Ethnography 101
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anthropological approaches in ethnographic research
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Ethnography 101
- 1. Ethnography 101 Jessie G. Varquez, Jr. University of the Philippines Mindanao June 2015
- 3. Prefatory notes Anthropology as a discipline Ethnography as a genre and method Research design / questions / framework Research methods are skills Ethics in doing research
- 4. "Anthropology is the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities” - Eric Wolf (1964:88)
- 6. Outline Participant observation Field notes Interviewing Life history Film and photographs experience-near and experience-distant
- 8. participant observation (‘field work’) Bronislaw Malinowski, a British anthropologist, conducted intensive field methods for his study in Trobriand Islands, and consequently developed participant observation which became the hallmark of field methods in modern cultural anthropology a researcher participates in social activities with the subjects of study over long period of time (White in Bryman 2001) the method of participant observation includes the explicit use in behavioral analysis and recording of the information gained from participating and observing (Dewalt, et.al in Bernard 1998)
- 9. In Malinowski 1922 (2002): 6
- 10. Participant observation usually involves fieldwork, but not all fieldwork is participant observation It puts you where the action is and lets you collect data
- 11. The Self as the instrument of knowing The Other establishing rapport familiarizing the unfamiliar, and vice versa ‘pure observation’ vs. ‘going native’ overt and covert participant observer passive subjects or active collaborators reflexivity; positionality
- 12. doing participant observation (Dewalt, et.al. in Barnard 1998) 1. participating and observing any particular situation with an open mind and a nonjudgmental attitude 2. genuine interest in learning more about behaviors, thoughts, and feelings 3. ‘culture shock’; as one learns more, they also begin to see much more comfortable and confident 4. everyone will make mistakes, but most of these can be overcome with time and patience 5. be a careful observer; this is a skill that can be enhanced through practice 6. be a good listener; through language we rapidly acquire a substantial amount of information in a short time 7. open to being surprised and to learning the unexpected
- 13. Field notes ‘the anthropologist’s basic tools are notebook and pen’
- 14. the importance of field notes primary method of capturing data in participant observation systematic recordings, chronologically oriented, descriptive observations are not data unless they are recorded in some fashion for further analysis "It is unwise to trust to memory; notes should be written as soon as possible”; don't sleep on your notes field notes are simultaneously data and analysis
- 15. how to write field notes each one has their own unique way of writing field notes; Bernard (2006) however proposes four types of field note, namely: 1. jottings 2. diary 3. log 4. field notes proper
- 17. Interviewing
- 18. unstructured and semi-structured Unstructured interviewing goes on all the time and just about anywhere - in homes, walking along a road, tilling rice fields, hanging out in bars, or waiting for a bus. (‘sturyahanay lang’) Semistructured, or in-depth interviewing is a scheduled activity. A semistructured interview is open ended, but follows a general script and covers a list of topics.
- 19. "Ethnographic Interview" by Barbara Shermin Heyl, In Atkinson, et. al (2001)
- 20. types (or ‘control’) 1. informal interviewing 2. unstructured interviewing 3. semi-structured interviewing 4. structured interviewing
- 22. key considerations linguistic competence understanding the ‘culture’ interview location and topics cognitive distortions; suggestive/leading questions recording and transcribing note taking after the interview
- 23. probing The key to successful interviewing is learning how to probe effectively— that is, to stimulate a respondent to produce more information, without injecting yourself so much into the interaction that you only get a reflection of yourself in the data. silent probe echo probe uh-huh probe
- 24. probing by leading caution against ‘‘leading’’ an informant - ‘’Don’t you think that? . . .’’ mini exercise: How will you ask about circumcision rites of a group you are studying? baiting = this is when you act like you already know something in order to get people to open up
- 25. Co-construction of knowledge Recognition of the co-construction of the interview, and its reconstruction in the interpretation phase, shifts the basic assumptions that for many years defined the interview process. (Metaphor of miner and traveller) Metaphors of ‘miner’ and ‘traveler’
- 26. Reflexivity Reflexive practice is proposed as a way to bridge differences between researcher and respondents, to help researchers to avoid making unexamined assumptions, to promote the reconstruction of theories, and to create a protected space within which the respondents can tell their life stories as well as increase the interviewer’s understanding of those stories Issues of representation, authority, and voice Strong (bridge power and class differentials) and weak (‘benign introspection’) reading of reflexivity Bourdieu’s ‘active and methodical listening’
- 27. Life history
- 29. Key elements of making photographs as records 1. Make a mix of wide, medium, and detail photographs of subjects. 2. Make photographs from a variety of angles and distances. 3. Compose photos in terms of the edges of the frame, so as to maximize the informational content. 4. Make photographs in sets and sequences, not simply single shots. 5. Be sure to photograph what comes before and after focal activity as well as moments of transition. 6. Make photographs at regular intervals, even when “nothing” seems to be happening. 7. Make photographs of the mundane as well as the dramatic. 8. Keep good notes (annotation) that can provide background and identification for your photographs.
