Ethnographic research is the scientific description of specific human cultures, foreign to the ethnographer. Each ethnographer has his or her own way of conducting research and all of these different ideas can be transmitted and understood in a number of different ways. Because there is no one set idea of how an ethnographer should go about his or her research, conflicts arise. In Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco, Paul Rabinow uses a story like process to discuss his experiences during his research in Morocco. This makes it easier for the reader to understand his ideas then just having a technical book about the many different aspects of Moroccan life that he may have discovered. In Writing Culture: the Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and George E. Marcus, many of the different ideas of how an ethnographer should go about his or her research are explored. Using their own ideas and incorporating them with the ideas of collogues, they emphasized a broad range of thoughts. Although these ethnographers have all these different ideas of how to conduct their research on the other, they always come back to the same questions. How are going to be able to identify something that is so foreign to us in a way that everyone else foreign may understand also?
If I were an ethnographer and had to do my own ethnographic research, I would take ideas from Rabinow, Clifford and Marcus. In George E. Marcus's words, I would use a "strategically selected locale, treating the system as a background." (Clifford and Marcus 1986 pg. 172) In other words, I would find a place where I think I would have the best opportunity, and the first thing I would do when I arrived at the place where I was studying would be to famil...
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...d when writing about them.
Because there are so many different ideas and outlooks about ethnography, it is hard to say exactly what and how a "good" one should be written. Ideas from Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco, by Paul Rabinow and Writing Culture: the Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and George E. Marcus have helped to build somewhat of a foundation to what a "good" ethnography should include. Being aware of what is going on around you and not making judgements to quickly will help. Also using detailed descriptions of the people and their actions and the opinions of others around you will also help. Because everyone has different views about ethnographic research it is hard to put an exact meaning to what a good one might include. Using the information from these two books and will gear one in the right direction.
Madison, D. Soyini. "Chapter 1: Introduction to Critical Ethnography: Theory and Method." Critical Ethnography: Method, Ethics, and Performance. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005. N. pag. Print.
Unlike Neihardt, a true anthropologist would look at every piece of a culture to gain an understanding of it. Neihardt failed to use the ethnographic method. Instead of immersing himself in the culture, he sat down and obtained information through a translator. This means that facts may have gotten lost in translation, some words were left out, and some were just not included for the fact that they would not make Neihardt’s story as interesting as he wanted it to sound. The true journalist in him emerged as he changed details because of his goal of intriguing the readers rather than including facts important to the culture. An anthropological method of writing would inform the reader about the people in the culture, as well as their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Black Elk Speaks had a great impact on American literature, but some people do not believe that Neihardt’s fame is deserved. Parts of Black Elk’s story will never come to light. A true anthropologist would have made this their goal, while journalists, Neihardt in this case, would
Gender Importance of the Anthropologist of Ethnography What importance may the sex of the anthropologist have on the ethnographic process? There are many factors which can influence the ethnographic process for an anthropologist, and a very important one is his/her sex. This essay will examine the different attitudes towards sex, the problems that face all ethnographers when they embark on fieldwork in a different environment to their own, as well as the problems and benefits which can arise due to the sex of an anthropologist. In order to produce a written work about a certain culture or society (an ethnography, anthropologists must embark on what is known as the ethnographic process". This term refers to all of the various activities and research methods which the anthropologist must undertake if he/she wants to obtain a profound and objective understanding of the culture being studied.
In Essentials of Cultural Anthropology, the book defines ethnography as “a written account of how a single human population lives” (Bailey & Peoples, 2014, p. 8). It seems to be such a simple definition to the multiple levels needed to make a successful ethnography as shown by Douglas Raybeck in Mad Dogs, Englishmen, and the Errant Anthropologist. These multiple levels of ethnographic methods include problems that often arise, the assimilation into a culture, and the many different ways of perceiving culture. This method of study is particularly unique to the social sciences because of the extensive amount of assimilation one does in order to interpret a society's culture. There is the need for a year-long period--occasionally even longer--
In case study 9, Rose stone moved to an urban ghetto in order to study strategies for survival used by low- income residents. Here it is clearly shown that Stone is using the method of ethnographic research. This is a hands on method used by researchers in order to fully grasp and understand different situations. Ethnographies are difficult to conduct because customs aren’t the same for a whole culture and they’re always changing. Another problem with doing an ethnographic research is that the researcher can potentially manipulate what they are studying because they are simply human. Humans have emotions, and personal interests, and naturally can connect or relate to certain situations. This brings forth the whole notion of a detached observer.
