Anthropological Fieldwork
Heidi O’Dell
ANTH 1023 Semester 1
David Otten
Anthropological Fieldwork Reducing Ethnocentrism
Anthropological fieldwork is when an anthropologist spends an extended length of time living with a specific group of people and studying their culture. During this period, the anthropologist will engage themselves in the lives and daily practices of the natives of whichever culture they are studying(Koziol 2015). In comparison to fieldwork in other disciplines such as journalism, anthropological fieldwork is more hands-on. Journalists typically just interview a few people, as opposed to anthropologists who will interview a bigger variety of people so they can get a fuller grasp on the culture. Anthropologists will also immerse themselves into the …show more content…
The book defines this as a fieldwork technique that involves gathering cultural data by observing people’s behavior and participation in their lives. For example, if an anthropologist were to come and observe the culture in the south, they might find themselves at a football game either participating or closely following the life of one of the players. They would collect and record as much data as they could in an attempt to accurately depict the culture. Other techniques involve interviewing members of the culture with closed and open questions, building a relationship within the community, and using key-informants. The goal of doing these things is to build rapport and to gain high-quality qualitative data to help the anthropologist gain a better understanding of the culture. In order for fieldwork to be successful, when an anthropologists goes to a place to learn their culture, it is critical that they try to distance themselves from their own cultures in order to avoid being …show more content…
Some people might read that and think the Natives were very bizarre. However, if you put it in a different context, it does not seem as unordinary. For example, the hog hair and magic powder is synonymous with the brushing of teeth. The men scraping their faces is like men shaving every morning. The women cooking their heads could be viewed as them blow-drying their hair. Personal shrines could also be called bathrooms. When put in different context, one can tell that these once seemingly out-worldly rituals are actually American rituals painted in a different
ANTH 1023 Semester 1
David Otten
Anthropological Fieldwork Reducing Ethnocentrism
Anthropological fieldwork is when an anthropologist spends an extended length of time living with a specific group of people and studying their culture. During this period, the anthropologist will engage themselves in the lives and daily practices of the natives of whichever culture they are studying(Koziol 2015). In comparison to fieldwork in other disciplines such as journalism, anthropological fieldwork is more hands-on. Journalists typically just interview a few people, as opposed to anthropologists who will interview a bigger variety of people so they can get a fuller grasp on the culture. Anthropologists will also immerse themselves into the …show more content…
The book defines this as a fieldwork technique that involves gathering cultural data by observing people’s behavior and participation in their lives. For example, if an anthropologist were to come and observe the culture in the south, they might find themselves at a football game either participating or closely following the life of one of the players. They would collect and record as much data as they could in an attempt to accurately depict the culture. Other techniques involve interviewing members of the culture with closed and open questions, building a relationship within the community, and using key-informants. The goal of doing these things is to build rapport and to gain high-quality qualitative data to help the anthropologist gain a better understanding of the culture. In order for fieldwork to be successful, when an anthropologists goes to a place to learn their culture, it is critical that they try to distance themselves from their own cultures in order to avoid being …show more content…
Some people might read that and think the Natives were very bizarre. However, if you put it in a different context, it does not seem as unordinary. For example, the hog hair and magic powder is synonymous with the brushing of teeth. The men scraping their faces is like men shaving every morning. The women cooking their heads could be viewed as them blow-drying their hair. Personal shrines could also be called bathrooms. When put in different context, one can tell that these once seemingly out-worldly rituals are actually American rituals painted in a different