Midterm 1 Study Guide

Question 1

Foreshadowed problems:

Answer 1

• Malinowski; having a notion of what you would like to accomplish in the field
• expectations from previous research
• being prepared for the research, but also being prepared for it to change

Question 2

Social situation

Answer 2

3 elements: place, actor, and activity

- where all participant observation takes place

Question 3

Place

Answer 3

• physical location

Question 4

Actors

Answer 4

• people who have certain roles

Question 5

3 ways of relating social situations:

Answer 5

• clusters
• networks
• and by similar activities

Question 6

Clusters of social situations

Answer 6

• close proximity or connected in space

Question 7

Network of social situations

Answer 7

• when the same group of people share difference activities

Question 8

Theoretical sampling

Answer 8

• Glaser and Strauss
• generation and elaboration of theory; selection of cases should be designed to produce as many categories and properties of categories either through minimizing or maximizing differences between cases
• awareness contexts of patients dying in hospital

Question 9

Cases and settings

Answer 9

Setting = context for research

• a setting may include many different cases and a case may extend beyond boundaries of a setting
• selecting setting basis foreshadowed problems
• setting may be determined before case
• Henslin decided to study homeless people, but covered various areas of the USA

Question 10

Sampling

Answer 10

• enhance our generalization by sampling according to time, people, and context

Question 11

Emic

Answer 11

• member identified category where the typifications are employed by members themselves

Question 12

Etic

Answer 12

• an observer identified category where observer creates the categories

Question 13

Sampling context

Answer 13

• Goffmans front and backstage

Question 14

Naturalism

Answer 14

• the social world should be studies in its ‘‘natural” state, undisturbed by the researcher
• the research should be carried out in a way that is sensitive to nature, an attitude of appreciation
• cannot truly understand things outside of the context in which they naturally exist

Question 15

Critiques of naturalism

Answer 15

• there is no such thing as value free research
• the world and its objects do not exist independently of the researcher
• researchers knowledge is not more objective or superior to those of the people researchers study
• there is also a problem with how the ethnographer may portray the social world

Question 16

Participant scrutiny

Answer 16

• may have to hang out in public spaces for extensive periods of time before the group grants you access
• participants may also test you to see whether or not you are legitimate before granting you access
• example Wolfs research in bikers

Question 17

Observer - identified people

Answer 17

• Etic methodology that allows the ethnographer to make their own categories through observation

Question 18

Backspace and front space

Answer 18

• Goffman

Question 19

Covert research

Answer 19

• entering the field by passing or
• deceiving the gatekeeper or sponsor or
• already participants in relevant context
• example Holdaway’s study and the police

Question 20

Overt research

Answer 20

• all information out in the open and all access is granted

- open about intentions in field and ensuring all members of the social group are aware of what is happening

Question 21

Natural settings

Answer 21

• tendency to see them as object if study seen from Chicago school and quote from Rick
• internally stable and relatively discrete, self contained groups, small scale faces to face societies and local collectivities
• A and H say that settings are not naturally occurring phenomena

Question 22

Complete participant

Answer 22

• covert work, identity completely concealed
• minimizes reactivity
• dramturgically tough
• if they find out it could be bad
• makes it harder to focus on doing anthropological work

Question 23

Participant reactivity

Answer 23

• can be based on misconceptions about your intentions and who you are
• den Hollander being a scout for rayon community
• may know about research and credentials and challenge researcher
• Kathleen Magee and police officer challenging her

Question 24

Managing marginality

Answer 24

• insider outside
• going observationalist vs going native
• if your participant becomes your friend you might not be doing research anymore
• sometimes it’s hard not to take on biases of your participants (example Kambonga (what call Asante in the north)

Question 25

Post- structuralism

Answer 25

• Derrida believes that ethnography is writing and all forms of writing are creative endeavours involving the use of rhetorical strategies

Question 26

Procedural objectivity

Answer 26

• standardization of procedures of data collection, which is intended to facilitate the achievement of measurements that are stable across observers
• argues for positivism
• priority to phenomena that are directly observable or that can be logically inferred from what is observable
  1. Physical science conceived in terms of logic of experiment
  2. Universal or statistical laws are the goal for science
  3. The foundation for science is observation

Question 27

Positivism

Answer 27

Logical positivism is an approach in philosophy of science, with an emphasis on the experiment
3 tenents:
1. Experiments are the defining feature of science
2. Universal/ statistical laws are the goal for science
3. Foundation for science is observations; gives priority to phenomena that is directly observable and uses procedural objectivity

Question 28

Member identified people

Answer 28

• emic
• identified by members themselves
  1 folk categories that are normally encapsulates in the situated vocabularies of a given culture
• example Gillombardo used labels that the prisoners use to categories themselves

Question 29

Realism

Answer 29

• realism applies to reflexivity because realism allows us to represent the social phenomena in some literal fashion
• reflexivity will help explain the cause of the fieldwork and the relationships within the field

Question 30

Complete observer

Answer 30

• has no contact with study subjects, also do not know you are there which minimizes reactivity
• makes it hard to generalize as it is hard to know why they do what they are doing because you are unable to communicate with them
• also hard to get their perspective on things
• the data set is more limited than what the complete participant role generates

Question 31

Chicago school

Answer 31

• rock

- issues seeing natural environment as object of study

Question 32

Vouchsafing

Answer 32

• used as leverage for establishing new relationships
• use vouchsafing as a way to establish networks and exploit relationships
• cassel’s work on surgeons allows her to get access into the hospital because her ex- husband wis a surgeon.

Question 33

Gatekeepers

Answer 33

• people that will either deny or grant you access into more restricted or private settings
• can be multiple
• censor fieldwork
• Sampson (captain va owner of the ship)

Question 34

Obstructive and facilitating relationships

Answer 34

• researcher has to be careful who vouchsafed for you
• Berremans = Himalayas and wholesaler
• rainbird good example

Question 35

Passing

Answer 35

• clothing, language, and what kind of part you want to look
• passing and participating can be you look like you agree with what their opinions are

Question 36

Civil inattention

Answer 36

• Goffman

- intently watching people likely conspicuous

Question 37

Penetrating informants fronts

Answer 37

• Hoffman uses accounts of how personal networks can be used, while drawing attention to relationships between problems of access and quality of data
• select informants based on social ties

Question 38

Politics of ethnography

Answer 38

• research affected by researchers values

- ethnography concerned with bringing about change; emancipatory