Schensul, Stephen L.; Schensul, Jean J. & LeCompte, Margaret D. (1999). Essential ethnographic methods: observations, interviews, and questionnaires (Book 2 in Ethnographer's Toolkit). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
When I was a kid my parents always took me to Nathdwara to take the blessings of Lord Krishna every now and then because my parents are so religious. So by going there several times I am also attached to that place. Actually Nathdwara is situated in Rajasthan state and I live in the state called Gujarat and in the city called as Ahmedabad. It takes six hours drive from my city to Nathdwara and this is the only nearest place where I could get mental peace. This is very important place for me and my family because it is a tradition of our family that whoever goes there gives free food to the hungry and poor people. We do so because we think that if we do good work in our life we will be allowed by god to go to the heaven. [The two states on the left are Gujarat and Rajasthan. One in light blue color is Gujarat with the arrows and on the top of it with cream color is Rajasthan. I live in the middle of the state and Nathdwara is at the border of the Rajasthan]
meaning a company, people or a nation; and the word, ?-graphy,? meaning a ?field of study?. Ethnographic research, thus, focuses ?on developing a complex and complete description of the culture of a group, or a culture-sharing group? (Creswell, J. W., 2013). In other words, it can be mentioned that an ethnographic research (a) documents routine daily lives of people (Fetterman, 1998); (b) explores a cultural group (Creswell, J. W., 2013); (c) interprets situation from participants? perspectives ( Nurani, L. M., and Kemanusiaan, K. K. Ilmu, 2008); (d) interacts and interviews participants in a natural setting ( Nurani, L. M., and Kemanusiaan, K. K. Ilmu, 2008); and (e) possesses a guiding question that evolves during the study (Hall,
Ethnography is typically defined as research designed to explore cultural phenomenon that take place in another part of society or even the world. This requires a researcher to analyze similarities and differences between cultures through a perspective that is not judgmental, but more so open to new concepts that aren’t necessarily normal to their own culture. For my research, I decided to interview a friend of mine who is culturally different when compared to myself. Before beginning my interview I created a hypothesis, which I hoped to prove through my findings. Initially, I believed that most children, who are raised within a specific’s culture influence, tend to absorb the lifestyle and mindsets of their parents. Almost similar to the quote “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” By growing up within a specific culture’s influence, a child will grasp what they learned from their parents and apply it to their own lives.
Personal experience and reflexivity should be used within anthropology as a tool to reflect on the culture that is being studied and not a refocusing of attention on the self. Works such as Dorinne Kondo’s “Dissolution and Reconstitution of Self,” use the idea of reflexivity as a mirror in which to view the culture being studied in a different manner. This use of reflexivity allows for the focus to stay on the culture being studied. A move away from this is the new branch of humanistic anthropology represented in this essay by Renato Rosaldo’s “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage” and Ruth Behar’s “Anthropology that Breaks Your Heart” allows anthropologists to use reflexivity as a way to explore universal human feelings. For me, this is not the study of anthropology as much as self-reflexive psychology. The focus shifts from culture to self. The anthropologists completely understands the feelings of the people he/she is studying. I think that it is rather ambitious to state that emotion is univeral, and I do not think that it is the job of anthropologists to do so. The reflexive voice is a necessary aspect of ethnographic writing, but the anthropologist must be careful not to shift focus from concentrating on culture to concentrating on herself.
Not only this, but anthropologists will also employ Ethnography, writing down a description and analysis, based upon the fieldwork. This helps keep a record of what was learned, while also keeping the culture being studied under its own viewpoint. These factors help impact the analysis of a culture, while still being observed under a cultural relativism outlook.
I chose to look at the “indigenous spaces in sociology” article (chapter 3). The premise of the article is that it is difficult to describe a non-western culture or society (indigenous culture in this case) using western knowledge and concepts. It states that we need to consider indigenous understanding of the world and “indigenous knowledge” to formulate a good sociological theory about their society. To quote the article “Knowledge, in order to be meaningful, needs to be rooted in the very realities that it’s attempting to explain (Tepperman, Kalyta, p.12)” sums this up perfectly. The article goes on to state that western knowledge is largely “binary”, meaning our view of the world is largely black and white, negative vs. positive, based
“The anthropologist is a human instrument studying other human beings”. This quote can only be described as extremely relevant when reading McHugh’s ethnography, a detailed analysis on the Gurung people of Nepal. She involved herself emotionally, physically, and mentally during her stay, portraying what it’s like and what it takes to study other people from an outsider’s point of view. The relationships McHugh created throughout her stay deepened her understanding and paved the way for her fieldwork as she dived into the unknown.
... of its history aspect. Historians define history as written records and so to me this ethnography is history. This book offers an insight into a world that a normal school history textbook is not going to offer. It gives a firsthand account of a people group that I had never heard of before. Turnbull mentions the Second World War as one of the reasons for the Ik becoming the ruthless society that they were or are. This interested me because it shows aftermath of that war that I normally would not have thought of. I now have a deeper understanding of the Ik people and everything that they entail. This book is going to be beneficial to me and my future students that I teach. I got to see firsthand how ruthless a society can be whenever basic needs cannot be met. I enjoyed this ethnography to the fullest because I got to look at another society up close and personal.
McGee, Jon R., and Richard L. Warms. Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.