CRCL 5631
CROSS CULTURAL METHODS
OFFICE: B2617-2
INSTRUCTOR: DEEPA REDDY
PHONE: 281-283-3331
TUESDAYS 7-9:50PM, B1215
EMAIL: REDDY@UHCL.EDU
OFFICE HOURS: TUESDAYS 4-6:30PM; WEDNESDAYS 7-8:30PM
WEBSITE: HTTP://COURSESITE.CL.UH.EDU/HSH/REDDY/
This is a course on the qualitative methods used to study social and cultural phenomena. Although its
emphasis will be on ethnographic techniques, in keeping with the integrative spirit of Anthropology and
the close links between cross-cultural methods of study, it will also survey sociological, historical, and
other methodological approaches.
By the end of the semester, I expect that students will have
o Acquired a knowledge of the differences between various methodologies employed in social
science research and the ways in which they complement one-another;
o Developed an understanding of ethical considerations in social science research, in addition to
other methodological dilemmas;
o Gained familiarity with the methods of analysis (linguistic, cultural, sociological, historical) and
with writing as a mode of representation;
o Learned to design and carry out a research project: conduct library research, write a proposal,
apply for and obtain the requisite Institutional approvals and consents to conduct one or more
interviews, and write fieldnotes and a research paper based on the work done.
TEXTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
IN THE BOOKSTORE:
Robb Walsh, Legends of Texas Barbecue
Howard Becker. Tricks of the Trade. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
ONLINE: Through Neuman Library’s online Databases. If you don’t know how to access/search these,
consult either me or a reference librarian.
COURSE PACKET: On the bookcase in Suite 2617-5. You’ll need to sign the binder in and out. It’s entirely an
honor system; as a courtesy to your classmates, no overnight borrowing please.
ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING
ASSIGNMENT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION
SHORT PAPER (5 PAGES)
RESEARCH PROPOSAL (5 PAGES)
IRB/CPHS APPLICATION
FIELDNOTES (5 PAGES, SINGLE-SPACED, MINIMUM)
FINAL PAPER (12 PAGES MINIMUM)
PERCENTAGE OF
FINAL GRADE
15%
15%
15%
15%
10%
30%
DUE DATE
N/A
FEBRUARY 15
MARCH 8
MARCH 8
APRIL 19
APRIL 24 & 26
1. ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION
The success and value of this course for ALL students depends upon your involvement and active
participation in class discussions. Our time together will be devoted to clarifying the reading material and
discussing the many issues raised in the readings. As in any graduate class, you are expected to share
your thoughts, questions, and concerns about the material with the other members of the class. In
addition, virtually all assignments are to presented in class or discussed collectively, and your
constructive efforts in responding to the work of your peers will be counted as part of your participation
grade.
Finally, there will be brief in-class assignments that will be determined on a week-to-week basis. Missing
all or some of these will result in a proportional lowering of your grade.
Two absences will pass without mention. Additional absences will lower your final grade. If you are
facing a situation that will result in an inordinate number of absences or an inability to complete
assignments on schedule, please let me know as soon as possible.
2. SHORT PAPER (5 PAGES)
Pick an article from either the New York Times or the Washington Post (this may be a good opportunity to
learn how to search for magazine/newspaper articles on the Lexis Nexis database, or you can read the
papers online and find an article that way). Your article must be focused on the news (no film or book
reviews etc.) but may be from any section of the paper, including the Op-Ed pages. In about 5 pages, and
keeping in mind the kind of information presented in your chosen article, tell me what you would need
to know and do to make this piece of reportage or analysis/opinion into something more identifiably
ethnographic. You may do this in bullets, if you wish, making sure that each bullet is thoroughly and
fully explained of course.
No outside research is required for this assignment, but do keep in mind that you’ll need to know enough
about the content of the article and the issues raised in order to complete the essay successfully – and that
may well require that you do some additional digging or investigation.
3. RESEARCH PROPOSAL (5 PAGES)
Write up a 5-page description of your projects (topic/object of investigation, thesis and anticipated
development/support and methodology) as well as an annotated bibliography of secondary sources that
indicate how you will be using these in your papers. You may use your assigned readings as appropriate,
but at least 5 entries in your bibliography should not come from the syllabus.
For the sake of simplicity, your methodology should be limited to 1-2 interviews and 1-2 visits to field
sites that are tied to your research.
You may use the following headings to structure your proposal: (1) Introduction/Description of Thesis;
(2) Background/Historical context; (3) Methodology; (4) Research Significance.
For the bibliography: 1) devise a search strategy; e.g.: a set of keywords. 2) Perform searches in (as
appropriate) the MLA International Bibliography, America: History and Life, and the Social Sciences Index, all
of which are available through the Library.
If you don’t know how to create an Annotated Bibliography, consult:
http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/skill28.htm
4. IRB/CPHS APPLICATION
Find the CPHS Application on my website and download it. Using text you’ve already composed for
your research proposal, complete the application. Provide an interview script or guide as an appendix.
