The Methods of Anthropology: Fieldwork and Participant-Observation
Working in the Field
Lengthy and difficult process
Site selection
Gaining rapport
Exchanges and gift-giving
Culture shock and reverse culture shock.
Factors influencing fieldwork
Gender, ethnicity and age of the anthropologist.
Participant Observation
Living and working with the people you study
Eating the same food
Wearing similar clothes
Following culturally appropriate behaviour.
Participant-Observation Approaches
Etic:
Data gathering on social conditions and behaviour.
Generally followed by those who think that social conditions influence behaviour
and ideas.
Emic:
Descriptive reports about what insiders say and understand about their
culture.
Seen as most important by those who believe that values and ideas shape
human behaviour.
Fieldwork Techniques
Participation and note-taking at night.
Questionnaires concerning ‘etic’ factors.
Collecting genealogies.
Focus groups.
Case studies and life histories.
Participatory research: invite the people to define the questions they deem
important in understanding their society.
New Directions in Fieldwork
With decolonization, more people want more say in cultural productions about
and for themselves.
Many ethnographies now are co-productions.
Movement away from treating people and their societies as ‘objects’ and
involving them actively in data collection.
Requirement to share research with the people concerned.
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Ethical issues have become more important; involves assurances of
Anonymity
Confidentiality
Mechanisms through which people can withdraw from a study.
Writing About Culture
1.Realist
Uses a third-person voice.
Uses a more scientific approach.
Focuses on etic phenomena, e.g. social behaviour.
2. Reflexive
Explores the research experience itself.
More personalized, often using creative narrative forms.
Interpretative, does not believe that objectivity is possible and believes that
anthropology is a discipline that ‘translates’ from one culture to another.
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