Prof Hans Tokke ETHNOGRAPHY Definition Anthropology The study

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Prof. Hans Tokke ETHNOGRAPHY

Prof. Hans Tokke ETHNOGRAPHY

Definition Anthropology: The study of humankind in all times and places Ethnography: A detailed

Definition Anthropology: The study of humankind in all times and places Ethnography: A detailed description of a particular culture primarily based on fieldwork. (ongoing research) Participant Observation: The technique of learning a people’s culture through social participation and personal observation within the community being studied, as well as interviews and discussion with individual members over a period of time.

Key Questions What happened Where did it happen Why did it happen How did

Key Questions What happened Where did it happen Why did it happen How did it happen Whatever these answers they must come from an authentic place.

Ethnography and Meaning Ethnography is the study of people in their daily lives. You

Ethnography and Meaning Ethnography is the study of people in their daily lives. You are there to learn first hand what captivates that particular person or people. Trying to understand meaning becomes part of what you are. What are those acts of meaning to those being observed.

Malinowski: The Pioneer Field worker at least one year in the field using the

Malinowski: The Pioneer Field worker at least one year in the field using the local vernacular. Living apart from their own. Psychological transference where they become the we. His writing vies for positions in both science and experience. What constitutes an ethnographic study? Move from they to we. Grasp the other point of view. Realize her vision of the world.

Malinowski: The Pioneer Statistical documentation (concrete method organized in a clear outline) Minute and

Malinowski: The Pioneer Statistical documentation (concrete method organized in a clear outline) Minute and detailed observations in an ethnographic diary. Imponderabilia of daily life. (eating, food, social life) Corpus Inscriptinum: collection of native statements. Typical utterances. Items of folklore.

The Chicago School Sought to discover diversity and particularity of the places they were

The Chicago School Sought to discover diversity and particularity of the places they were at. It went in the US from the exotic to the local. Park and Burgess encouraged their students to treat Chicago as exotic, urban world as exotic, using the journalistic approach of getting your feet dirty. This meant being placed with the downtrodden and looking at the deviant worlds that Chicago gave to the ethnographer. Park was also interested because that was where you could be a myth breaker (challenges the system).

Story-telling In light of reporting the facts, life stories emerged as a key portion

Story-telling In light of reporting the facts, life stories emerged as a key portion of this ethnography. The way one was moved was by telling a story to get people’s attention. Writing became key to the ethnographic endeavor. Informants and individual subjects tell of the ethnographic facts.

Story-Telling What we find behind every story is that the story has to be

Story-Telling What we find behind every story is that the story has to be true. The story has to be true to you the writer and to you who reads it. The writer’s allegiance is not to make believe but to make a believable fact.

What Do You See? Participant participation/observation Autopsy Autopsical. To see with one’s own eyes.

What Do You See? Participant participation/observation Autopsy Autopsical. To see with one’s own eyes. Seek to observe and gain own understanding, and tries to gather meaning from those she sees in the field. One tries to develop theories about what on sees.

Understanding & Knowing You gain understanding from immersion. A way of knowing. Fieldwork is

Understanding & Knowing You gain understanding from immersion. A way of knowing. Fieldwork is a way of doing your research and find a way of knowing.

Ethnography and Trust When you connect with people, you are gaining some empathy or

Ethnography and Trust When you connect with people, you are gaining some empathy or sympathy whether you intend for it to happen or not. You’re a participant in the people’s life and the people you study. Your very presence is there and their trust in you.

Ethnography and Culture: the doings and sayings of people. Ethnography is doing their culture

Ethnography and Culture: the doings and sayings of people. Ethnography is doing their culture and seeing their culture. So what is suggested is that ethnography becomes a way of thinking about culture. It becomes a way about writing about culture through a participant’s point of reference. This dialectic between interpretation and experience emerges.

Ethnographic Process A People’s Culture Seeing & Experience Participant Observation Field Notes Interpretation Writing

Ethnographic Process A People’s Culture Seeing & Experience Participant Observation Field Notes Interpretation Writing

Phases of Field Work 1. Planning Why do want to do it? Who? What

Phases of Field Work 1. Planning Why do want to do it? Who? What resources? What previous research?

Phases of Field Work 2. Collecting Notes Observations about the character Events and Rituals

Phases of Field Work 2. Collecting Notes Observations about the character Events and Rituals associated around it Visuals supplemented with written work

Phases of Field Work 3. Analyzing Written and read background analysis Use of sites

Phases of Field Work 3. Analyzing Written and read background analysis Use of sites Camera usage etc.

Field Notes The largest single block in a field study is keeping field notes.

Field Notes The largest single block in a field study is keeping field notes. These notes constitute the basic evidence upon which field studies depend. Without high quality and detailed field notes, such studies are indefensible. One’s field notes are at one and the same time, a way of disciplining data gathering and making public the basis of one’s interpretation. Ideally one’s field notes should be such that an independent reader could take them and arrive at the same inferences and explanations as oneself.

Disciplining the Data A. Chronological Order order as ones observations and inquiries occur. B.

Disciplining the Data A. Chronological Order order as ones observations and inquiries occur. B. Episodes a temporal beginning and end. C. Concreteness of Description the observations, which lead to a summary judgment

Types of Data Attitudinal and Behavioral Data a distinction between what people say and

Types of Data Attitudinal and Behavioral Data a distinction between what people say and what they do Non Behavioral Data (e. g. apparel, cars, machines, roads, houses, mountains, doors, windows, paraphernalia. non-verbal, and verbal behavior data (smells, aroma, graffiti) artifacts that preserve internal order

Categories of Field Notes Scratch Notes (Ottenburg) “Talking notes” (Clifford) “inscriptions” Head Notes Jotted

Categories of Field Notes Scratch Notes (Ottenburg) “Talking notes” (Clifford) “inscriptions” Head Notes Jotted Notes Home Notes (Sanjck) Some field notes are of the field, and some are those you write at home Substantive Notes Methodological Field Notes

Other Elements Key Consultant: a member of society being studied, who provides information that

Other Elements Key Consultant: a member of society being studied, who provides information that helps researchers understand the meanings of what they observe Quantitative Data: Statistical or measureable data Qualitative Data: Non-statistical information such as personal life stories and customary beliefs and practices.