Download Emic, Etic, huh? Emic and Etic perspectives What is ethnog

Becoming a
professional stranger
Core Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology
Goals for today
• Define ethnography and fieldwork
• Introduce the core cultural anthropology research methods
• Offer some examples of these methods in action
• Summarize some personal attributes of anthropologists
• Outline some ways you can practice being a “professional
stranger”
Photo: Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in Papua New Guinea, c. 1915.
What is ethnography?
Emic, Etic, huh?
• Ethnography is an approach to learning about the social
and cultural life of a community or a setting. It is a story
of events that takes place in a natural, local setting.
• Emic refers to the “insider’s perspective”
• Etic refers to your perspective
• Goal of anthropology is to document human experience
from the perspective of the people you are studying with.
Emic and Etic perspectives
What is ethnography?
• Ethnographic studies involve long-term, face-to-face
interactions and participation to help answer a question.
• Ethnography uses the concept of culture as a lens to
observe, describe, and explain results.
• Ethnographies use emic perspectives to emphasize insider
viewpoints and meanings.
• Anthropologists then interpret these meanings, actions,
and beliefs into one or more stories of culture.
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Bronislaw Malinowski = LeBron
Where do ethnographers work?
• Often called the father of ethnography
• Studied “salvage ethnography” (= hurry up before its
gone!)
• Role of ethnography was to “grasp the native’s point of
view”
• Ethnography is changing to become more reflexive.
• The settings for using anthropological research methods
are endless!
• Anthropologist seen as mediator
• Can never arrive at the “true truth”
• Can use “thick description” (Geertz)
Where do ethnographers work?
Where do ethnographers work?
• Traditionally, ethnographers work “in the field,” and what
they do is called fieldwork.
• The field can be a physical location, such as a newsroom.
• The field can also be an Internet chat room, and the
picture would still apply!
• Fieldwork sites can range from the 1950’s American
kitchen, to banana plantations in Costa Rica, to HIV
clinics in Zimbabwe.
Fieldwork
Fieldwork
• Fieldwork is very exciting, and lets you “try out” the core
methods you will learn today.
•Entering the field to do your research requires some
studying up on:
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Napoleon Chagnon & Yanomamo Indians, Brazil
rules
boundaries
norms
behaviors
language
The research methods of cultural anthropology will help you!
• The best part is, you get to define the field!
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Core Research Methods
Qualitative Methods
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
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Do background work
• Counting
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Build trust in the field
• Census-taking
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Contact informants
• Mapping and GIS
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Interviews/life histories
(genealogies)
• Surveys
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Observation/participant
observation
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Field notes and journals
• Qualitative methods are methods used to learn about
things cannot be easily counted, mapped, surveyed, or
understood without the help of others.
• May include values, beliefs, politics from an emic
perspective
• Questionnaires
Quantitative Methods
First things first: background work
• Quantitative methods are methods that involve counting,
frequency, numbers, and statistics.
• Uses an etic perspective (that of the researcher)
• Can involve something simple like obtaining permission
from a teacher to do research in her classroom
• Can also involve something difficult like learning a
language
• Should always involve reading the Code of Ethics of the
American Anthropological Association
• Visit the HRAF Files
Next steps: Build trust
Informants: Your “in” to the field
• Rapport refers to building relationships in the field that
are ethical, personal, and based on trust.
• Informants are people with expertise in your research topic.
• Establishing rapport will help give you access to
privileged situations, people, conversations, and
information.
• Humor is a great way to break through cultural
boundaries.
• They are also called gatekeepers because they are your best bet for
access and information.
Informants can teach you many things you didn’t
know about. These include:
• customs
• rituals
• histories
• gender roles
• Appearance, comfort level, reactions to new information
all mark the process of building rapport with others.
Nisa, a Dobe Ju’/Hoansi woman and key informant
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Informants: Your “in” to the field
Observation & participant observation
Informants can also teach you the logistical basics of your
field site
• when the bus arrives (or in some cases, the water!)
• advice on clothing
• where the doctors live
• what to do in case of an emergency
• Observation and participant observation are the strongest
tricks of the trade you have!
Informants can help guide you to others that can help your
research in the field. This is called a snowball method.
• Observation = watching, but not doing
• Participant observation = watching and doing
Observation is your frame of sight
Participant observation – Dive in!
• Observation refers to what can be seen through the eyes
of the ethnographer
• What can you observe?
--Settings
--Events and event sequences
--Gender, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences
• Participant observation is always defined by your
presence at an event, and your immersion in it
• Be careful not to participate in illegal activities
Interviewing and life histories
Life histories
• Interviews can be structured
or unstructured
• Life histories are also
sometimes called narratives of
experience
• Interviews capture in a
participants’ own words what
they see, believe, and report
doing (there’s that emic
perspective again!)
• Think of life histories as
storytelling from the
informant, or interviewee
• Focus on what they are saying
and also how they are saying it
(body language, etc.)
• Allows you to get an historical
account and sequence of
events in someone’s life.
Photos: Courtesy of Illinois Center for Folklife
• Open and closed-ended
questions
Photos: Courtesy of Illinois Center for Folklife
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Field notes and journals
Journals
• Field notes are accounts of what you are observing, tasting, hearing,
but NOT feeling
Journals are special field notes that include your own:
• Biases
• Feelings
• Problems
• Frustrations
• Ideas
• Successes
• Perspectives
• Field notes use “thick” description of an event, situation, person, etc.
• On Friday, April 14, 2006, Jill, an approximately 5’4” Hispanic
female with black hair and brown eyes, opened up a small cup of
Yoplait brand fat free blueberry yogurt at 2:19 p.m. She put away all
of her books, papers, pencils, and sat alone next to the vending
machine in the east corner of the cafeteria. After three minutes of
eating in silence, the entire cup of yogurt was gone, and Jill took a
long sigh, closed her eyes, licked her lips and said “MMMMM”
before she threw the cup in the recycling bin.
Quantitative Methods
Journals are a good way to recognize your own limitations and your
own “baggage” that you bring with you to the field.
Quantitative Methods
•Counting: # of houses on a street, how many people in
Manhattan say “fawth flaw” or “fourth floor”
•Census-taking: Every person, household, family, or unit in
relation to the interest of the anthropologist.
• Mapping/GIS: where the water is in relation to the
trash dump, where women sleep vs. where children
sleep
• Surveys: Best for when you need a little bit of
information from a very large group of people
(example: President Bush’s approval rating)
• Questionnaires: A slate of questions that are not
census-like but are closer to your research interest
Census-taker in Fallujah, Iraq. © Reuters
Summary: A recipe for success in the field
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Equal parts “emic” perspective and rapport
A handful of trusted informants or gatekeepers
Observation and participant observation, blended well
A heavy sprinkling of interviews
A thick, hearty bunch of field notes & journals
Quantitative methods: add as needed for taste
So you want to be an ethnographer?
WANTED
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Adventurous, resourceful, enthusiastic individuals
Must be team players
Strong listening and questioning skills
Curiosity and a good memory added bonuses!
Must be able to communicate well and take risks
Must be comfortable with ambiguity and the unknown
Sense of humor is always a plus!
Must be friendly, sociable, and have a strong sense of
responsibility
If this sounds like you….then welcome!
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Thank you for listening!
Any questions or comments?
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