American culture

AMST 101/Horwitz Summer 2019

Short Observation & Refection Assignment #1: Analyzing Community & Cultural Groups

100 Points In The Interpretation of Cultures anthropologist Clifford Geertz explains his “semiotic” concept of

culture: “Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he

himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an

experimental science in search of law but an interpretative one in search of meaning.”1 Geertz’s

method is ethnography, which uses “thick description” to explain the meaning behind social

actions.

In this assignment, you will try your hand at a ‘mini’ ethnography—conducting your own

ethnographic fieldwork and writing a reflective essay. In doing so you should adhere to the

following guidelines:

1. Choose a group (subject) that you want to study and understand. Remember that this

group must be particular, meaning well defined and small enough for you to fully observe

and describe it, and you must have access to them. Some ideas for subjects include but are

not limited to:

• A subculture like surfers at a local beach or clubgoers.

• A residential group like elderly people at a retirement home or students living on

a floor of a dorm

• An athletic team or intramural group

• A club or organization on or off campus

• A work environment at a particular place

• Religious groups meeting formally and/or informally

• Fan or friendship groups that have regular activities

2. You must then spend at least 2 hours observing this group. During this time, you will keep

a field journal where you write down your detailed notes on the group—ie you should be

recording everything you see, hear, smell, etc. Remember to pay attention to rituals,

dialogue, environment/place, people’s backgrounds, their clothing, their interactions, and

1 Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 5.

their individual behaviors. These notes will be typed and turned in as part of this

assignment.

3. After you have completed your observations, you will then write a reflective response

essay on this brief experience with ethnographic fieldwork. This reflective essay will be

informed by your field notes. Some questions to consider in this response:

• What are some of the main things that you have learned about the group you

studied?

• How do group members understand their identity?

• What do they share in common?

• What is each person’s role in the group?

• What are their rituals?

• Do they have a unique or specific language?

• What was interesting about the group and the way they act and interact with one

another?

• Was there anything that surprised you about the group?

• What were your initial expectations of your group? After observation, did these

expectations change? How? Why?

Your response paper must conclude with a consideration of the strengths and limitations of

ethnographic observation for studying communities and cultural groups. Based on your

experience and the information recorded in your field notes, what do you see as the

strengths of this as a research methodology? Similarly, what do you see as the limitations

of this as a research methodology and how might you make up for these limitations?

Your ethnographic reflective response essay must be a minimum of 500 words, double-spaced,

proof-read for spelling, grammar, and clarity, and in a standard 12-point font. Your fieldnotes

must be typed out and included either before or after your response essay as part of the same

document (TURNitin only allows the submission of a single document for assignments).

This assignment is due by 11:59 PM Friday, June 14 (you’ll see the TURNITin link located under Module 3).