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 cross- cultural 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 19 th 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 20 th 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 on quality of ethnographies in the database

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