Chapter 2
Doing Cultural Anthropology
Learning Objectives
The chapter describes to students the methodology of participant-observation in
fieldwork. It gives an overview of the development of anthropology from its beginnings to
the present and some of the changes that have occurred recently in the discipline. After
reading Chapter 2, students should be able to:
1. Describe the 19-century origins of anthropology and the research style of
anthropologists of that era.
2. Explain who Boas and Malinowski were, and their importance to the development
of anthropology.
3. Define participant observation and explain its importance in anthropology.
4. Give examples of research conducted from emic and etic perspectives.
5. Analyze the role of cross-cultural research in anthropology and describe some of
the tools used to conduct it.
6. Summarize the importance of feminism and postmodernism in the development
of anthropology.
7. Describe collaborative and engaged anthropology and comment on the
advantages and problems associated with them.
8. List examples of the ethical dilemmas facing anthropology.
Key Terms
These are the anthropological terms introduced in Chapter 2. Students can write
definitions of these terms during class or while studying to see how well they understood
the reading.
collaborative anthropology 38
cultural relativism 29
culture shock 32
emic perspective 33
engaged anthropology 39
ethnocentrism 29
ethnography 28
ethnology 34
etic perspective 33
fieldwork 31
Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) 35
informant (respondent, interlocutor, consultant) 33
Chapter 2
informed consent 43
institutional review board (IRB) 31
native anthropologist 42
participant observation 31
postmodernism 38
Lecture Outline
I.
Ethnography in Historical Perspective
A.
Ethnography is the gathering and interpretation of information based on
intensive, firsthand study of a particular culture or the written report of this
study.
1.
Used as a basis for cross-cultural comparisons.
2.
Data are analyzed to build and test hypotheses about cultural
processes.
B.
Anthropology began in the late 19th century as a comparative science.
1.
Early anthropologists, such as Lewis Henry Morgan and Sir
Edward Burnett Tylor, were called “armchair anthropologists”
because they did not practice fieldwork.
2.
Anthropologists placed cultures they encountered on evolutionary
scales of cultural development.
a)
These scales were characterized by different stages of
technology or social institutions.
b)
Europeans were placed on the pinnacle of evolutionary
success as “civilization,” while others were viewed as
earlier forms of its development.
3.
There were numerous problems with this kind of approach:
a)
Explorers and colonial officials exaggerated differences
with Europe to promote colonialism.
b)
Many times these so-called “primitive” societies were
actually colonial byproducts themselves, not “living fossils.”
c)
Evolutionists acknowledged that their “scales of
achievement” were not well-established.
C.
By the early 20th century, fieldwork and ethnography had become the
hallmarks of cultural anthropology.
1.
Franz Boas was a primary influence in American anthropology. He:
a)
Rejected theories of evolution that held that some societies
were more evolved than others.
b)
Developed the method of participant observation in
fieldwork:
(1) Living with natives while observing them.
(2) Systematic recording of cultural patterns.
(3) Use of archaeology and historical archives.
(4) Collection of statistical data.
c)
Promoted theoretical ideas that cultures are products of
their histories and that all human beings have equal
capacities for culture.
d)
Insisted that anthropologists free themselves as much as
possible from ethnocentrism, while cultivating cultural
Chapter 2
II.
relativism—understanding a culture from a native point of
view.
e)
Tirelessly promoted human rights and justice.
2.
In Britain, there developed a separate fieldwork tradition in large
part due to the influence of Alfred Cort Haddon’s work in the Torres
Straits.
a)
His study was interdisciplinary.
b)
Torres Straits prepared future ethnographers, such as
Bronislaw Malinowski.
(1) Malinowski’s main goal for an ethnographer was to
obtain the native’s point of view by living among the native
people. He:
(a) Carried out fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands of
Papua, New Guinea.
(b) Argued that only through first-hand fieldwork
could an anthropologist truly understand a member
of another culture.
(2) He developed an ethnography centered on empathic
understanding of natives through description of social
institutions and cultural and psychological functions.
3.
Malinowski and Boas each had a distinct approach to
anthropology.
a)
Boas focused on understanding cultures with respect to
their context and histories.
b)
Malinowski emphasized the notion of function in the
maintenance and stability of society
4.
Malinowski and Boas also shared a common way of approaching
cultures. Both:
a)
Developed strong fieldwork traditions of participant
observation.
b)
Publicly and scientifically opposed racism.
c)
Agreed that all cultures are equally rational and none is
superior to another.
Anthropological techniques of fieldwork—the firsthand, systematic exploration of
a society.
A.
Participant-observation is the fieldwork technique that involves
gathering cultural data by observing people’s behavior and participating in
their lives. It involves:
1.
Gathering as much information as possible about a particular
culture.
2.
Observing, listening to, and asking questions of the natives
studied.
3.
Participant observation has advantages and limitations.
a)
Anthropologists are on the job 24 hours a day and observe
people in all kinds of situations.
b)
However, they must work with small numbers of individuals.
4.
Fieldwork is often funded and many times requires oversight by
institutional review boards (IRBs)—university committees that
oversee research of human subjects.
