ANTHROPOLOGY RESEARCH METHODS
- The main method of study for anthropologists is participant observation, which involves living with a subject group for an extended period of time & engaging in their daily activities.
- Anthropologists can supplement their observations by receiving information from some members of the culture that they are studying; informants.
- In these semi-structured interviews, they ask a long list of open-ended questions to informants and takes notes regarding their answers.
- During these semi-structured interviews, the anthropologist will learn both :
- Explicit cultural knowledge – information about a culture that is easily explained and described, such as kin networks, common stories and myths, and histories.
- Tacit cultural knowledge – information about a culture that the people within the culture or organization know but have difficulty explaining such as use of personal space, gestures(eye contact, etc) or proper behaviour.
- To live in another culture, anthropologists might have to learn:
- a new language
- to adapt to new foods
- new hygiene standards
- different social conventions/ expectations
- Live in different climates
- Understand cultural roles – i.e. gender roles
Can an outsider ever truly understand a new culture?
- One of the main challenges of fieldwork in anthropology is whether an outsider can possibly ever truly understand the behaviour in another culture.
- Anthropologists would argue that being an outsider gives them a unique view that an insider would not necessarily have (etic perspective).
- However, those with an emic perspective, the point of view of an insider of a culture, generally believe that all people define the real world of objects events & creatures in the same way as they do.
- Which perspective do you feel would be most beneficial in fieldwork? Why?
Observation and Note Taking
- During participant observation researchers must take detailed notes or Concrete notes, that provide a full description of an incident, including its participants, location, tone,& conclusion.
- They will use these notes to draws conclusions about what has been observed and in their study of the group.
- Participant observers must not only observe carefully and in detail – they must also try to understand the world as the informants see it.
- This means they are showing reflexivity; they try not to judge what they see using standards from outside the informants own culture.
Concrete vs Vague Notes
- Consider the following examples describing an incident in a high school class:
- Example 1 – Student A spoke angrily to Teacher B
- Example 2 – After Teacher B asked Student A to get off her phone, Student A became loud, disrespectful and angry. Student A yelled “Why do you always pick on me, I am not the only one on my phone!! Why don’t you tell Student B to get off their phone as well?” Student A slammed the desk with her hand and stormed out of the room.
- Which of these examples would resemble what is expected for an anthropologist’s field notes?
- Example 1 is an example of what would be considered vague notes – notes that merely describe something that happened and who was involved.
- Example 2 is an example of what would be considered concrete notes – notes that describe all of the necessary elements: the tone of the incident, who was involved, where it took place, an example of what was said, a physical action, and how the incident ended.