Methods in cultural anthropology

Culture shock

profoundness feeling of alienation, confusion, sadness, loneliness, stress, powerlessness, insecurity, one experiences when found in a foreign culture - things are not as expected - lasts several weeks or months - happens to everyone - does not happen to tourists - idealization of home culture - negative feelings against foreign culture

Collection of life histories of older members of the group

provide a long term view of the culture under study - culture remains same or changes

Participant observation

the signature method of ethnographic fieldwork ethnographer learns culture by living within it and by participating in the daily activities fo the group Ex. involved in farming Mozambique (southeast Africa) participates as horn blower in Ghanan (west Africa)

Verbal interaction

"hi, how are you? what are you doing today?" - what keeps people busy from day to day to casual unstructured informal conversation - what people feel, think to interviews that revolve around specific questions - interviews provide comparable and quantifiable data and reveal rules and exceptions - talk to as many people as possible

Emic approach

Describes and explains specific practices and ideas from the natives' perspective Ex. catches a cold- exposure to cold environment or cold liquid

Etic approach

Describes and explains these same practices and ideas from a scientific perspective Ex. catches a cold- exposure to germs

Approaches used by ethnographers in the context of cultural analysis:

Emic approach Etic approach

Problem oriented ethnography

Nowadays most ethnographers enter the field w/ a specific topic to investigate. Ex. lesbian relationships

Ethnology

comparative study of culture thru data collected by ethnographers; no fieldwork

Reverse culture shock

culture shock experienced by travelers upon returning to their home countries - opposite of Nostalgia (missing something)

Direct, first-hand observation

ethnographer tries to be in as many contexts as possible and observe what people do, what they say, how they interact w one another etc Ex. attending weddings

Ethnographic methods

experimental methods used to study the ethnicity or culture of a group

Taking notes

field journal- write down everything, from things that look very important to things that look trivial - try to be as accurate as possible Personal diary- write down how you feel

longitudinal research

long term study of a culture through repeat visits - often involves teamwork Ex. 4 Zambian (south central Africa) villages have been studied by a team of ethnographers for the last 60 years - documents culture change

Work with key cultural consultants

people who are experts on their culture or a particular aspect of local life can provide ethnographer with a trove of information

genealogical method

recording of relations by blood or by marriage - genealogical trees- family trees - incest taboo

Cultural anthropology

studies contemporary cultures around the world 1. Ethnography 2. Ethnology

Ethnography

study of specific culture through fieldwork - book that results from ethnographic fieldwork

ethnographic fieldwork

the ethnographer goes where the subject of his/her reside and spends w them a substantial amt of time (12 mo) considered the right of passage to the profession of cultural anthropology

The primary ethical responsibility of the ethnographer while in the field is:

to cause no harm to the community under study