Key Concept: Ethnography
The main set of
methods used by cultural anthropologists come under the heading of
“ethnography.” Ethnographic research consists of gathering and
interpreting information about a particular culture through
intensive experience within the culture itself. Ethnographers seek
to balance insider (known as “emic”) with outsider (“etic”)
perspectives. That is, we want to understand a culture or group as
much as possible from an insider’s perspective, but we also want to
be able to analyze it comparatively as an outsider. In contrast to
the sociologist’s more quantitative research methods,
anthropology makes use of qualitative data. This is based
less on statistics (although this may be an element of ethnographic
research) and more on broad interpretations that take many factors
into consideration. This reflects anthropology’s traditional goal
of holism, discussed above. Ethnographic writing is often
quite narrative and descriptive in character, seeking to convey the
lived reality of a particular group of people.
Three key concepts
associated with ethnographic research are:
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Fieldwork |
| Ethnographic fieldwork consists of first-hand,
systematic, intensive study of a culture. While the
earliest anthropologists were armchair scholars who relied on
reports sent home from missionaries and other travelers in
distant places, Bronislaw Malinowski, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, and
other researchers in the early 20th century pioneered new
techniques for field research that called on the anthropologist
to gain first-hand knowledge and experience of the culture being
studied These early fieldworkers, and many of their
contemporary successors, focused largely on so-called
"primitive" people, often in places where European countries had
established colonies. In the present, however,
anthropologists increasingly study western cultural groups and
people in urban settings.
Ethnographic fieldwork has become recognized as a valuable
tool by researchers in many disciplines. While it cannot
typically provide great breadth or a comprehensive look at any
single culture, it compensates by offering an opportunity for
attentive and often extremely subtle understandings of human
behavior, something that is only achieved through long
acquaintance with and immersion in a particular setting. |
| »
Participant-observation |
| As its name suggests, participant-observation
is a research method that seeks to combine insider and outsider
perspectives. While becoming actively involved to some
extent in the activities of the people they are studying,
anthropologists also remain observers and analysts. During
my M.A. research, for example, I became an active member of a
Civil War reenactment unit for a period of two years, attending
weekend encampments, parades, meetings, and social events. An
important aspect of participant-observation research is the
writing of ethnographic fieldnotes. Fieldnotes are a
detailed record of the researcher's observations, experiences,
and speculations, and often form the basis for later, more
polished analytical writing. |
| »
Ethnographic interviewing |
| Besides trying to gain first-hand experience of
the culture being studied, ethnographic researchers also make
extensive use of interviews. Unlike more quantitative
survey interviewing, ethnographic interviews tend to be somewhat
loosely structured and designed to elicit stories and
information that will help the researcher understand how
informants see and experience the world. |
Ethnographers also
frequently make use of archival research, mapping techniques, video
recording, and other strategies.
Click
here for some bibliographic suggestions
on anthropology and ethnography.
Updated: December 15, 2004 |
