...topic of assignment: ethnography. submitted by Umair Ijaz. (roll Number 1 BS English 4th semester) submitted to: Sir Waseem Akhtar. date of submission: 12-06-2012. OUTLINE In this chapter, I shall define ethnography and describe its central characteristics and principles. I shall also look at the key research concepts of reliability and validity as they relate to ethnography, and will discuss the importance of context to ethnographic inquiry. In the final part of the chapter, I shall highlight some of the 'central concerns of this topic by contrasting psychometry and ethnography, The chapter seeks to address the following questions: • - What do we mean by ethnography? • - What are the key principles guiding ethnographic research? • - How might one deal with threats to the reliability and validity of this type of research? • - Why is context important to ethnographic research? • - In what ways does ethnography contrast with psychometric research? • Definition: Ethnography involves the study of the culture/characteristics of a group to real-world rather than Laboratory settings. The researcher makes no act to isolate or manipulate the phenomena under investigation, and insight generalizations emerge from close contact with the data rather than from theory of language learning and use. it is a qualitative type of research. Ethnography is provided by LeCompte and Goetz (1982). They use ethnography shorthand term to encompass a range of qualitative methods...
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...Friendship holds distinct significances and values to different people and cannot always be effortlessly expressed. A subject which had not seen much recognition prior to the 1970’s was how friendship is perceived by children. This essay is to provide the likenesses and differences between two studies which investigated this subject. The first study which will be discussed was accomplished by Brian Bigelow and John La Gaipa in which they used the content analysis approach. The second study to be considered was completed by William Corsaro in which the ethnographic method was used. The research by Bigelow and La Gaipa was similar to that of Corsaro’s as not much research had been done prior to their investigations within the study of friendship in children. However these investigations differentiated in the method of how data was obtained and portrayed. In 1975 Bigelow and La Gaipa requested 480 children, with an equal range of girls and boys, aged between six and fourteen years to write essays on friendship. They requested 60 students each from eight difference schools, 30 boys and 30 girls, from eight different areas in America. The specific information targeted was what they sought in a best friend and how this differed to other relationships they had. (Brownlow, 2012, p.242). The approach they took to their findings was content analysis, they had exchanged the qualitative data they held into quantitative data. Bigelow and La Gaipa collated the data from these essays and converted...
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...to this unsettlement and fear of loss of identity, most exiles have refused to accept citizenship from other countries (McGranahan, 2016). Hence, their refusal come as a political stance because it is their way of asserting their right to sovereignty. Second, the articles followed the criteria of a proper ethnographic work. All of them bases their on their founding as well as borrowing from other ethnographers. For example, Marcel Mauss’ work, The Gift, was used as a starting point to theorize since he was one of the first to speak about how refusal is seen in different society They are part of a collective of anthropologists who came to together to theorize about refusal. In addition to taking data from each of their own different ethnography and fieldwork, they are able to join common themes, create a discussion and form theses. Unlike some essays where the goal is to comment off other people’s work and create a debate, these articles felt like they were adding on to the knowledge of the reader by presenting a cohesive journal. By reading the background information, one realize that not only do they complement each other but each anthropologists had a hand in correcting one another work. In the sense, they read each other's work before the work is published and give comment on each other’s draft. Why is the study of refusal so pertinent? By providing an ethnographic approach to the study on refusal, these articles were able to interpret and simplify our understanding...
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...Community Voices: The Nauck Community Heritage project Summary: The Nauck Community Heritage project video clip discusses the history of the Nauck community. This ethnographic research (the study of a single culture) was gathered through participant observation (research/ field work done on site), using informal interviews (unstructured open ended conversations in everyday life), qualitative data (non statistical information such as personal stories and customary beliefs and practices), and information gathered from key consultants (members of the society being studied who provide information to help researchers get the meaning of what they are observing). The key consultants are people who were either born in the Nauck community area or lived in the community for an extended period. The majority of the people interviewed were born in the 1930s and 40s; right around the time when the community was established. The video discusses the history of how the Nauck community was created. During WWII the people living in the Arlington area where displaced in order to provide an area for the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery to be built. They were relocated to the Dunbar area, originally in trailers, and later had the Dunbar apartments built in the Nauck Green Valley neighborhood. The Dunbar apartments have recently been demolished to provide room for the area’s expanding urbanization projects. Some of the people interviewed lamented about their loss of culture as a result of this urbanization...