Remember that you will be submitting this application to the CPHS committee for review and
institutional approvals.
Note: Completing this assignment successfully is a necessary prerequisite for the completion of your research
project and paper, so also is necessary for a good grade in this class.
5. FIELDNOTES (5 PAGES, SINGLE-SPACED, MINIMUM)
This one’s easy: describe, reflect, respond, think out loud and in response to your readings about how
you have gone about your investigation: whom have you met? In what contexts? What were your
impressions? What did you learn? Along those lines. The assignment is meant to keep you thinking and
writing about your work while you’re in the “thick” of it, as it were. And, yeah, to prod you toward
Geertzian “thick description.” 
6. FINAL PAPER (AT LEAST 12 PAGES)
Oddly enough, I’m not going to ask you to write up all your research in the form of a research paper. I
see this course as a process that moves you up to that point – but the research paper itself is for you to
tackle later, as part of a thesis or other writing project. Instead, here’s what I want for a final paper: a
meditation on what you did and what you would do in a full-fledged research paper (yes, I know, it’s
sneaky: asking you for the shape of the research paper without the paper itself might seem like writing
the paper anyway, but it is at least not asking you to work out all the details and kinks). You will,
however, need to answer the following questions:
i) How did you arrive upon your research topic?
ii) How and why did you adopt your methodological strategy to address your research questions?
iii) What happened next: how did you go about your research? What were your successes and stumbling
blocks? (You may use your fieldnotes for this section, but don’t simply excerpt them here)
iv) This should make up the bulk of your final paper -- Now with at least some data in front of you,
where would you go next? What sources would you use, why, and how? How would you analyze your
data? If there is more than one way to approach what you’ve collected, or if you’ve discovered there is
more than one potential project/argument to be made, spell all of that out in as much detail as possible
(i.e. list and explain the various arguments and propositions, if necessary). What historical/other social
context would be relevant to the full elucidation of your topic? What further field research (you should
have done most if not all library searches already) might you need to conduct? What theoretical
framework will be the most useful in making your argument(s)? Have your questions and/or interests
shifted in the course of this research – and how, if so?
COURSE POLICIES
Academic Honesty Policy
As a UHCL student, you are responsible for knowing and observing the University’s standards for
academic honesty, which are set forth in the UHCL Catalog and Section 4.2 of the UHCL Student Handbook
(available online at: http://b3308-adm.cl.uh.edu/PolicyProcedures/studentlife/acadhone.html).
Plagiarism
The most serious breach of academic integrity is handing in others’ work as your own. Any words,
phrases, or sentences taken from another text must be enclosed in quotation marks. Whether you are
quoting word for word or borrowing an idea and putting it in your own words, you must credit your
source. All instances of plagiarism will be referred to the Dean of Students.
For the mechanics of citation, consult either
. the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, ed. Joseph Gibaldi, 6th ed. (New York: MLA, 2003),
on reserve and in reference at Neumann Library (LB2369 G53 2003), OR
. The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (University of Chicago Press, 2003), on reserve and in
reference at Neumann Library (Z253 .U69 2003).
Absences
I realize that illness or unforeseen crisis can make attendance impossible. I also know that excessive
absences hurt the class as a whole. Class attendance and your participation are important parts of the
educational process in this seminar. Two absences will pass without mention. Additional absences
will lower your final grade. If you are facing a situation that will result in an inordinate number of
absences or an inability to complete assignments on schedule, please let me know as soon as possible.
Late Assignments
Late papers depreciate by one-third of a letter grade on the first day of lateness, and an additional
third of a grade for every two additional days, weekends included. Weekly papers are not accepted
late. In fairness to all, extra time will be granted for assignments only in exceptional cases. Should you
be unable to meet a deadline, you must make alternate arrangements to hand in the assignment.
Changes to the Syllabus
The dates on the schedule represent my best estimate of the time we will give each text. Dates will change
if we choose to devote more or less time to one of the readings.
Withdrawal
The last date for drops without penalty is listed in this semester's schedule of classes and on the UHCL
web: http://www.uhcl.edu/admissions/. You are responsible for independently verifying that date.
Incompletes
A grade of "I" is granted only when a documented emergency arises late in the semester. An "I" is not an
option for someone who has been behind all semester.
Students with Disabilities
If you have a disability that requires special accommodation, you must:
. talk with the Coordinator of Health Disability Services (x. 2627);
. talk with me and we’ll make all necessary arrangements.
You must do this at the start of the semester, or as soon as possible after the disability is diagnosed
during the semester.
SCHEDULE OF READINGS
WEEK 1
JANUARY 18
INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW
WEEK 2
JANUARY 25
THE OBJECT & ITS INVESTIGATOR
Emile Durkheim, “What is a social fact?” In: The Rules of Sociological Method, ed. Steven Lukes, trans.
