Use of Reflexivity in Ethnographic Research Works Cited Missing The use of reflexivity in ethnographic research and writing is used to insist that the anthropologist has systematically and rigorously revealed their methodology and their self as the instrument of data collection and generation. Reflexivity can play a variety of roles in ethnographic writings as observed in the works of Renato Rosaldo, Dorinne Kondo, and Ruth Behar. These three anthropologists all use reflexivity in different
Reflexivity in Ethnographic Research and Writing The role of reflexivity in ethnographic research and writing has certain advantages and limits, as it gives the discipline of anthropology another form of interpreting ethnographies. Reflexivity, in terms of work of anthropology, is to insist that anthropologists systematically and rigorously reveal their methodology and themselves as the instrument of data generation. It is the self-consciousness or the work's ability to see itself as a work
Sometimes the research question of inquirers require benefits more from a qualitative data collection approach than a quantitative approach as they explore groups of people, in such cases ethnographic designs are best suited for their needs. Ethnographic research is designed for the collection of qualitative data because it goal is to write about groups of people in a cultural context such as “language, rituals, economic and political structures, life stages, interactions and communication styles”
summarize the research in one of the articles/chapters listed below or from another ethnographic work. In this summary paragraph(s), you need to include the following information: (a) characteristics of the subjects (including how many there were, and any demographic characteristics of them mentioned in the research); (b) the method(s) used by the researcher(s) to locate the subjects; (c) the method(s) used to elicit information from them: and (d) a summary of the key findings. This research looked
conducted ethnographic research at the Occidental Child Development Center where I have spent many hours participating and observing with the children of the center. I am not an outsider to this center, because I have been working with this particular bunch of children for a year, so I am well accepted when I asked to join in the games with the children. The center has a total 45 preschool students aging from 2-5 years old and seven staff members and five student workers. Throughout my research the
methods through the work of two groups of researchers. Content analysis was used by Brian Bigelow and John La Gaipa, and ethnographic research was carried out by William Corsaro. The essay will show that although the researchers worked in the same area of study with some similarity in their approach, they produced contrasting data that was therefore analysed differently. Research in any given area can yield many different results despite having the same aim. Varying results of separate studies may
its most obvious form (or at least the form most obvious to me), reflexivity is manifest in the practice of an ethnographer including herself in her own ethnographic research---seeing herself not as an “unbiased, impartial” (Malinowski 18) observer, but as an essential and un-removable part of her study. The effect of reflexivity on ethnographic writing has been, however, much broader than just that. It signals “a departure from the ideology of objectivity [and] distance” which for so long pervaded
self-indulgent narcissism, but its true scope reaches much further. While some ethnographic texts exhibit an overemphasis on the author, and his position within the work, this is one extreme of the range reflexivity, which also serves as a methodological tool, unincorporated into the writing, and as a means to account for the ethnographers biases and affects on his informants. This entire span of meaning is shown in anthropological research and writings, in varying manners and to different ends. An poignant
The Advantages and Limits of Ethnographic Reflexivity Awareness of writing choices generates an appreciation of the reflexivity of ethnographic research. Reflexivity involves the recognition that an account of reality does not simply mirror reality but rather creates or constitutes as real in the first place whatever it describes. Thus ‘the notion of reflexivity recognizes that texts do not simply and transparently report an independent order of reality. Rather, the texts themselves are implicated
Reflexivity Anthropologists research and write. They participate and observe in order to produce ethnographies. While some anthropologists venture to “exotic” lands to study the “natives,” others conduct ethnographic research within their own culture. Despite the diverse cultures they examine and the use of a tape recorder instead of a pen and a notebook, the ethnographic process is virtually the same. Or is it? Although similarities between ethnographies exist, when it comes down to it
individuals that they are writing about. Furthermore, many of these authors assume that the individuals among whom they are living and studying exemplify the entire society as a whole. Ethnographers have used many different means of establishing their ethnographic authority. One such method is the use of reflexivity in the ethnography. Ethnographers such as Renato Rosaldo in his work Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis and Bronislaw Malinowski in his work Argonauts of the Western Pacific assume
Jungle, are the only locations containing native people living in their traditional ways. All of the people living in these places have to live in a very specific way, or they simply cannot survive on what the land gives them. Of, course all of the ethnographic records we have show highly specialized people, we killed all the ones that lived where they could be more generalized and still survive. The archaeological record shows us what the intelligent ethnographers preach; there is more out there than
Cultural Anthropology and Ethnographic Fieldwork James P. Spradley (1979) described the insider approach to understanding culture as "a quiet revolution" among the social sciences (p. iii). Cultural anthropologists, however, have long emphasized the importance of the ethnographic method, an approach to understanding a different culture through participation, observation, the use of key informants, and interviews. Cultural anthropologists have employed the ethnographic method in an attempt to surmount
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. Dorinne Kondo does an excellent job in her essay “Dissolution and Reconstitution of Self”in using the reflexive voice
An Ethnographic Study of Social Change in Amish Society On March 23, 1998, I carried out an interview and field observation to confirm a previous hypothesis on Amish social change and survival. I hypothesized, based on library research and personal experience, that Amish society was not static but dynamic and affected by many factors such as economics and cultural survival. In order to check the validity of my hypothesis I arranged to spend a full Sunday (March 23, 1998), with an Amish family
external people (Thomas, 1996). The essay will provide a brief introduction to the theory of the self as presented by both perspectives, then compare and evaluate the explanation offered by them. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST AND PSYCHODYMIC PERSPECTIVE Ethnographic accounts of incongruent cultures as provided by anthropologist are used to defend the argument that the self is socially constructed through socialisation processes (Sapsford, 1996). For example, Markus and Kitayama proposed that with the existence
organization. Although they have been extensively studied, Howell also proclaims, “It is surely illegitimate to use them as though they are the prototypical hunter-gatherers, knowledge of whom tells us all we need to know in order to apply the ethnographic analogy to models of prehistoric life.” Wild, maniac, unsophisticated, uneducated, vulgar…these are all words that come to mind when I think of prehistoric or primitive. Obviously the !Kung tribe have grown with the rest of society. How are we
Postmodernism, Deconstructionism, and the Ethnographic Text Anthropology 575 Postmodernism In the late 1960’s the social sciences (mainly anthropology and sociology) entered a crisis period in which traditional ways of conducting the study of the Other were re-examined in the context of their association with dominance-submission hierarchies and the objectification of the subjects of study. There was seen to be an association between Western imperialism’s objectification of the
The career that I have chosen to research is an anthropologist. Anthropology is the study of humans who lived in the past and the present. All anthropologists conduct research within their own area of expertise, and they also write essays, reports, and books based on their observations findings. Some teach students at colleges or universities, while some work for government agencies or corporations. Most anthropologists are trained in one of four different areas: biological/physical, socio-cultural
their childhood to be is with the concept of photo-voice. Photo-voice grants each child the capability of capturing visual moments through the use of photographs. The methodology that I am interested in for my visual ethnographic research study is children and their toys. My research question is to establish are children's favorite toys determined by society and is based on gender assumptions. My two participants were a male and female both age six. I have selected these participants over other