Ethnographic Research Methods Nov. 5, 2007

Great Blog Discussion

Today’s Seminar Topics I. Interviewing 1. Types of interviews 2. Conceptual Design and Interview Guide 3. Sampling 4. Recording and Transcription 5. Interviewing Tips (hand-out)

II. Nature of Anthropological Knowledge the individual is our entry point into the social like a funnel, we build from the small (specific) to the large (general) later, we return to objective/subjective distinction

Types of interviews: Qualitative Structured and Fixed Response Survey Semi-structured and Unstructured Life History (Multiple Interviews) Pilot (Preliminary)

Before conducting interviews, work on conceptual design: Research question Topics Questions per topic Interview Guide Create list of topics and associated questions, including follow-up probes

Sampling Probability Range/Variation To know what constitutes ‘range’ may need to do pilot interviews Convenience Generalizability of findings Respondents should be divided into “representatives” of organizations and “informants” (e.g. survivors) Class debate ensued: rather than ask informant to “wear a different hat” for each interview (representative versus survivor), the interviewer should organize the interview into distinct topics to get at these different experiences

Recording and Transcription Ideal scenario: record and transcribe entire interview Partial Transcription: Listen to whole recording once Transcribe passages of significance to final report Paraphrase the rest

Interviewing Tips (handout) “If you have the right sense of delicacy, that line between being a pest and being an inquisitive interviewer can be navigated” (senior in anthropology) Dress Code

Part II: Epistemology Anthropologists are interested in: Individual and Collective Experience Meaning and the significance individuals and groups assign to social phenomena Identity and Difference (including stereotypes)

Anthropological research seeks to illuminate social experience, social meaning, and identity and difference; it analyzes how difference comes to be meaningful it is less concerned with establishing causality

“Subjective” vs “Objective” Anthropology claims that knowledge is: Positioned Situated Conducted by a person with a particular intellectual training and research interests What this means: There is no knowledge free of perspective.

Anthropology rejects the view that there is one truth says knowledge is open to contestation asserts that knowledge is refined through dialogue and debate

That being said… Good anthropological research must be: Grounded in empirical study of concrete social events, occasions, and public life

Adhere to conventions of argument, logic, and knowledge production within its field and related disciplines

Rigorously reflexive in its appraisal of analytical concepts

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. We make our [research] significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers. Carl Sagan