Cultural Anthropology

Viewing Culture as Successive Levels

An iceberg as an analogy of culture

An Iceberg as an Analogy of Culture

Culture Culture consists of: 1. Learned concepts and behavior 2. Underlying perspectives (worldview) 3. Resulting products nonmaterial (customs and rituals) material (artifacts)

Our Way: Writing Ethnographies How Do We Study Cultures?

Ethnography The study and recording of human cultures and the descriptive work produced from such research Roots traced back to late 19 th century when anthropologists engaged in participant observation in the field. Derived from the words “ethno” which means folk and “graph” derived from writing.

Why do we conduct ethnographic research? People learn more from direct experience than second-hand experience (books, lectures) Narrative helps us reflect on the experience Collect evidence without hypothesis or conclusion Analysis explains what you have learned

Qualitative and Quantitative Data Qualitative DataQuantitative Data Study where data is gathered in the form of words, narratives and impressions. Ex. Interview Study where data is translated into numbers Ex. Survey

Emic and Etic Perspective Emic ApproachEtic Approach Investigates how people in the group we are studying perceive and categorize the world What has meaning for them Shifts focus to the interpretations of the anthropologist. Members of a culture often are too involved in what they are doing to interpret their cultures impartially.

What can we study? What can we Study?What Kind of Data? Formal and Informal Groups Subcultures Organizations Field Notes Texts Participant-Observation Surveys Interviews

Ethnographers Adopt a stance both distanced (observing) and interactive (participatory) Study cultures through the relationship of individuals, the rituals, values, and habits they share. Spend lots of times with cultures and participate in their activities

Writing of an Ethnography Pre-Writing: Reflections on group you are studying Questions you are interested to answer Introductions/Consent Forms Consent Letters Provide Privacy if members ask for it. Journal Your thinking throughout the project. Write ideas, observations, etc. Drafts and Revisions

Basic Stages of Field Research 1. Selecting a research topic 2. Formulating a research design 3. Collecting the data 4. Analyzing the data 5. Interpreting the data 6. Research Example Research Example

Select a Research Topic Don’t rush on this step! Brainstorm research questions you would like to answer Choose a topic you are interested in.

Check the Existing Literature See if someone has already done some of the work for you or answered the questions you are researching about Can you add to their study? Is your study still necessary? How much information can you find about the topic you are willing to study?

Collecting Data Look for Key Informants Respondents who have special knowledge about a group or an event Look for a Representative Sample of the Population you study

Field Notes Accounts describing experiences and observations the researcher has made while participating in an intense and involved manner Subject to memory of observer Subject to bias of the observer

Observation

Interviews Structured Interviews: Questions tend to be closed questions requiring: yes/no answers, use of scales or other forms of ranking. Semi – structured interviews are those that incorporate both closed and open ended questions Surveys can be semi-structured Unstructured Interviews ask open-ended questions Allows interviewees to respond at their own pace in their own words. Resembles a normal conversation

Guidelines for Ethnographic Interviewing 1. Obtain informed consent before interviewing. 2. Do not look for the “desired” answer. 3. Pre-test questions to make sure they are understandable and culturally relevant. 4. Keep the recording unobtrusive 5. Use simple, clean language. 6. Phrase questions positively. 8. Keep the questions and the interview short. 9. Save controversial questions for the end. 10. Interviews can go wrong! Manage the situation!

Focus Groups Group Interview Interactive Group Setting Participants feel free to talk with other group members

Participant-Observation Spending time with the research participants interacting with them and participating in the activities that are of interest. Involves taking field notes or other recordings, and unstructured interviews.

Participant Observation Phases 1. Establishing Rapport Get to know the members of the community. Be accepted by the community in order to obtain quality data. 2. In the Field “Do as they do”. Show a connection with the population in order to be accepted. Moderate your language and participate in daily activities. 3. Recording Observations and Data You can record personal feelings about experiences. Includes field notes, interviews, and journals. 4. Analyzing Data Look for recurrent themes found in interviews, observations, etc. Construct a cohesive story worth being told.

Ethnography Requires: - the language of that culture - first-hand participation & interpretation - intensive work with a few informants from that setting Sort of description that can only emerge from spending a lengthy amount of time intimately studying and living in a particular social setting

Ethnography The heart of ethnography is thick description, that was originally coined by Clifford Geertz (1973). Thick description: explains not just the behavior, but its context as well, such that the behavior becomes meaningful to an outsider - analyzes the multiple levels of meaning in any situation

Ethnography History & Definition/Thick description: Geertz discusses the role of the ethnographer. Broadly, the ethnographer's aim is to observe, record, and analyze a culture. More specifically, he or she must interpret signs to gain their meaning within the culture itself. This interpretation must be based on the "thick description" of a sign in order to see all the possible meanings. His example of a "wink of any eye" clarifies this point. When a man winks, is he merely "rapidly contracting his right eyelid" or is he "practicing a burlesque of a friend faking a wink to deceive a an innocent into thinking conspiracy is in motion"? Ultimately, Geertz hopes that the ethnographer's deeper understanding of the signs will open and/or increase the dialogue among different cultures.

Ethnography Doing Ethnography Aims of Observational Research: 1. Seeing through the eyes of the people being observed 2. Description: paying attention to the mundane details 3. Contextualism: conveying messages in a complete manner so that understand the wider social and historical context

Ethnography Doing Ethnography 4 Separate Sets of Notes Needed: 1. Short notes made at the time 2. Expanded notes made as soon as possible after the field session 3. A fieldwork journal to record problems and ideas that arise during each stage of field work 4. A provisional running record of analysis and interpretation