Ethnographic Research Paper: French Culture
Ethnographic Research Paper: French Culture
A common saying goes like this, "You cannot judge a book by its cover." This saying may have many meanings, but to a social and cultural anthropologist, it signifies that no-one should pre-judge others on their values, beliefs and interests just by their appearance. In order to understand and be familiar with a culture, one has to perform a series of ethnographic research from fieldwork, participant observation, ethnology to something as accessible as interviewing someone in your community. From this, you can unearth what influences people's personalities and beliefs, which may involve a mixture of their culture, family values and personal beliefs. I have done an ethnographic study by interviewing my co-worker, Laurent, whom does not mind having his identity revealed. In my study, I will research schooling along with the role of children, corporate bureaucracies and the overall values of the French through interviewing Laurent and how he was brought up in France. Laurent is currently 34 years old. He was born and raised in Paris, France. When he turned 18, he then moved to Tahiti for two years to fulfill mandatory military training rather than fulfilling it in France. At 20, he moved back to France to attend a university for 4 years and after he graduated, he worked for Air France until he was 27. At 27, he moved back to Tahiti for 5 years, until 2002 when he moved to San Francisco, California. He recently moved to Alameda, California where he lives with his wife and newborn son today. France is an industrialized European country that is known as being a "western society" and has had a big influence on other Western societies like the United States. Although it is similar to our culture, it is none-the-less important to learn about a variety of societies in order to understand how each intertwine and are affected by another. According to my textbook by Haviland, "anthropology developed and its practitioners found that
A common saying goes like this, "You cannot judge a book by its cover." This saying may have many meanings, but to a social and cultural anthropologist, it signifies that no-one should pre-judge others on their values, beliefs and interests just by their appearance. In order to understand and be familiar with a culture, one has to perform a series of ethnographic research from fieldwork, participant observation, ethnology to something as accessible as interviewing someone in your community. From this, you can unearth what influences people's personalities and beliefs, which may involve a mixture of their culture, family values and personal beliefs. I have done an ethnographic study by interviewing my co-worker, Laurent, whom does not mind having his identity revealed. In my study, I will research schooling along with the role of children, corporate bureaucracies and the overall values of the French through interviewing Laurent and how he was brought up in France. Laurent is currently 34 years old. He was born and raised in Paris, France. When he turned 18, he then moved to Tahiti for two years to fulfill mandatory military training rather than fulfilling it in France. At 20, he moved back to France to attend a university for 4 years and after he graduated, he worked for Air France until he was 27. At 27, he moved back to Tahiti for 5 years, until 2002 when he moved to San Francisco, California. He recently moved to Alameda, California where he lives with his wife and newborn son today. France is an industrialized European country that is known as being a "western society" and has had a big influence on other Western societies like the United States. Although it is similar to our culture, it is none-the-less important to learn about a variety of societies in order to understand how each intertwine and are affected by another. According to my textbook by Haviland, "anthropology developed and its practitioners found that