Doing Cultural Anthropology
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Transcript Doing Cultural Anthropology
Doing Cultural
Anthropology
How do we study other
cultures?
Ethnography
The major research tool of cultural
anthropology
The
gathering and interpretation of information
Based on intensive first-hand study
Written reports of this study are called
ethnographies
Ethnographies are used as a basis for crosscultural comparisons
Ethnography
Fieldwork – intensive first-hand study
Structured
interviewing
Unstructured interviewing
Collecting census data
Photographing and filming
Historical archives
Recording life histories and geneologies
Participant-observation
Ethnography
Participant-observation – gathering data
by living among the people, observing and
participating
Good fieldwork will combine emic and etic
views
Ethnography
Consultant – person from whom the
anthropologist learns about the culture
through observation and interview
Key Consultant – person who has deep
knowledge about the culture and serves
as connection between anthropologist and
community, helping develop connections
and relationships
History of Ethnography
Began in last quarter of 19th century
Focused on study of small, technologically
simpler societies outside Europe
Desire to document societies before they
were changed by Western interaction
History of Ethnography
Cultures seen as progressing from
“primitive” to “advanced”
Early comparisons of cultures performed
by “armchair anthropologists” who read
accounts written by explorers,
missionaries, traders
History of Ethnography
In the early 20th century first-hand
fieldwork became standard for
anthropological research
Academically trained ethnographers
studied cultures around the world
Emphasis on fieldwork associated with
Boas and Malinowski
History of Ethnography
Franz Boas, father of American anthropology
Discounted
idea that cultures progressed from
“primitive” to “advanced”
Promoted in depth field study to get holistic view
of a culture and people
History of Ethnography
Bronislaw Malinowski
For
an anthropologist to understand another
culture, must learn to think, feel, and behave
as a member of that culture
Goal of ethnographic method was to
understand the objective reality of a culture by
observation performed by a trained, neutral
investigator
History of Ethnography
After WWII urban and peasant societies
began to be studied as smaller units within
a complex society
Now all cultures are functioning in a world
where we are influenced by eachother
Postmodernism
Position that all observation is influenced
by the observer’s culture and social
position
Questions Malinowski’s confidence that
properly trained, neutral investigators can
understand the true reality of a culture
Postmodernism
Claims that there is no one objective reality
Raises question that anthropologist’s
presence may influence the culture
Anthropologist
as person of power and status
May influence power and status of consultants
Ethnographer’s view is just one perspective
Feminist Anthropology
Raises questions about gender bias in
ethnography
Early ethnographers were men and
focused on male roles and interactions
Cross Cultural Comparison
Looking at many cultures to compare
some aspect; religion, family, economics
Ethnography
based
Cross cultural survey – test general concepts
against data from many cultures
Human Relations Area File – filing system of
ethnographic data from which random samples
can be pulled
Cross Cultural Comparison
Human Relations Area File
Promotes
formation of hypotheses that can be tested
for statistical significance
Lots of data at our fingertips can help prevent
generalizations based on selective memory of
ethnographers that have looked at a small number of
cultures
But, do statistical relationships indicate causality? (eg.
Drinking and financial insecurity)
Dependent
database
on quality of ethnographies in the
Special Issues and Ethics
Native Anthropologists – studying their
own culture
Can
be hard to be objective when
investigating own society
Impartial researcher or advocate
Special Issues and Ethics
Collaborative Ethnography
When
principal ethnographer invites
consultants from the culture to contribute to
the writing of the ethnography
Can create documents that are more
meaningful to the research group (eg.
Homeless and Narcotics Anonymous)
Special Issues and Ethics
Ethical obligation to protect participants
Obtain
informed consent
Protect from risk
Respect privacy and dignity
What we learn is a result of the trust of the
people and research may have
consequences