Ethnographic Methods in Cultural Anthropology - Prof. De Cherry | Summaries Environmental Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology: Ethnographic Methods

How Do We Study and

Understand Other Cultures?

Nineteenth-century Euro-American anthropolog y was

ethnocent ric, predominant ly biased, and largely shape d

by the opinions of upper -class white men who did “arm-

chair” research—that is, they conducted research from

the comfort of t heir own armchairs by reading existing

reports prepared by Western explorers, colonial offi-

cers, and missionaries rather than going out into the

field and interact ing directly w ith the peoples they were

studying. This sort of indirect study of ten led research-

ers to conclude that there was a fundamental dichot-

omy between “them” (i.e., non-white, non-Western

peoples) and “us” (i.e., white Westerners). From this

ethnocentric point of view, “they” were marginalized

“savages” who were not equal to “civilized” people and

who could be easily di smissed and displaced from the ir

lands. Thankfully, this viewpoint is not shared by con-

temporary ethnographers. Instead, these researchers

try to take a culturally relativistic point of view, which

allows them to focus on the human condition with as

little bias as possible.

Today’s ethnographers recognize that all peoples

and cultures must be respected. They also take ser-

iously their respon sibility to describe thei r participants’

worlds as fully and as accurately as possible. As such,

they place great emphasis on the context in which they

make their observations. This context consists of not

only the circumstances that surround an event but also

the backgrounds and perceptions of both the people

involved and the ethnographer who is making observa-

tions. Being aware of context can help fill in the blanks

where the significance of an interaction is unclear or

miscommunication has occurred. So, anthropologists

must begin their research by understanding the context

in which socia l events, day-to-day inte ractions, and even

special occasions take place. This is an essential first

step in conducting field work, as is clarifies ambiguity

and creates a fr amework for making valid obser vations.

Working in the Field

Traditionally, anthropologists have learned about the

peoples in whose ways of life they are interested by

conducting fieldwork. Fieldwork involves working

closely with research participants, observing their

daily lives, and making detailed notes on these obser-

vations. While the exact methods an ethnographer

will employ while engaging in fieldwork can vary

greatly depending on the nature of the study and the

research questions being asked, the following discus-

sion offers an overview of some principal approaches

and concerns.

Before entering the field, researchers must obtain

permission and funding for their project. They must

Focus on Four Fields

Making Observations in the Field

To practise making observations and taking notes from

an anthropological perspective, go to your favourite

coffee shop or restaurant and record what you see. Be-

gin by sketching a map of the location. Draw in the

walls, the furniture, the people, and any other objects

or features you can see. Then, spend about an hour

observing and taking notes on what is going on around

you. Who else is there? How are the people grouped? Is

anyone sitting alone? What are the various people do-

ing? As you record your observations, be sure to record

the context in which what you observe is happening.

Also make notes about your own mental state, which

can influence how you see the world around you. Once

you have finished, repeat the same process in a library

or a study hall, and compare the observations you made

in each setting. What similarities and differences did

you observe? Consider what you observed others doing,

and also reflect on your own actions and perceptions.

You may want share your observations with others in

your class and discuss any similarities or differences

you can identify in terms of your observations or ap-

proaches.

Partial preview of the text

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Cultural Anthropology: Ethnographic Methods

How Do We Study and

Understand Other Cultures?

Nineteenth-century Euro-American anthropology was ethnocentric, predominantly biased, and largely shaped by the opinions of upper-class white men who did “arm- chair” research—that is, they conducted research from the comfort of their own armchairs by reading existing reports prepared by Western explorers, colonial offi- cers, and missionaries rather than going out into the field and interacting directly with the peoples they were studying. This sort of indirect study often led research- ers to conclude that there was a fundamental dichot- omy between “them” (i.e., non-white, non-Western peoples) and “us” (i.e., white Westerners). From this ethnocentric point of view, “they” were marginalized “savages” who were not equal to “civilized” people and who could be easily dismissed and displaced from their lands. Thankfully, this viewpoint is not shared by con- temporary ethnographers. Instead, these researchers try to take a culturally relativistic point of view, which allows them to focus on the human condition with as little bias as possible. Today’s ethnographers recognize that all peoples and cultures must be respected. They also take ser- iously their responsibility to describe their participants’ worlds as fully and as accurately as possible. As such, they place great emphasis on the context in which they make their observations. This context consists of not only the circumstances that surround an event but also the backgrounds and perceptions of both the people involved and the ethnographer who is making observa- tions. Being aware of context can help fill in the blanks where the significance of an interaction is unclear or miscommunication has occurred. So, anthropologists must begin their research by understanding the context in which social events, day-to-day interactions, and even special occasions take place. This is an essential first step in conducting field work, as is clarifies ambiguity and creates a framework for making valid observations.

