Download Miller - Chapter 2

Methods in Cultural Anthropology
(Miller Chapter 2)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
The BIG Questions
 How do cultural anthropologists conduct
research on culture?
 What does fieldwork involve?
 What are some important issues in
cultural anthropology research today?
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Goals of Research in Cultural
Anthropology
 To study, analyze, and describe
culture(s) in accordance with ethical
principles
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
How Do Cultural Anthropologists
Do Research?
 Approaches have changed over time
“Armchair anthropology” – 1870s
How early cultural anthropologists conducted
research by sitting and reading about other
cultures
Learning and theorizing about cultures through
secondhand reports
Edward Tylor
“Verandah anthropology” – early 1900s
Living near, but not with the people to be studied
“The Field” – 1920s - today
“The Field” – any place where people and
cultures are (p. 28)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
The Field and Participant
Observation
 While in the field, the cornerstone method
anthropologists use is participant
observation.
 Participant observation is a research
method for learning about culture that
involves living in a culture for an extended
period while gathering data (p. 28)
 “Father” of participant observation is
Bronislaw Malinowski
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Key Elements of Participant
Observation
 Living with the people
 Eating the same food
 Wearing similar clothes
 Learning and speaking the local language
 Not using an interpreter whenever possible
 Participating in their everyday life
 Often occurs over an extended period of time
 May be conducted in one or more locations
 If fieldwork is conducted in more than one location it is termed
“multisited research” (p. 29)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Where to do research?
Cultural anthropologists today go to
“the field”
► “The field” is anywhere people
are
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
“The field” has changed since the
early days of cultural anthropology in
terms of where it is
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
From the faraway, exotic and
small-scale…
For example, Samoa
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
To urban and globalizing sites such as
Tangier, Morocco
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
To the field at home: for example,
Tangier, Virginia
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Even to Main Street, USA…
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
…and Corporate USA
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
What to Study?
Topics have changed since the early days of
cultural anthropology
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
From “holistic” studies of small
groups…
 such as indigenous
peoples of the
Andaman Islands,
India
…to focused topical studies such as
gender, health, or conflict in larger
societies
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Gender: women’s lives in a South
Indian urban neighborhood
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Or how globalization affects informal
markets in the Old City of Istanbul,
Turkey
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Or poverty and health in
Johannesburg, South Africa
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Or tourism’s environmental and
social effects in the Andaman Islands
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Steps Involved in Cultural
Anthropology Fieldwork
 Before going into the field…
 Choose a place to do research
 Choose a research topic
 Prepare for the fieldwork
 While in the field…
 Gain rapport
 Collect data
 When come back from the field…
 Data analysis
 Present the data / write up results
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
When Choosing a Research
Project, think about…
 Making sure it is a feasible project
 Will you be able to find a place to stay?
 Will you be able to get the proper permission
 Gaps in literature / previous research
 Where are the women?
 Current events
 HIV/AIDS
 Migration / refugees
 Conflicts
 Material items
 Sugar, tomatoes, cocoa, cocaine, Coca-Cola
 Luck
 Natural disaster
 Re-study
 Trobriand Islanders
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Preparing to go into the field
 Extensive reading about the background
literature on the area / watching videos on the
area, etc.
 Learn the language
 Secure funding for the project / writing grant
proposals
 Get a passport / visa
 Get various immunizations
 First aid training
 Preliminary trip
 Specialized equipment and supplies
 Personal supplies
 Specialized clothing and equipment, tents, etc.
 Research supplies
 Cameras, laptops, tape/video recorders
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Preparing to go into the field
 Permission to conduct research must be
obtained from many levels





From the national government
From the local people
From various organizations you work with
From the university
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
 Monitor all research related to living humans to make
sure it conforms to ethical principles
 Informed consent – an aspect of research ethics
requiring that the researcher inform the research
participants of the intent, scope, and possible effects of
the study and seek their agreement to be in the study (p.
32)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Beginning Fieldwork
 Fieldwork is often a difficult process,
especially in the beginning
 Dealing with physical and psychological risks,
and sometimes even violence and warfare
 Car/truck accidents getting to the field site
 Unfamiliar climate
 Unfamiliar terrain
 Sometimes fatal falls
 Diseases
 Malaria
 Crime
 Philippe Bourgois – East Harlem, New York – “In
Search of Respect” – crack, gangs, underground
economic activities
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Beginning Fieldwork
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Beginning Fieldwork
 Dealing with culture shock
 Culture shock is persistent feelings of
uneasiness, loneliness, and anxiety that often
occur when a person has shifted from one
culture to a different one (p. 35)
 Frustration with unfamiliar language, food, and
customs – is a stressful adjustment
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Culture Shock discussion
 Think of an occasion in which you
experienced culture shock, even if as
the result of a brief cross-cultural
encounter.
 How did you feel?
 How did you cope?
 What did you learn from the experience?
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Beginning Fieldwork
 Primary goal in the early stages is to gain
rapport
 Rapport is a trusting relationship between the
researcher and the study population (p. 33)
 May want to first gain the trust of key leaders or
decision makers in the community and learn
culturally appropriate gift giving and exchange
rules
 People may be suspicious of outsiders and
may have no idea what an anthropologist is
and what he/she is doing there
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Beginning Fieldwork
 The various microcultures (e.g. class,
ethnicity, gender, age) we are a part of
influence rapport
 Class, ethnic, gender, and age differences
may cause some tension or provide
opportunities
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Fieldwork Approaches
 The goal of fieldwork is to collect data,
or information, about the research topic.
 Research approaches can be
deductive or inductive.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Deductive Research