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...What Is Cultural Anthropology? When a person thinks about cultural anthropology, they should not limit themselves by thinking of one particular thing. Their mind should be racing with countless subjects. ‘Cultural anthropology’ is a pretty broad title for a discipline that covers such a wide range of topics. Anthropology studies all that is human and all that makes us human (Malloy, 2011). To narrow it down a bit, anthropology studies culture. One can define culture as “those relationships whereby, one and one’s community establish identity; knowledge of self and others, knowledge of the world and how we are to be in the world, and what various versions of those worlds mean to ‘us’ and ‘them’” (Malloy, 2011). Every individual person represents a culture of their own within the society they live in. Jack Weatherford estimates that “the globe stands divided into roughly two hundred independent countries or states, but these contain somewhere around five thousand different nations or ethnic groups” (1994, p.226). With so many different cultures out there, people of a particular society cling to their culture and hold to it with extreme importance. Even through times of modernity that pushed for a world culture, the number of different cultures did not homogenize and mesh together. On the contrary “ethnic and cultural identities grew stronger…and accentuated differences to become more varied than ever” (Weatherford, 1994, p.8). Cultural anthropology studies that behavior and the...
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...Qualitative Approaches A qualitative "approach" is a general way of thinking about conducting qualitative research. It describes, either explicitly or implicitly, the purpose of the qualitative research, the role of the researcher(s), the stages of research, and the method of data analysis. here, four of the major qualitative approaches are introduced. Ethnography The ethnographic approach to qualitative research comes largely from the field of anthropology. The emphasis in ethnography is on studying an entire culture. Originally, the idea of a culture was tied to the notion of ethnicity and geographic location (e.g., the culture of the Trobriand Islands), but it has been broadened to include virtually any group or organization. That is, we can study the "culture" of a business or defined group (e.g., a Rotary club). Ethnography is an extremely broad area with a great variety of practitioners and methods. However, the most common ethnographic approach is participant observation as a part of field research. The ethnographer becomes immersed in the culture as an active participant and records extensive field notes. As in grounded theory, there is no preset limiting of what will be observed and no real ending point in an ethnographic study. Phenomenology Phenomenology is sometimes considered a philosophical perspective as well as an approach to qualitative methodology. It has a long history in several social research disciplines including psychology, sociology and social work...
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...University of Phoenix Material Data Collection and Analysis Grid Use the two articles assigned by your facilitator to identify the following data collection, analysis, and measurement elements for the studies. Limit each box to no more than three sentences. | |Qualitative |Quantitative | | |Dance of the Call Bells |Effects of Nursing Rounds | |Data collection methods |The study used Ethnographic Methods to |The Quasi-Experimental Design was used over| | |examine problems related to answering |a 6-week period. A baseline data was taken | | |patients call lights on an inpatients unit.|during the first two weeks. An analysis was| | |The ethnographic methods of data collection|performed on data from 27 nursing units in | | |consist of five steps: mapping, |14 hospitals in which members of the | | |photography, observation, interviews, and |nursing staff performed rounds either at | | |analysis strategy phase. |one-hour or two-hour intervals. | |Data collection instruments...
