SOC

Introduction to Methods in Cultural Anthropology

In this topic, you will explore how anthropologists conduct research with a special focus on ethics in anthropology. You will also have an opportunity to develop your own research proposal in Activity 1.

Please note that you have 5 Activities due in this class ( If you are taking the class as the 8 week option you have 3 activities and if you are taking the class as a 12 week option you have four activities). Please note that no matter what option you are taking, you do end up doing all the work of the acitivies but in a different format). Due dates for the activities are noted on the When Assignments are Due page. Be sure to allow adequate time to complete. Please review all the assignments now and make plans in your schedule to work on them. These assignments are meant to help you learn the material as well as give you an opportunity to show what you are learning beyond just quizzes and exams.

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Objectives

After completing the learning activities for this topic, you will be able to:

List, define, and apply the steps in conducting fieldwork.

Describe and cite examples of data-gathering techniques.

Analyze the nature of ethical dilemmas in anthropological field work.

Click on the image below to view a photo gallery.

How Anthropologists Do Research -- The Importance of Ethics

Written by Dr. Katherine R. Rowell, Professor of Sociology, Sinclair Community College

Your textbook discusses the 5 steps of conducting anthropological research or fieldwork. I typically add another step in the beginning known as preparation. Thus, there are six steps to conducting anthropological fieldwork. In fact, the first step, preparation, is important for anyone visiting another culture or working with people from another culture.

Step 1: Preparation

Preparing to conduct research on a different culture or visit another culture can be time consuming. One of the most important issues is geographical location of the culture you plan to visit or study. There are funding issues, health precautions (shots and medications), governmental permissions (visas and passports), language issues (Do you have an interpreter? or Do you know the language?), Personal affairs (Who is going to pay your bills? Feed your cat?), Packing issues (How much are you allowed to take? What items are a necessity?) and finally, do you have an informant and a site to do research? (Someone within that culture to help you with your research or help you on your visit). These issues take a lot of time to work out and are an important first step.

Step 2: Selecting a Research Problem

In the past the goal of anthropological research was to describe a culture in as much detail as possible (ethnography). Today, the research is typically problem based. For example, when I went to Botswana, Swaziland, and South Africa my goal was to understand the AIDS crisis and compare approaches to reducing HIV/AIDS in these countries. Often times the research question is theory driven. We will cover theories in week 3.

Step 3: Formulating a Research Design

While there are both deductive and inductive means to conducting research, your textbook presents the deductive hypothesis testing model. Thus, you should decide what hypothesis you are going to test and what variables you are going to examine. Your textbook uses a study of Kenya to help you understand this step, and I will use my own example to further help you understand.

In my AIDS examination, I hypothesized that gender impacted the ways in which a culture developed programs to prevent HIV/AIDS and specifically the messages they sent about HIV prevention. Thus, in this statement gender is the independent variable. I believe that it might cause differences in HIV/AIDS programming.

The next step was to define how I planned to measure or study these two variables. I decided to focus on billboards and written messages to the public about HIV/AIDS programming as my dependent variable. I took photos of every billboard and collected every brochure I could find trying to prevent HIV/AIDS. I then compared the messages about men and women in each. Some messages were gender neutral and others were geared towards men and women. I coded these based on positive and negative images. Here are some examples.

Step 4 Collect Data

There are numerous ways to collect data. In my AIDS example, I mostly collected pictures and brochures. I did some interviewing but did not do participant observation. In part, the way you collect data really depends on your research question, the amount of time and funds you have to conduct research, and the culture you are studying.

Participant observation is a common method used by anthropologists. However this method can be very time consuming. There are many advantages of this method and disadvantages. They are presented in a chart on page 103.

Interviewing is another method. Again, there are different ways of conducting interviews. There is a table on page 106 that presents steps.

Other methods of collecting data include census taking, mapping, document analysis (this is the method I used in the AIDS research), collecting genealogies, photography, and socio-metric tracking. All the methods have issues of validity and reliability.

Reliable research is research that can be tested by others. If they find similar results the research was reliable.

Validity is a little more difficult. Validity is whether you discovered the real truth or the entire story. There are multiple ways to check for validity. The reliability and validity issue is best demonstrated by the IQ test. The IQ test is a very reliable measure. You can take it today and six months from now and basically your score will be the same. Thus, it is rather reliable. However, the question of validity is a different question. Is it really measuring intelligence? Is it a valid measure of intelligence? Some would say yes and others no.

You can use multiple data gathering techniques to see if you find similar results. No matter what we know people change their behavior when they are being studied, and good anthropological research takes time and use of good techniques.

Your textbook does discuss a new method called rapid ethnographic assessment. What do you think about this method? How long does it really take to understand a problem in another culture? Just something to think about.

Step 5: Analyzing the Data

This is where you look at all the data you have collected in Step 4. I had to code all the pictures by day and location including the country and whether or not it was in a rural or urban location. I did the same with the brochures. I also went back and coded the few interviews that I conducted.

Step 6: Interpreting the Data

Depending on your research question, you will look back at your hypothesis to see if you were correct or you may come up with ideas for solutions to problems. In my AIDS work, I discovered that there were gender differences in how the issue of HIV/AIDS was being discussed in the countries. However, there was a big difference in urban and rural areas. Overall, I did discover that the cultural lens of gender does play a role in how HIV/AIDS education and programming is discussed and presented in all three countries. Although there were differences in all three countries. I then used this research and compared it to some of the theories and presented several sessions on the issues facing women in sub-Saharan Africa. You can read more about the AIDS crisis by going to United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.

While most of you will not have the opportunity to conduct anthropological research, you may have the opportunity to visit another country. Culture shock is something that many people face. (See page 112 for a table that lists the symptoms of culture shock.)

I have been fortunate in that I have not really been faced with serious culture shock. In part this may be due to my training as a sociologist, or it may be due to the fact that I am part of a subculture in the United States known as Appalachians. I have found many cultures share some of the subcultural values that I have. Although, using a pit toilet numerous times in my life did not prepare me for trying to stand over a hole on a moving train!!!!

Working in another culture, visiting another culture, or just making friends with people from a different culture can often result in the development of a bicultural perspective. This is the ability to view the world through two or more cultures at one time.

Of all the important points in conducting researching on other cultures, ethics is of utmost importance. In the past, anthropologists probably harmed numerous cultures and changed them. One such example is Project Camelot as discussed in your textbook. You will want to be sure to read over the ethics section in Chapter 3(if you have the 10th edition of this book). If you do not have the 10th edition of this book, the ethics section is still in Chapter 5.

Anthropologists have major areas of responsibility when working with other cultures. Of utmost importance is not to cause physical or psychological harm to those being studied. Participation should always be voluntary and participants should know they are being studied. They have the right to informed consent. (Be sure to review the list presented in your textbook.)

In conclusion, much of what you will learn in your other courses and in your major about other cultures and how to work for other cultures is from anthropological research. Medical anthropology is a huge discipline. Many of our medications come from indigenous people and so called "primitive cultures." In math education there is a field known as ethnomathematics where they study how different cultures learn mathematical concepts. There are numerous books on how to conduct business in other cultures. The list goes on and on.

Anthropological research plays an important role in helping you learn how to interact with others who are different from you.

You will find that anthropologists don't give you the "lists" of how to work with people who are different from you. Because of ideal versus real culture, subcultures, and the fact that all individuals are different, these lists can be problematic. For example, although I am Appalachian, I have lived outside that community for a long time and have adapted new acceptable norms. If you are given lists on how to treat people from different cultures, always keep in mind that the lists may not be totally accurate.