literate societies, have the luxury of mailing questionnaires to the intended respondents

 Because survey

researchers are using much larger sample sizes, they rely much more heavily upon statistical analysis than do ethnographers

 No two fieldwork situations are the same but all

fieldworkers have a number of concerns, problems and issues in common

 Obtaining funding

 Health Precautions

 Clearance

 Proficiency in

the local language

 Personal details

1.

2.
3.

4.
5.

Selecting a research problem Formulating a research design Collecting the data Analyzing the data Interpreting the data

 Of the techniques used by

anthropologists, participantobservation is used more extensively than any other

*becoming involved in the culture under study while making systematic observations of what people actually do.

Because the participant-observer is interested in studying people at the grassroots level, it is always advisable to work ones way down the political hierarchy 1. Research clearance 2. Select one role and use it consistently 3. Proceed slowly 4. Respectfully emphasize that you are a student

 People tend to appreciate the attempt to live according to the

rules of their culture

Enables the fieldworker to distinguish between normative

and real behavior (what people should do and what they actually do)

 Small sample sizes

Data is hard to code or

categorize Difficulties in recording observations Obtrusiveness

 In addition to using participant-observation, cultural

anthropologists in the field rely heavily on ethnographic interviewing Used for obtaining information on what people think or feel (attitudinal data) as well as on what they do (behavioral data)

Unstructured Interviews-involve a minimum of control; interviewer asks open-ended questions on a general topic and allows interviewees to respond at their own pace using their own words Structured Interviews-large numbers of respondents are asked a set of specific questions in same sequence and preferably the same set of conditions

Cultural anthropologists use other techniques for collecting cultural data a various stages of the field study: Census Taking Mapping Document Analysis Collecting Genealogies Photography

 More collaborative and interdisciplinary

More inclusive of local people in all stages of research

Faced with real-time limitations

 Rapid Ethnographic Assessment Surveys

Focus Groups

 Reflexive Methods-

associated with postmodernism, focuses more on the interaction between the ethnographer and the informant than on scientific objectivity

1919 FRANZ BOAS PUBLISHED HIS OUTRAGE AGAINST 4 ANTHROPOLOGISTS ENGAGED IN INTELLEGENCE GATHERING DURING WARTIME

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A person who uses science as a cover for political spying, who demeans himself to pose before a foreign government as an investigator, under this cloak, prostitutes science in an unpardonable way and forfeits the right to be classed as a scientist.

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BOAS FOUNDED THE AAA, BUT WAS THE ONLY ANTHROPOLOGIST EVER CENSURED BY THE AAA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL THE ISSUE RE-EMERGED 50 YEARS LATER

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CARRIED OUT BY DEPT. OF ARMY TO CONTAIN COUNTERINSURGENCY & REVOLUTION IN LATIN AMERICA A CHILEAN SOCIAL SCIENTIST PROTESTED

SOCIAL SCIENCES ADDRESSED ETHICAL ISSUES, ADOPTED CODES OF ETHICS

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CAMELOT FORCED ANTHROPOLOGY TO TAKE A CRITICAL LOOK AT ITSELF THIS FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE WAS EXPRESSED IN THE 1967 PRINCIPLES OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/ethstmnt.htm

50 YEARS LATER, BOAS WAS EXHONORATED

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Ethics issues continue Vietnam War (1967-73)

Anthropologists involved in counterinsurgency

Call for a new Code in 1971 1984 Code revision (applied anthropology)

Clandestine research removed

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In 2007 Terence Turner sought to reintroduce the ban on clandestine research from the 1971 Code of Ethics In the 2009 Code, classified research is not allowed, but that depends on what classified means Roberto J Gonzlez and Hugh Gusterson: Many argue that the AAA should not have a grievance procedure for investigating potential ethics violations, but shouldnt there be some sort of response when actions clearly defy the association and its interpretation of ethical obligations?
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Janet Levy: 1998 Adjudication/sanctions removed

Definition: Diversityhow to define violations? Does not license anthropolgists no means to sanction Work Load Liability
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Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban

Dilemmas debated among students

An educational model shifts the responsibility for ethical conduct to the individual anthropologist

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Ian Harper: In other nations of the global south the government is a leading employer of anthropologists and collaboration with the government is routine Re: counterinsurgency--When does professional expertise cease to be expertise and move into the shadowy area of collaboration?

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Rena Lederman: Participant Observation vs. Sociology

Disguised observation & informed consent APA forbids deception unless justified by significant scientific, educational, or applied value
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Psychology experiments & disclosure of aims (deception & debriefing)

Nancy Scheper-Hughes: Organs Watch Project How do you ask permission to study illegal and criminal behavior? IRB exemption to document illegal traffic in human organs

Posed as donor seeker to Turkish organ traffickers Interviewed poor who sold kidneys out of need of money

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All the rules of fieldwork practice and ethics seemed inadequate In posing as a kidney buyer in order to understand the misery that prompts a person to bargain over the value of his kidneyI was complicit in the behavior Anthropologists are not detectives, and we are trained to hold anthropologistinformant relations as a sacred trust. But surely this does not mean that one has to be a bystander to international crimes against vulnerable populations
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