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...a view of Nayar marriage that sees each of three ritual'the tdlike!- fukalyanam (tsli-tying ceremony), tirandukalydnam (first menstruation rite), and the ceremony that begins a sexual (sambandham) relationship-as centering on different and systematic sets of indigenous symbols and meanings. I do not intend to solve every problem related to Nayar marriage here, or to address everything previous writers have said. I will, however, try to say some significant new things about the subject, in light of which the complex "Nayar marriage problem" and the rich literature it has inspired can be better understood. Methodologically, this project is far from simple. The Nayar marriage system in its old, prob- lematic form is no longer extant, and hence cannot be observed ethnographically. Although older people have memories of it, these often extend only to what was done and not to why it was done or what it meant. In addition, there is the danger that modern meanings may differ from older ones. Yet these difficulties do not make the task impossible. To begin with, what informants say about the rituals, though often fragmentary and inconclusive, reveals certain consistencies and patterns. Second, ritual action for which there is no exegesis by informants can be compared to similar or identical actions in better-remembered or still-performed rituals to which mean- ings are more readily assigned. Finally, there are historical documents, both indigenous and written by outsiders, against which...
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...levels and types of context were attended to in interpretation? - What recurrent patterns are described? - What cultural interpretation is provided? - What are the stated implications for teaching? Question 1.What is ethnographic research? State the difference between an ethnographic research and a psychometric research and give example from applied linguistic studies. ------------------------------------------------------------- Ethnographic research is one form of qualitative research which concerns with studying human behavior within the context in which that behavior would occur naturally and in which the role of the researcher would not affect the normal behavior of the subjects. Ethnography research requires: - much training, skill and dedication - a great store on the collection and interpretation of data - question and hypothesis emerge during the course of investigation, rather than beforehand...
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...‘DISCUSS THE EXTENT TO WHICH ANTHROPOLOGY IS A SCIENCE.’ The study of anthropology concerns itself with the understanding of various societies and cultures within our world. It focuses on revealing the spectrum of connections and relationships that serve as the foundation to society and culture. Ethnography, which involves one immersing themselves in a foreign culture serves as the main form of research for anthropologists’. However the interpersonal and subjective nature of this form of study undermines the scientific nature of Anthropology in regards to the natural sciences. In order to understand the extent to which anthropology is a science, I will explore arguments which reiterate the validity and academic value of anthropological import, this will be achieved through the analysis of the ‘modified sociological realism’, intersubjective pattern recognition’ as well as ‘human patterns’. Science considers itself totally absent from interpersonal subjectiveness however this notion should be scrutinized and evaluated in order to ensure that the study of Anthropology is not made to be redundant In contrast to the natural sciences. This form of scientific understanding can be referred to as the ‘modified sociological realism and is supported by the commentaries of Ziman (1978), Hacking (1982,1983), Taylor (1982) and Harre (1986). Science is a human activity and human nature should be considered as an element in producing empirical import. The work of scientists within the natural...
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...Anthropology 202 Fall 2015 Instructor: Ian Kalman Written Assignment: Ethnographic Observation This assignment is an exercise in ethnographic observation. Students are asked to choose a location in the Montreal area for a field site. There, they will spend at least an hour, taking (hand-written) notes on what they observe. Successful sites are those in which, to some extent, what is considered ‘normal’ differs from the observer’s own sense of normal. In other words, students are asked to go to a place where taken-for-granted knowledge differs from their own and report on their experiences and insights. In doing so, you make something that was previously strange slightly more familiar, and write about it. Students are then asked to write their papers in two parts, including both a description and analysis of their experience (total 1800 words maximum). Analyses should be no more than 400 words. Papers will be assigned a grade based on the success with which they, (1) demonstrate they have chosen a site appropriate for anthropological observation, (2) richly describe what they observed, and (3) draw out and support interesting interpretations rooted in their experience. Assignments count for 30% of the student’s final grade. Unexcused late submissions will be penalized five points per day of lateness. Papers must be submitted in word format electronically before 2:30PM on Tuesday, October 20th. Please note that as this is an electronic submission, you will be...