Working in the Field

Traditionally, anthropologists have learned about the peoples in whose ways of life they are interested by conducting fieldwork. Fieldwork involves working closely with research participants, observing their daily lives, and making detailed notes on these obser- vations. While the exact methods an ethnographer will employ while engaging in fieldwork can vary greatly depending on the nature of the study and the research questions being asked, the following discus- sion offers an overview of some principal approaches and concerns. Before entering the field, researchers must obtain permission and funding for their project. They must

Focus on Four Fields

Making Observations in the Field To practise making observations and taking notes from an anthropological perspective, go to your favourite coffee shop or restaurant and record what you see. Be- gin by sketching a map of the location. Draw in the walls, the furniture, the people, and any other objects or features you can see. Then, spend about an hour observing and taking notes on what is going on around you. Who else is there? How are the people grouped? Is anyone sitting alone? What are the various people do- ing? As you record your observations, be sure to record the context in which what you observe is happening. Also make notes about your own mental state, which can influence how you see the world around you. Once you have finished, repeat the same process in a library or a study hall, and compare the observations you made in each setting. What similarities and differences did you observe? Consider what you observed others doing, and also reflect on your own actions and perceptions. You may want share your observations with others in your class and discuss any similarities or differences you can identify in terms of your observations or ap- proaches.

also develop a research question and make practical arrangements for their time in the field. These tasks require researchers to collect preliminary information on the peoples with whom they will be working. This process involves reviewing and critically assessing the accounts of any other anthropologists who have stud- ied the particular group of interest. It also involves examining the work of other scholars familiar with the area of the world where they will be doing their research, in order to achieve a general understanding of the group’s place in the world. Preparing in this way has the added benefit of helping researchers guard against culture shock. It used to be believed that, before entering the field, ethnographic fieldworkers needed to identify (and overcome) any personal, theoretical, or other biases that could interfere with their work. Ideally, a researcher would be able to step into the field and make observations entirely free from the influence of bias. Today, however, following many decades of reflection on the fieldwork process, sociocultural anthropologists are aware that it is not possible to free oneself from all one’s biases. The best we can hope for is to be as aware as we can be of our own preconceived notions that can affect how we see the world around us. For the past forty years at least, ethnographers have been taught to cultivate reflexivity as an essential fieldwork skill. Reflexivity—active reflection on one’s own experience, thinking about the way one thinks— is essential, not only in the field, but also every time one returns to one’s field notes to write about that field experience. Indeed, reflexivity is stimulated by the ongoing dialogues that fieldworkers have with the people they meet during their research, which offer opportunities to reflect on the similarities and dif- ferences in the way their consultants think about the topics under investigation. It helps researchers iden- tify ambiguities and misunderstandings that might otherwise go unnoticed. Reflexive awareness forces researchers to look at their own observations from dif- ferent perspectives, and it can allow them to identify the significance of social or cultural factors that they had downplayed or ignored. The more thoroughly con- textualized one’s research becomes, the more accurate and reliable it becomes, not only in the eyes of one’s anthropological colleagues, but also from the perspec- tive of the people with whom one has worked. A final step many researchers take in the prepara- tory stages is establishing the persona they will pro- ject when in the field. In general, this persona should be professional yet approachable. It should also reflect local customs and conventions of behaviour. For example, a researcher who tends to be loud and bois- terous when interacting with friends at home might need to adopt a more reserved persona when entering a community in which silence and self-restraint are respected. Or, a young, single researcher who is accus- tomed to living alone may need to join and live with a family in the field setting in order to be accepted by the local community. Advance research can help research- ers identify the type of persona they will need to adopt in the field; however, they must still remain open and flexible in adjusting this persona once fieldwork has begun. It is not until they have begun to live in a new community with specific sociocultural expectations that fieldworkers will truly begin to learn about the varied and complex ways they will be perceived by others. Adopting a Persona What sorts of personas might the following individuals want to adopt in order to fit in with the communities they are hoping to study?