Deductive research starts from a
question or hypothesis and then
involves collecting data related to that
question
 Data collected is more likely to be…
 quantitative (numerical)
 population size, number of houses, hours
worked per day, number of children, quantities
of various materials
 etic (fits into categories meaningful to the
cultural outsider/anthropologist)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Inductive Research

Inductive research involves gathering
data without a hypothesis
 Data collected is more likely to be…
 qualitative (non-numerical)
 emic (fits into categories meaningful to the
cultural insider/local population)

Most anthropologists operate
somewhere between these two
extremes, combining deductive and
inductive approaches and
quantitative and qualitative data.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Two Research Approaches:
Deductive and Inductive
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Fieldwork Techniques
 Participant observation
 Talking with people
 Interview
 Questionnaire/Survey






Life histories
Time allocation studies
Analyzing textual material
Maps and charts
Genealogy
Triangulation
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Participant Observation

Involves both…
 Participation
 Participating in the people’s daily lives
 Careful Observation

Rationale for it is that the more time a
researcher spends among the people,…
 the more likely it is that the people will live
their “normal” lives
 the less likely it is that people will conform
their behavior to the perceived
expectations of the researcher
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Talking with people


Informal, casual, unplanned conversations
Interview – a technique for gathering verbal data
through questions or guided conversation (p. 37)
 More purposeful than a casual conversation
 Can be structured (close-ended questions) or unstructured
(open-ended questions)
 Can involve only two people (the interviewer and interviewee)
or multiple people (a focus group or group interview)

Questionnaire/Survey – a formal research
instrument containing a pre-set series of questions
that the anthropologist asks in a face-to-face setting,
by mail, or through email/online (p. 37)
 Can be structured (close-ended questions) or unstructured
(open-ended questions)
 Questions must make cultural sense
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Life histories




A life history is a qualitative, in-depth
description of an individual’s life as narrated to
the researcher (p. 38)
Provides important information about the
cultural construction of an individual’s life
experiences
Recording and comparing life histories of
individuals from various microcultures can
reveal both individual experiences and shared
patterns
“Nisa: The Life and Times of a !Kung Woman”
 Most widely read life history in anthropology
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Other Fieldwork Techniques
 Time allocation studies
 A time allocation study is a quantitative
method that collects data on how people
spend their time each day on particular
activities (p. 38)

Analyzing textual material
 May include written or oral stories, myths,
songs, plays, sayings, speeches, jokes, and
transcripts of people’s everyday
conversations
 Also includes written archival and historical
material
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Other Fieldwork Techniques
 Maps and Charts
 Creating kinship charts of families
 Drawing maps of villages or offices or
whatever physical space you’re studying
 Maps of culturally specific places
 Chain of command charts
 Charts of who sits where at meetings

