ETHNOGRAPHY Prof Zakaria Rhani Anthropologist MohammedV University in

ETHNOGRAPHY Prof. Zakaria Rhani Anthropologist Mohammed-V University in Rabat

v. Lévi-Strauss: Ethnography corresponds to the first stage of an anthropological research = Data collection, which requires a “fieldwork”. v. Data collection cannot be distinguished from the broader theoretical frameworks that motivate it; v. Method and theory are so intertwined; v. Ethnography is also described as a perspective rather than a means of data collection.

v. Ethnography is defined in two ways: § Ethnography as a synonym for qualitative research as a whole = “big ethnography”. § Ethnography as “field research” (fieldwork): Ethnography as one particular way of doing qualitative research = “little ethnography”. v. In both cases, ethnography is a research with the following features:

v Ethnography requires two complementary levels: § Contextualization: grasp the subject in its particular contexts (social, institutional, cultural…); § Complexification: relate the subject of research to other social and cultural dimensions. v These 2 requirements are sometimes defined as Total Social Fact (TSF). v TSF= Social phenomena involve a large number of social practices and institutions. v Theoretical interest of FST: social phenomena cannot be dissociated and cannot be reduced to a single level of social life.

Access and Distance v The most decisive issues in fieldwork is the dilemma of Access and distance. v We have to negotiate our “Access” to a group: 1) getting into a group and, 2) the research we are able to do once we are part of the group. v The dilemma of distance arises from the contrasting stances of the researcher as both participant and observer. v As a participant, the researcher attempts to get as close as possible to the group that he or she is studying to best understand it. v A pure observer is “essentially an outsider, a stranger to the field”. v To overcome the fear of being either too close or not close enough, a balance between observation and participation is highly recommend.

v The technical term for this social distance is “objectivity”. v “Objectivity” is the ability to remain detached in two different senses: 1) detached from the people we are studying; 2) detached from our own presumptions. v Approach ther study with no preconceptions or bold hypotheses. v In this sense, “objectivity” means that we must look at the culture in its own terms and not push our own reality or judgments upon it. “Relativism”

v. Using ethnographic methods we must let go of our own presumptions and assumptions about a group of people in order to effectively learn anything about them. v. It is important to put aside personal feelings and not to judge = unlearning.

v Both positivism and naturalism try to eliminate the effects of the researcher on the data; v The activities of the researcher and those of the researched are separated. v Both neglect the fact that we are part of the social world we study; v The first and most important step towards a resolution of this problems is to recognize the reflexive character of social research; v There is no way in which we can escape the social world in order to study it; nor, fortunately, is that necessary; v This is a matter of methodological commitment as it is an existential fact.

v Reflexivity has strong implications for the practice of social research and theory: – Rather than engaging in futile attempts to eliminate the effects of the researcher, we should set about understanding them; – The theories we develop to explain the social group we study should also be applied to our own activities as researchers and should aid the development of research strategies.