a single woman from Halifax who is in her early twenties and wants to study a patriarchal society in Southeast Asia
a clean-cut male anthropology student from Vancouver who wants to study the religious ceremonies of an Aboriginal society in northern British Columbia
a middle-aged, heavily tattooed man who wants to study workplace hierarchies in a top accounting firm in metropolitan Toronto Why is one’s persona an important factor to consider when conducting field research? What problems might a researcher encounter when adopting a persona? culture shock The feeling, akin to panic, that develops in people living in an unfamiliar society when they cannot under- stand what is happening around them.

Anthropologists working in the field must find a balance between professionalism and friendship when establishing relationships with the people with whom they carry out their fieldwork. Friendship often arises naturally between people who work closely for an extended period of time, but maintaining focus on an end goal is necessary to the success of a research pro- ject. At the same time, this focus should not be so rigid that it forces a static structure upon the researcher’s interactions with others. Human interaction is subject to variation, and the most authentic discoveries are often a result of the unexpected.

Recording Data

Fieldwork involves more than participating and observing—it also involves recording what happened in the field. Effective note taking is essential to field- work because researchers cannot trust their memories to keep track of the vast amount of information that comes at them in the field. Fieldworkers often carry around a notebook and a pencil to jot down brief notes about what they are seeing, hearing, doing, or thinking, as well as the context in which significant events take place. Notes about context are essential because they can communicate important but subtle details that are easily forgotten. These days, fieldworkers also often use digital cameras and audio recorders to document what they are seeing and hearing. Whichever method a researcher chooses to use, data recording should take place as unobtrusively as possible, to avoid interfering with the natural course of events or making participants feel as though their actions are under scrutiny. On the other hand, fieldworkers may sometimes find that par- ticipants want their activities to be recorded and may even solicit the researcher’s involvement. Creating field notes is a two-step process. Step one is taking brief jottings (or making digital recordings) in the field. Step two involves turning those brief jottings (or recordings) into detailed field notes. As a result, anthropologists tend to spend a lot of time in front of their computers, writing as complete and coherent a set of notes as possible. Most ethnographers try to write up field notes on a daily basis. As they do, places for fur- ther inquiry become plain, and a back-and-forth process begins. The ethnographer collects information, writes it down, thinks about it, analyzes it, and then takes new questions and interpretations back to the people with whom he or she is working to see if the new questions and interpretations are more accurate than the previous ones. When writing up field notes—and even when mak- ing brief jottings in the field—researchers must always remain aware of their own role as a participant and an observer. The relationships anthropologists form with their informants and other members of the commun- ity can influence the results of the ethnography. So too can anthropologists’ feelings and personal impressions affect what details they record and how they interpret what they have seen and experienced. Here is a setting where ethnographers can explicitly engage in a reflex- ive exploration of their own field experiences as well as the perspectives of those with whom they have been working. The ability to do fieldwork and then write about it in a productive and coherent manner is an art that anthropologists strive to perfect throughout their careers. It requires field researchers to remain dedi- cated to their project, attentive to many sorts of details, and open to the unfamiliar. As important as these per- sonal qualities are, however, researchers must always remember that they are not alone in the field. The suc- cess of their endeavours depends on the willingness of others to share aspects of their lives with them. In return for this great gift of time and resources, anthro- pologists are obligated—at the very least—to depict their informants’ ways of life as accurately and faith- fully as possible.