And much more!
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Fieldwork Techniques
 Triangulation
 Triangulation is a technique that involves
seeking information on a particular topic
from more than one angle or perspective (p.
39)
 Combining multiple research methods
 Taking with people and participant observation
 Participant observation and life histories
 Various qualitative and quantitative methods
 Collaborating with colleagues from other
disciplines in order to gain multiple
perspectives
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Recording Culture
 Refers to how an anthropologist keeps
track of all the information collected in
the field and how it is recorded for future
analysis
 Anthropologists take many field notes!
 Taking notes is still the trademark method
of recording data for a cultural
anthropologist
 May include daily logs, personal journals,
descriptions of events, and notes about these
notes
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Recording Culture
 Tape recorders, photography, and
videos are also helpful in capturing data
 Benefit
 Captures much more detail than notes can
 Drawbacks
 People may be suspicious of the technology
itself and worry about what you may do with the
tape
 Ethical issue of protecting the identity of people
whose voices are preserved on tape
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Recording Culture
Interviews
Field notes
Questionnaires
Watching and asking
Life history
Texts/historical
sources
Tape
recording,
photography,
and videos
Team projects
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Coming Back From the Field
 Data Analysis
 Anthropologists come back from the field
with vast amounts of data!
 Must analyze the data to put it into a
meaningful form
 Systematically studying and processing data
 Wide variety of ways to analyze data
collected
 Analytical methods depend on the kind of
data
 Qualitative
 Quantitative
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Coming Back from the Field
 Qualitative data analysis
 Search for themes or patterns in the data
 No hard and fast guidelines for how to undertake
qualitative analysis – individuals often develop
their own systems that work for them
 Can be done by hand or with the assistance
of qualitative analysis software programs
 Quantitative data analysis
 Often consists of a statistical analysis of the
data
 Mean, median, mode, correlations
 Can be done by hand (if a relatively small
sample) or with the help of statistical
software programs
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Quantitative Data on the Food
Stamp Program in Jamaica
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Coming Back from the Field
 Write an ethnography
 Often focuses on a particular cultural aspect
or issue, but considers the culture as a
whole for the sake of context
 Present research at meetings
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Ethics
 Anthropology was one of the first disciplines to devise and
adopt a code of ethics in 1971
 Influenced by…
 Project Camelot in the 1950s
 Anthropologists involved in covertly collecting
information on South American political events
for the U.S. government
 Vietnam War – 1960s and 1970s
 Some anthropologists gave information to the
U.S. government about people’s political
affiliations – led to military actions and some
deaths
 Ethics apply…
 Before going to the field (research design)
 In the field (data collection methods)
 After leaving the field (presenting findings, sharing
results, responsibility)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Ethics
 American Anthropological Association (AAA)
code of ethics
 States that an anthropologist’s primary
responsibility is to ensure the safety of the
people participating in the research
 Cultural anthropology does not condone
convert or undercover research
 All anthropologists should inform
potential research participants about the
purposes and scope of the study
 The reason for studying the people must
be made clear to them
 Benefits of the research must be shared
with the people.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Ethics in
Anthropology
Prompted by
Project Camelot
& The Vietnam
War
In 1971, the AAA
adopted a code of
ethics
Does not
condone
“undercover”
research
The anthropologist’s first
responsibility is to ensure
the safety of the people
participating in the research
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
A New Way to do Research
 Collaborative research – an approach to
learning about culture that involves the
anthropologist working with members of the
study population as partners and
teammates rather than researcher and
“subject” (p. 43)
 Research with the people, by the people, for the
people
 Team approach is better for everyone
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Collaborative Research
 Members of the study population work
as partners with the anthropologist in
Data collection
Data analysis
Presentation of findings
Sharing credit for results
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
History of Fieldwork
1870s
“Armchair” approach
Early
1900s
“Verandah” approach
1920s
“The Field” approach
Today
“The Field” + participant
observation and
collaborative research
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
The BIG Questions Revisited
 How do cultural anthropologists conduct
research on culture?
 What does fieldwork involve?
 What are some important issues in
cultural anthropology research today?
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
The Gods Must Be Crazy
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2Ix
sfUpBck
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #1

What is the best way to conduct
ethnographic research in literate
societies?
A) survey research
B) ethnography
C) through a combination of survey and
ethnographic techniques
D) observation from a distance
E) There is no good way to conduct
ethnographic fieldwork in literate
societies
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #2

Which of the following is unique to
anthropology?
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
holistic ethnography
ethics
random sampling
interviews
questionnaires
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #3

Unlike questionnaires, in-depth
interviews __________.
A) rely on very short responses.
B) are better suited to urban, complex societies
where most people are literate.
C) are usually administered to a random sample
of a larger population.
D) allow informants to talk about what they see as
important, rather than have to modify their
responses to fit into predetermined categories.
E) are traditionally associated with survey
research.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #4

Unlike ethnography, survey research
_________.
A) studies communities in their entirety.
B) has been traditionally conducted in
nonindustrial, small-scale societies.
C) is conducted with little or no personal
contact between study subjects and
researchers.
D) makes little use of statistics.
E) is based on establishing close personal
ties with the study community.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #5

Which of the following is not an
example of participant-observation?
A)
B)
C)
D)
dancing in a festival
singing during a ritual
taking part in a hunt
competing in the games popular in the
community
E) interviewing key informants
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #6

The etic perspective is _________.
A) that of the ethnographer / anthropologist
/ interviewer.
B) that of the local members of the
community being studied.
C) the one held by refugees regarding the
authorities that forced them to leave
their home country.
D) how locals perceive the world in which
they live.
E) that of the person being interviewed.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #7

Rapport is one of the ways
anthropologists present their findings
from their fieldwork.
A) True
B) False
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #8

Research starts from a question or
hypothesis and then involves
collecting data related to that
question is inductive research.
A) True
B) False
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #9

The “armchair” approach to
anthropology is commonly practiced
today.
A) True
B) False
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Question #10

Qualitative data is non-numerical
data.
A) True
B) False
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008