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AMST101_Lecture_Ethnography.pptx.zipAMST101_Lecture_Ethnography.pptx
Ethnography
Studying Cultural Groups & Communities
What is Ethnography?
A social science research methodology, often used by cultural anthropologists and sociologists
The written text produced to report ethnographic research results
Ethnographers typically study a small group of subjects in their own environment .
They then describe & analyze what they have observed.
Participant Observation—participating as much as possible with daily life while in the field.
Goal is to go from having an etic perspective (outsider’s view of a culture) to an emic perspective (an insider’s view of a culture)
Most biases in ethnography come from skewed or non-representative sampling
Informant selection: Since anthropologists work with a small number of informants, it is difficult to guarantee that interview information collected is fully representative of all possible experiences or even taps the predominant cultural perspective.
Field location: Anthropologists need to make intensive firsthand observations within a single community, which is usually only a small component of the total cultural community and social matrix under consideration. Yet he/she will generalize about this totality from a relatively microcosmic view. This perspective neglects variations in traits, patterns, and values that are often present within a culture. Focus on a single location also limits the extent to which the researcher can recognize significant influences that are present on wider regional or national levels.
Time frame: The anthropologist's observations are limited to a short time horizon, but many cultural processes may involve longer cycles unperceived by a short-term visitor.
Personal biases: Researchers' personalities, cultural orientations, social statuses, political philosophies, and life experiences will color how they interpret other cultures.
Ethical considerations: ethnographers often uncover information, which might be harmful to the community they’re studying or otherwise threaten its cultural integrity. They may, accordingly, limit discussion of some issues to protect their sources of information
Question to Consider:
Generally speaking, what are some of the ethical concerns you can think of that might arise doing ethnographic research and what might be some of the solutions to these concerns?