Questions of Authority

Fifty years ago, many Western readers of ethnograph- ies often assumed that the most reliable accounts of non-Western ways of life were those written by anthro- pologists or other social scientists. Today, most mem- bers of the academic community recognize that the people at the centre of a study are in fact the ultimate authority on their own experiences. This change in per- spective accompanied the recognition that the content of ethnography is a joint production of conversations in which ethnographers and the people with whom they work are equal partners. As a result, contemporary eth- nographers try to work with communities to include individuals’ voices within their texts. Michael J. Kral and Lori Idlout (2006) describe how these approaches are exemplified in the Unikkaartuit

Project—a participatory action research (PAR) pro- ject focussed on Inuit communities in Nunavut. An important part of this project has been the merging of anthropological and Inuit understandings. This objective was achieved through the inclusion of members of the communities under investigation as researchers, and through the collection of community members’ stories, as told by the people themselves. This focus on individuals’ stories was so integral to the research approach that it gave the project its name— unikkaartuit means “the people’s stories” (Kral and Idlout 2006, 60). Kral and Idlout identify the central “problem” with traditional ethnographic work as a lack of effort “to involve communities in the design and planning of the research,” which “too often fail[s] to provide results in forms that are useful to the people studied” (2006, 56). Although anthropologists try to provide accounts of other ways of life that are accurate and trustworthy, it has often been the case that their research projects have been shaped primarily by controversies within their academic discipline. This state of affairs has often meant that projects have involved no prior consultation with the people who will be the focus of the research. By not allowing community members to articulate their own interests at all stages of the research, anthropologists risk misrepresenting and misinterpreting key aspects of social life. They also risk allowing their own research interest to inordinately shape the outcomes of their field- work. Ultimately, this sort of one-sided approach can lead to a largely false representation of the society as a whole. A related problem with traditional ethnographic approaches is that they establish a hierarchy of author- ity in which the researcher is at the top, followed by the informants with whom she or he works most closely, and finally the members of the wider society who are less dir- ectly involved in the research. This hierarchy often cre- ates tension and animosity between the researcher and members of the community. Involving members of the community in developing and executing the research plan and in analyzing and disseminating the outcomes of the research project dissolves this hierarchy, allowing for the inclusion of more perspectives. As a result, a truer, more nuanced reflection of reality can develop. Today, more and more ethnographers are consult- ing with the people whose way of life they study to identify research projects that build on issues of cen- tral concern to people themselves. This kind of prior consultation, which allows ethnographers and their consultants to locate a research focus where their inter- ests coincide, avoids creating a hierarchy of authority in which the researcher is at the top. The inequalities engendered by such a hierarchy risk creating tension participatory action research (PAR) A type of fieldwork that aims to bring about social change through the collection of data and the empowerment of community members as researchers in the projects. Conducting an Informal Interview Find a partner whose way of life you would like to learn more about. Meet with that person to identify a research question that relates to his or her lifestyle (e.g., “How does your partner’s cultural background influence the types of foods she or he likes to prepare for dinner?”). Once you have decided on a research question, conduct an informal interview in which you discuss topics relevant to your question. As the discussion progresses, take brief notes to record what your partner says and any contextualizing factors that could be relevant to your study. Throughout the process, try to make your partner feel at ease, and be as unobtrusive as possible while taking notes. When you feel that you have fully explored your research question, thank your partner for his or her time, and begin the process of turning your brief notes into detailed field notes. As you write, try to recall exactly what your partner said, and keep the following questions in mind: What impact could the setting have had on the interview process? Was the setting formal or informal? Familiar or unfamiliar? Quiet or noisy? Did your mental state influence the way in which you interacted with your partner? Did any of your partner’s responses make you feel uncomfortable in any way? How might your actions and reactions—either verbal or non-verbal—have influenced what your partner decided to tell you? How might your pre-existing relationship with your partner have affected the discussion? Did the interview feel like a discussion between equals, or did one of you have more power than the other? Were any of your partner’s responses surprising to you, and did any take the conversation in an entirely unanticipated direction?

Ethnographic Methods in Cultural Anthropology - Prof. De Cherry, Summaries of Environmental Anthropology

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Partial preview of the text

Download Ethnographic Methods in Cultural Anthropology - Prof. De Cherry and more Summaries Environmental Anthropology in PDF only on Docsity!

Cultural Anthropology: Ethnographic Methods

How Do We Study and

Understand Other Cultures?

Working in the Field

Focus on Four Fields

Recording Data

Questions of Authority