1. On authority grounds (who
has the power to construct
and portray a culture and
how)
2. and on textual grounds
(how the writing strategies,
style, choice of voice)
influences the reader.
History of fieldwork in
anthropology

From Armchair anthropology to the field

origins of participant observation
Beginning the fieldwork process

Selection of project, funding

Preparing for the field
Working in the Field


Site selection
Gaining rapport

Exchanges and gift
giving
 Factors influencing fieldwork

Culture shock
Fieldwork techniques

Theoretical considerations

Participant observation

Interviews and questionnaires
Recording Culture

Field notes
 Tape recording,
photography, videos and films
Data analysis


Analysing data
Writing process
Ethical issues in cultural
anthropology and dangers in
the field

Role of the anthropologists towards
people being studied
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think it is important to learn about the
historical background of anthropological
ethnography? What is the relationship between
ethnography as a process and ethnography as a
product? How can we understand about cultures
through ethnography? Give examples from the
readings and/or lectures.
2. Considering lectures and readings about “Coming
of Age in Samoa”, can there be a “falsification of a
1928 ethnography by another written in 1083?
Why?