- 30. elicitation techniques feedback as method ‘native film’; culture reconstructions
- 32. An experience-near concept is, roughly, one that someone - a patient, a subject, in our case an informant-might himself naturally and effortlessly use to define what he or his fellows see, feel, think, imagine, and so on, and which he would readily understand when similarly applied by others. An experience-distant concept is one that specialists of one sort or another-an analyst, an experimenter, an ethnographer, even a priest or an ideologist-employ to forward their scientific, philosophical, or practical aims. "Love" is an experience-near concept, "object cathexis" is an experience-distant one. "Social stratification" and perhaps for most peoples in the world even "religion" (and certainly "religious system") are experience-distant; "caste" and "nirvana" are experience-near, at least for Hindus and Buddhists. ’’From the Native's Point of View'': On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding in Geertz (1983)
- 33. “Confinement to experience-near concepts leaves an ethnographer awash in immediacies, as well as entangled in vernacular. Confinement to experience- distant ones leaves him stranded in abstractions and smothered in jargon. The real question, and the one Malinowski raised by demonstrating that, in the case of "natives," you don't have to be one to know one, is what roles the two sorts of concepts play in anthropological analysis.” ’’From the Native's Point of View'': On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding by in Geertz (1983)
- 34. “The ethnographer does not, and, in my opinion, largely cannot, perceive what his informants perceive. What he perceives, and that uncertainly enough, is what they perceive "with"--or "by means of," or "through" ... or whatever the word should be. In the country of the blind, who are not as unobservant as they look, the one-eyed is not king, he is spectator.” ’’From the Native's Point of View'': On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding in Geertz (1983)
- 35. Pangutana?
- 36. References Atkinson, Paul et.al. (eds.). 2001. Handbook of Ethnography. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Bernard, H.R. (ed.). 1998. Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press. Bernard, H.R. 2006. Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Fourth edition. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. Bryman, Alan (ed.). 2001. Ethnography. London: Sage Publications. Ellen, R.F. (ed.). 1984. Ethnographic research: A guide to general conduct. London: Academic Press. Geertz, Clifford. 1983. Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. New York: Basic Books. Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1922 (2002). Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Quinea. London: Routledge.
Notas do Editor
- ethnography as used in anthropology, albeit it is also appropriated in other social sciences (sociology, psychology, cultural geography, etc.)
- anthropology = definition and ‘brands’ there are no anthropological or sociological or psychological methods. The questions we ask about the human condition may differ across the social sciences, but methods belong to all of us. ethnography as method involves the ‘totality of human or community experience’ - thus the classic field manual Notes and Queries on Anthropology (published by the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland in 1951) lists social structure, social life of the individual, political organization, rituals and beliefs, economics, knowledge and tradition, language, and material culture method is about choice, as such it is equally important to determine one’s research design and framework ethics in doing research mainly addresses questions such as: will it bring harm to the people/community? what do they get out from the research? (other pressing issues concerning ethics involve: sources of funding, use of data from research, informed consent); professional organisations (AAA, UGAT) have their respective code of ethics
- participant observation is a method in which an observer takes part in the daily activities, rituals, interactions, and events of the people being studied as one of the means of leaming the explicit and tacit aspects of their culture
- Malinowski's approach was distinguished from earlier forms of fieldwork in that it included an emphasis on everyday interactions and observations rather than on using directed inquiries into specific behaviors - "As he observed, he also listened"
- Participant observation involves immersing yourself in a culture and learning to remove yourself every day from that immersion so you can intellectualize what you’ve seen and heard, put it into perspective, and write about it convincingly. When it’s done right, participant observation turns fieldworkers into instruments of data collection and data analysis. “anthropologists ask dumb questions” Geertzes’ acceptance into his community by a police raid on a illegal cockfight they were observing 3. Participant observation is a paradox because the ethnographer seeks to understand the native's viewpoint, but NOT "go native; the ethnographer as researcher and writer must be a "vulnerable observer," ready to include all of her pain and wounds in research and writing, because it's part of what he or she brings to the relationship.
- analysis because the researcher decides what to put on his/her field notes; it cannot be possibly everything (going back to the importance of research design)
- jottings or scratch notes - Keep a note pad with you at all times and make field jottings on the spot. This applies to both formal and informal interviews in bars and cafe´s, in homes and on the street. If you don’t write it down, it’s gone. Notes are based on observations that will form the basis of your publications. A diary, on the other hand, is personal. It’s a place where you can run and hide when things get tough. You absolutely need a diary in an ethnography project. It will help you deal with loneliness, fear, and other emotions that make fieldwork difficult. A log is a running account of how you plan to spend your time, how you actually spend your time, and how much money you spent. A good log is the key to doing systematic fieldwork and to collecting both qualitative and quantitative data on a systematic basis. field notes may contain methodological, descriptive, and analytic notes
- Informal interviewing is the method of choice at the beginning of participant observation fieldwork, when you’re settling in. It is also used throughout ethnographic fieldwork to build greater rapport and to uncover new topics of interest that might have been overlooked. Unstructured interviews are based on a clear plan that you keep constantly in mind, but are also characterized by a minimum of control over the people’s responses. The idea is to get people to open up and let them express themselves in their own terms, and at their own pace. A lot of what is called ethnographic interviewing is unstructured. interview guide. This is a written list of questions and topics that need to be covered in a particular order in fully structured interviews, people are asked to respond to as nearly identical a set of stimuli as possible. One variety of structured interviews involves use of an interview schedule—an explicit set of instructions to interviewers who administer questionnaires orally.
- Suppose you ask, ‘‘Have you ever been away from the village to work?’’ and the informant says, ‘‘Yes.’’ The next question (the probe) is: ‘‘Like where?’’ Suppose the answer is, ‘‘Oh, several different places.’’ The correct response is not, ‘‘Pachuca? Quere´taro? Mexico City?’’ but, ‘’Like where? Could you name some of the places where you’ve gone to get work?’’ silent probe, which consists of just remaining quiet and waiting for an informant to continue. The silence may be accompanied by a nod or by a mumbled ‘‘uh-huh’’ as you focus on your note pad. The silent probe sometimes produces more information than does direct questioning. echo probe consists of simply repeating the last thing someone has said, and asking them to continue You can encourage an informant to continue with a narrative by just making affirmative comments, like ‘‘Uh-huh,’’ or ‘‘Yes, I see,’’ or ‘‘Right, uh-huh,’’ and so on.
- ‘‘Don’t you think that? . . .’’ closed (‘exactly what happened’) or open-ended (‘what was going on’)