Doing Cultural Anthropology
5.
III.
In the past, anthropologists frequently did studies of one small,
relatively isolated group, but today they often focus on specific
situations, individuals, or culture change.
B.
Participant observation involves challenges and styles.
1.
Culture shock is feelings of alienation and helplessness that
emerge when one is immersed in a new and different culture.
2.
Variation of research styles includes:
a)
Emic perspective—seeking to understand a society from
the inside.
b)
Etic perspective—using a scientific analysis as an
outsider.
c)
Anthropological research often follows a natural science
model:
(1) Proposing a hypothesis.
(2) Collecting empirical data.
d)
Highly interpretive style of anthropological research which
uses techniques drawn from study of history and literature.
C.
When practicing participant observation, anthropologists utilize
informants (consultants)—people who guide them and inform them of
the native culture. Working with consultants is often informal, but may
include:
1.
Interviews.
2.
Inventories and questionnaires.
3.
Collection of genealogies.
D.
Other field techniques may include:
1.
Photography and filming.
2.
Mapping space.
3.
Serving apprenticeships.
E.
Part of ethnographic fieldwork is also organizing and analyzing data.
Ethnographic Data and Cross-Cultural Comparison
A.
Cross-cultural comparison has always been part of anthropology.
1.
Boas and his students had the goal of encouraging Europeans and
Americans to compare their own societies with those that
anthropologists studied.
2.
British and European anthropologists focused on ethnology—the
attempt to find general principles or laws that govern cultural
phenomena:
a)
Herbert Spencer developed a systematic approach to data
called Descriptive Sociology.
b)
Americans George Murdock and Albert Keller created the
Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) – a large, indexed
ethnographic database.
(1) This includes a wide range of current and historical
societies.
(2) It allows for insightful, creative comparisons across
cultures.
(3) It does have critics, though:
(a) Reports are written from different perspectives.
(b) Indexing is often inconsistent.
Chapter 2
3.
IV.
There has also been single investigator cross-cultural research.
a)
Studies of violence.
b)
Medical research studies.
c)
Pre-school research.
Changing directions in ethnography
A.
Feminist Anthropology
1.
Questioning the power of gender bias in both ethnography and
cultural theory has been a significant contribution.
a)
Historically, men who had limited access to women’s lives
performed much of the fieldwork.
b)
Traditionally, it was assumed that men performed the most
important cultural activities.
c)
By only presenting the male view, culture appears to be
more homogeneous than it really is and may perpetuate the
oppression of women by ignoring their own perspectives.
2.
Increasing numbers of women faculty on university campuses have
begun shifting this bias from male-centered studies to studies of
both genders.
B.
Postmodernism is a theoretical perspective focusing on issues of power
and voice. It suggests that anthropological accounts are partial truths
reflecting on the background, training, and social position of their authors.
1.
Ethnographers today are more sensitive to how their own status,
personality, and cultural backgrounds can affect their
interpretations and representations of a culture.
2.
Ethnographies are “stories” and the ethnographer’s voice should
be included with many other possible representations.
3.
Works such as Orientalism by Edward Said encouraged
anthropologists to think about the ways that they impact the data
that is being collected.
4.
Depending on their theoretical persuasions, anthropologists have
differing views of postmodernism, but regardless of the
anthropologist’s view, almost all contemporary ethnographies
include some reflection about fieldwork conditions.
C.
Engaged and collaborative anthropology
1.
Collaborative anthropology places the ethical responsibility to
consultants above everything else. It seeks:
a)
To give priority to informants on the topic, methodology,
and written results of research.
b)
To displace the anthropologist as the sole author
representing the culture of a group.
2.
Engaged anthropology moves from the production of texts to
political action. It strives:
a)
To provide ethnographic data that will lead others to
understand and help the community.
b)
To improve the life chances of individuals in the study
community (see Bourgois’s study on p. 36-37 and LyonCallo’s study p. 39-40).
3.
Engaged and collaborative anthropology generates some criticism.
Doing Cultural Anthropology
a)
V.
There is a tension between always producing what the
informant desires and the scientific goal of not falsifying
information.
b)
Native communities rarely speak in a homogenous, single
voice, making multiple voices difficult to accurately record.
D.
Native Anthropology/native anthropologist conduct fieldwork in the
anthropologist’s own culture.
1.
Native anthropologists must try to maintain the social distance of
an outsider because it is too easy to take for granted what one
knows.
a)
Fieldwork of one’s own culture allows one a glimpse of the
possible future (see Myerhoff’s study, p. 42).
b)
Cultural insiders may not have access to all people due to
gender and social class distinctions.
c)
Anthropologists can examine their own culture objectively
and bring what they learned back home again (see Jones’s
study p. 42).
2.
In recent years, native anthropology has become increasingly
common.
Ethical considerations in fieldwork
A.
Anthropologists must obtain informed consent of the people to be
studied, protecting them from risk and respecting their privacy and dignity.
B.
In trying to address these issues, the American Anthropological
Association Statement of Ethics holds anthropologists responsible for:
1.
The people they study and those with whom they work.
2.