W.D. Halls (New York: Free Press, 1982), pp. 50-9. (Course Packet)
Greenblatt, Stephen. "Culture." Critical Terms for Literary Study. Ed. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas
McLaughlin. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1995. 225-32. (Course Packet)
Hans-Georg Gadamer, from The Continental Philosophy Reader, ed. Richard Kearney and Mara
Rainwater. Routledge, 1996. pp. 109-121. (Course Packet)
WEEK 3
FEBRUARY 1
HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT WHAT WE ARE STUDYING?
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Chapters 1-10 of Metaphors we Live by (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1980), pp. 1-51. (Course Packet)
Becker, Howard. “Imagery” in Tricks of the Trade. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Robb Walsh, Legends of Texas Barbecue
WEEK 4
FEBRUARY 8
THE PROBLEM OF GENRE : BUT ISN’T ANTHROPOLOGY JUST A KIND OF JOURNALISM?
Mark Allen Peterson, “Getting To The Story: Unwriteable Discourse And Interpretive Practice In
American Journalism,” Anthropological Quarterly, Oct2001, Vol. 74, Issue 4 (Online Databases)
Ulf Hannerz, “Among the Foreign Correspondents: Reflections on Anthropological Styles and
Audiences,” Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology Mar2002, Vol. 67 Issue 1, p57, 18p (Online Databases)
WEEK 5
FEBRUARY 15
GETTING TO METHODS 1: LIBRARY RESEARCH
1. Library visit: Database searches; Learning to distinguish between Primary vs. Secondary sources,
Scholarly vs. Popular/Other sources. CLASS MEETS IN LIBRARY FROM 7-8PM
2. SHORT PAPERS DUE & TO BE PRESENTED IN CLASS
WEEK 6
FEBRUARY 22
GETTING TO METHODS 2: STRATEGIES AND RESEARCH DESIGN
Goffman, Erving. 1989 On fieldwork. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 18:123-132. (Course Packet)
Becker, Howard. “Sampling” in Tricks of the Trade. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
George Marcus, “Ethnography in/of the world system: the emergence of multi-sited ethnography” in
Annual Review of Anthropology 24 (1995) 95-117.
WEEK 7
MARCH 1
ETHICS & PROCEDURES
Trials and Tribulations of Navigating IRBs: Anthropological and Biomedical Perspectives of 'Risk' in
Conducting Human Subjects Research, Gordon, Elisa J., Anthropological Quarterly, Spring2003, Vol. 76,
Issue 2 (Online Databases)
Human Subjects Protection and Cultural Anthropology, By: Plattner, Stuart, Anthropological Quarterly,
Spring2003, Vol. 76, Issue 2 (Online Databases)
Human Subjects Protections, Institutional Review Boards, and Cultural Anthropological Research,
Marshall, Patricia A., Anthropological Quarterly, Spring2003, Vol. 76, Issue 2 (Online Databases)
WEEK 8
MARCH 8 (TUESDAY)
RESEARCH PROPOSALS DUE & TO BE PRESENTED IN CLASS
CPHS APPLICATIONS DUE
WEEK 9
MARCH 15
SPRING BREAK
WEEK 10
MARCH 22
WRITING: NOTES, NOTES, NOTES!
James Clifford, “Notes on (Field)notes” pp. 47-70
Roger Sanjek, “A vocabulary for fieldnotes” pp. 92-138.
Both in Fieldnotes : the makings of anthropology. Edited by Roger Sanjek. Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
1990. (Course Packet)
WEEK 11
MARCH 29
INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS
Taylor, Charles. “Interpretation and the sciences of man.” AND “Understanding and Ethnocentricity”
In: Philosophy and the Human Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 15-57; 116-133.
(Course Packet)
Ian Hacking, “Between Michael Foucault and Erving Goffman: between discourse in the abstract and
face-to-face interaction.” Economy and Society 33/3 (August 2004). pp. 277-302. (Course Packet)
WEEK 12
APRIL 5
WRITING AND/AS INTERPRETATION
Geertz, Clifford. “Thick description” and “Deep Play: Notes on a Balinese Cockfight.” In The
Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973). (Course Packet)
“Identity in Mashpee” from James Clifford, The Predicament of Culture (Harvard University Press,
1988). (Course Packet)
WEEK 13
APRIL 12
INTERVIEWS/FIELDWORK
WEEK 14
APRIL 19: FIELDNOTES DUE & TO BE DISCUSSED IN CLASS
WEEK 15
APRIL 24 (SUNDAY): DRAFTS OF FINAL PAPERS DUE ON EMAIL TO ME & PEER-EDITORS
APRIL 26 (TUESDAY): DRAFTS OF FINAL PAPERS DUE & TO BE DISCUSSED AND PEER-EDITED IN CLASS
WEEK 16
MAY 3
FINAL RESEARCH PAPERS DUE