Fieldwork

Question 1

fieldwork

Answer 1

collecting data in the setting in which it occurs

Question 2

ethnographic fieldwork

Answer 2

collecting data on a cultural group

Question 3

participant observation definition

Answer 3

immersion in a culture; eat, play, and live with the group you are studying

Question 4

other methods of data collection

Answer 4

surveys/questionnaries, informal and formal interviews

Question 5

steps in conducting fieldwork

Answer 5

choose the location, look at past research (literature review), get funding, travel arrangements (government clearance), adjust to life in the field (culture shock)

Question 6

early works: positivist approach

Answer 6

world seen as a living laboratory and anthropologist as silent observer; cold, uninvolved ethnographies; inconsistent data collected

Question 7

participant observation

Answer 7

research method for learning about culture that involves living in a culture for an extended period while gathering data

Question 8

Bronislaw Malinowski

Answer 8

father of participant observation

Question 9

postmodernism (1970s)

Answer 9

ethnography as a dialogue, fieldwork seen as an experience, people-centered research

Question 10

current research

Answer 10

blend of two approaches, uses scientific measures

Question 11

dialectic of fieldwork

Answer 11

anthropological research as a dialogue, learning process for both research and informant

Question 12

multi-sited fieldwork

Answer 12

focus on an aspect of culture in a variety of areas (ethnology), often includes historical perspective

Question 13

possible problems of fieldwork

Answer 13

research topic changes in the field, anthropologist never becomes insider, culture shock, language issues, gender bias, friendship dilemmas, personal space