Obligations to the discipline of anthropology:
a)
Not to endanger the research prospects of other
anthropologists
b)
Publish the results of the research for the public and future
researchers.
3.
Obligations to sponsors.
4.
Obligations to their own and host governments.
5.
Obligations to the public.
C.
Numerous projects have tested the boundaries of the ethical
considerations.
1.
Project Camelot was controversial because it involved
anthropologists in working for the foreign policy goals of the United
States.
a)
What is the integrity of this research?
b)
How can the anthropologist be kept safe while in the field?
c)
For what purposes will this research be used?
2.
It was because of Project Camelot that the American
Anthropological Association first issued a statement on
anthropological ethics.
3.
Today, there are concerns about the engagement of some
anthropologists with the American military.
a)
Some anthropologists work on military bases and at
facilities providing anthropological training and analysis for
officers.
Chapter 2
Other anthropologists work “on the ground” collecting data
in zones of active combat.
(1) This is most controversial, as it is difficult to keep
ethical obligations under these conditions.
(2) Anthropologists have virtually no ability to safeguard
any of their information under these conditions.
4.
The majority of anthropologists oppose this use of anthropology.
New Roles for the Ethnographer
A.
Immigration, expanded communication, and cheap transportation have all
altered the nature of anthropology.
1.
Traditional research sites are expended in size today and may
include work across continents, even.
2.
Fieldwork techniques have changed and now include more
questionnaires, archival research, government documents, and
court records.
3.
Today, research is constantly being re-evaluated to reflect more
global issues and connections.
a)
There may be a struggle over whose voice prevails in
ethnography, as informants read and, increasingly, critique
anthropological research.
b)
On the other hand, as natives’ knowledge has increased
about the world around them, relations between
anthropologists and natives have become closer and
ethnographies more accurate.
4.
In societies like Toraja of Indonesia, anthropological data and
anthropologists may be incorporated as important sources of
cultural authority.
a)
As aristocrats became more insecure about the relevance
of their own royal genealogies, anthropological accounts
became an important resource, shoring up their claims to
noble status.
b)
Anthropological data becomes particularly relevant in
societies who find traditional stratification is affected by the
global economy.
B.
These forces of globalization have produced as much diversity as
homogeneity.
1.
New cultural forms are constantly being created.
2.
Older cultural forms are undergoing constant adaptations.
C.
Anthropology is increasingly a rich field of study.
b)
VI.
Student Activities and Assignments
1) Ask students to imagine they are doing ethnographic fieldwork: under what
conditions do they think they would best work? What kinds of research would
most interest them? Why?
2) Present various cases of ethical challenge and discuss possible actions that an
anthropologist should or should not take under those conditions. The website for
the American Anthropological Association has examples of ethically challenging
Doing Cultural Anthropology
fieldwork situations and discussions of how these might be addressed. See
http://www.aaanet.org/profdev/ethics/
3) Have students design a fieldwork manual, using step-by-step instructions on how
to best prepare to go to the field to do research. They should create a proposal
for research, a research design including methodology in the field, and a budget
for the work.
4) eHRAF is available in many college/university libraries as an electronic resource.
See if this is available on your campus and invite a librarian to class to present
the mechanics on how to use this electronic source. Students should choose a
cultural topic or topic area that interests them prior to the presentation and then
work to compile e-resources available for doing this research.
5) If your university has a grants office and an IRB committee, ask students to do
research on how the grants office works at your school. Get an IRB application
and go through the steps of presenting a research proposal at your own campus.
Many students, after their freshman year, will be able to use this information if
they do any research, in any discipline, that involves human subjects.
Media Suggestions
(Films)
1) The Shackles of Tradition: Franz Boas. 1990. 52 minutes. (Pioneers of
Anthropology: Strangers Abroad Series) A film by Bruce Dakowski and Andre
Singer. Distributed by Films for the Humanities and Sciences, Princeton, NJ.
Incredible account of the work of Franz Boas, whose fieldwork in the Arctic and
the North West Coast of America gained him the title of the founding father of
American anthropology.
2) Amchis: The Forgotten Healers of the Himalayas. 2001. 52 minutes. A film by
Anoko Productions, ARTE, Pois Chiche Films. In this film about a small valley in
the Himalayas, the traditions of healing and culture change are examined. Known
as “amchis,” the traditional healers have become all-but-forgotten by younger
generations of Tibetans who increasingly see Western remedies and more
modern interactions. Located at the altitude of 3,700 meters, these remote
villages are the last stronghold of traditional Tibetan medicine.
(Internet Sites)
1) For an in-depth discussion of participant observation go to the website of Family
Health International at
http://www.fhi.org/NR/rdonlyres/ed2ruznpftevg34lxuftzjiho65asz7betpqigbbyorgg
s6tetjic367v44baysyomnbdjkdtbsium/participantobservation1.pdf
a. How is participant observation useful in applied anthropology?
b. What are the strengths and weaknesses of participant observation?
2) The Royal Anthropological Institute has a fieldwork site with excellent video clips
and follow-up web resources/useful information. See this at
http://www.discoveranthropology.org.uk/about-anthropology/fieldwork.html