Anthropology

Ethnographic Research

1500 words (double-spaced pages of written text plus an additional page for references)

In this assignment, you will build upon your prior library research paper by conducting actual participant-observation research in field-sites associated with your first paper. You are welcome to diverge from your original paper, or even start from scratch, though the latter would be challenging, given that you’d have to re-do the library research component of this paper.

Specifically, I want you to:

1. Conduct at least 2-3 hours of participant-observation research in a field-site relevant to your study. The key here is to put yourself in a situation where practices relevant to your study topic can be observed, and ideally where you can participate in some way in activities related to the behaviors and experiences of the community engaging in the activities. Bring a notebook. Take notes. During those few hours, engage in informal discussions with culture members too. Your participant-observation could unfold on the internet, in some context relevant to your paper (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). There, you’d document what people were doing and saying and why. Some of you might decide to participate and observe face-to-face activities on campus or in Fort Collins. This could include observing peoples’ smartphone and tech use, eating and dining behaviors, computer gaming, shopping, dating and couples behavior, alcohol consumption, exercise, fandom, collecting, etc. Or, you might combine online and offline observations. It all depends on your topic!

2. As I just said, take field-notes during your participant-observation, and then polishing those after the observations, presenting excerpts of those in your paper (e.g., summaries of relevant scenes and behaviors you witnessed, quotes from respondent interviews, your reflections on your observations, etc.). You should accumulate at least 1-2 pages of raw fieldnotes (“jottings”, we’ll call them, which you subsequently flesh out more into full-fledged “scenes”), which you’d then excerpt in your paper.

3. Remember, participant-observation also entails informal interviews with your respondents, including, in this case, at least one ~15-25 minute more in-depth conversation with a member of the community that is the focus of your project. We’ll call this a “key informant” interview. You should prepare in

advance ~4-6 questions for this key informant interview, and ideally have at least a few questions ready for the more informal field conversations.

4. You might consider recording your interview (with permission), and selectively transcribing portions of it. Whether transcribed or not, you should quote excerpts from your interview in your paper.

5. During your participant-observation, engage in self-observation and introspection (so-called “auto-ethnography”). Afterwards, sit down for a half hour or so and think about what you just saw and participated in, and how your own life experiences and perspectives shaped what you documented. Take further notes on that.

6. Use your participant-observations, interview discussions, and self-reflections to develop an argument about the “culture” (the shared and socially learned thinking and behavior) of the group you’re observing. State that in the form of a thesis statement.

7. Relate your research and argument to scholarly debates. Cite at least 3 outside library sources and 1 in-class reading. Some of these can be the same sources you cited in your prior paper! But I want you to cite at least one new source. Use AAA format in citing these sources, both for parenthetical citations and final references. See the prior paper’s instructions for details on this.

I suggest the following structure for this paper:

1. Introductory paragraph, where you introduce your topic in an evocative way, concluding that paragraph with your thesis statement and argument. It will be challenging to develop a compelling thesis statement about your group’s “culture.” But it’s important, and good practice. I’ll give you a thesis statement guide to help you with this.

2. ~1 long paragraph (or 2 shorter ones) presenting theoretical background perspective relevant to your topic (i.e., what other researchers and scholars say about this topic). Here, you’ll cite from your library research. This can include things you discussed in your prior paper. You can even borrow quotes/ writing from your prior paper. Be sure and discuss the readings in a way that it’s clear to the reader the relevance of those details for your argument.

3. ~1 paragraph on your methods—that’s participant-observation!, of course, which I described in some detail above. But you’ll want to describe that in an appropriate way, and maybe talk about why this is a useful and important methodology for your project and for anthropology in general. That’s harder than it sounds. You might consider citing a scholarly source here, perhaps one from class readings.

4. At least 2 paragraphs on your actual ethnographic findings. This is the heart of your paper. Remember, this will include: i. excerpts from your fieldnotes; ii. excerpts from your (transcribed) interview(s); iii. self-reflective “auto-ethnography.” Present your ethnographic findings in a way that supports your thesis statement, and advances your argument. Again, not easy!, but good practice.

5. ~1 paragraph discussing your ethnographic findings in relationship to the theory you presented earlier. This would be a “discussion” or “analysis” paragraph.

6. A concluding paragraph, where you wrap up your argument, summarize what you did and argued, the significance of your research for anthropology, perhaps respond to a potential critique of your argument, etc.

Work on overall good organization and “flow” between your various paragraphs. This is a challenging paper, I know, but you’ll learn a lot doing it. Take it one step at a time, completing each of the things described above. Then, when you write, think of your overall structure and goal, and then take it one paragraph at a time. Before you know it, you’ll put it all together.

This should be a stimulating activity for you, which will bring this course’s material to life in a vivid manner. I’ll be giving you fieldwork tips in the coming weeks. And I’ll also be giving you more advice about writing. This will include a thesis statement writing guide on tips on what makes a good thesis statement.