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...new product concepts. This paper proposes that ethnographic representation methods , including innovative visual representations, offer untapped potential for design research reporting, not just field of historical design. Te in term s of facilitating com munications during the mpts by designers to make sense of the broader the potential of ethnographic design process, but also as a record of ongoing atte representation methods for design. Keywords: Ethnography in design, Ethnographic writing, Ethnographic representation st projects by design students show 1. Introduction Ethnography is often viewed as a specialized area within reveal and preserve cultural knowledge, using methods such the larger activity of cultural anthropology, seeking to as interviewing or cultural submersion to discover important values. Since design is also a profession that a ddresses cultural m eaning in the creation of sym bolically significant new products and services, it has been natural fo r the field of design research to turn to ethnography for inspiration. However, designers and design educators, like m yself, have tended to embrace ethnographic fieldwork methods rather than the interpretive m ethods of ethnogr aphic w riting. D esigners seldom...
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...Extended Essays in Social and Cultural Anthropology These subject guidelines should be read in conjunction with the “Introduction”, “Outline” and “Details—all essays” sections of this guide. Overview An extended essay in social and cultural anthropology provides students with an opportunity to develop an awareness of what constitutes a distinctively anthropological approach to the organization of human life in society and culture. Extended essays should be based on published ethnographic research. Students are expected to demonstrate, in the presentation of the research, their knowledge and understanding of the methods and aims of social and cultural anthropology. Choice of topic Social and cultural anthropology is not a “residual” category for essays that do not fit into any other extended essay subject. Students must choose topics that lend themselves to anthropological investigation, and must carefully consider their choice of topic in terms of the assessment criteria. An extended essay in social and cultural anthropology should analyse a topic from a theoretical or comparative perspective, based on the student’s own original analysis and on a solid understanding of the theoretical issues concerned. Students who intend to tackle comparative projects must be aware that research strategies involving two or more societies may call for greater narrowing of the research focus than a study in a single society. For example, a comparative analysis of Mexican and...
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...this article is that it shows us how a society can speak for itself through the various cultural and ritual events that take’s place. The importance of understanding peoples culture and their rituals is what anthropologists try to seek out. Through Balinese cockfighting only were they able to better understand how such an event can be used to show case culture and societies values. The association between an animal and man showed that more prestige was given to the more powerful one and thereby increasing male status in the village. b. What kinds of evidence does the author base this claim on? What are the anthropological methods used to collect this evidence? Geertz uses a mixture of research methods in his ethnography, predominantly employing long-term participant observation and supports this participant observation method with the inclusion of historical and literary research, and cross-cultural comparison. Anthropological methods such as interviewing along with the use of ethnographic realism which aims to define accurate and objective methods that accounts the different ways of life from first hand observations and experience. Other ethnographic techniques such as in depth interviewing of the Balinese people have made it possible to find out about the beliefs and perceptions. c. How does the author present the evidence to support the claim in this article? In other words, outline the argument, explaining how it works. ...
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...Running head: TARGETING BREAST CANCER AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..3 Background…………………………………………..……………………………………………4 Preparing and Adapting to the Field..……………………………………………………………..5 Medical Anthropology Fieldwork Methodology...………………………………………………..6 Ethnographic Fieldwork Data Analysis …………………………………………………………..9 Reflective Comments/ Conclusion……………………………………………………….…….....9 References………………………………………………………………………………………..11 Targeting Breast Cancer among African American Women in Nash County: A Proposal to Identify Enabling and Reinforcing Factors of Seeking Preventative Screening Services Introduction Ethnographic field work is an excellent strategy in understanding and describing a cultural group. Field work is also an asset in performing a needs assessment in the planning phase of developing health promotion interventions. As described by Bailey (2002), “ethnographic techniques are integral tools for galvanizing and mobilizing communities for social action relative to generating a promotion and disease prevention agenda.” (Bailey, 2002) This paper serves as a proposal to conduct a medical anthropology field work project to assess reinforcing and enabling factors that promote the use of early detection and preventative breast cancer screening services among African American women. The study design consists of a qualitative ethnographic approach utilizing observation and focus group methodology....
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