W1C3: Fieldwork Flashcards
Definition of participant observation:
Participant observation is a research technique in which the anthropologist tries to observe everyday activities of the researched people and to ask open questions about those activities, while taking part in those activities in a way that disturbs the normal flow of events the least.
Also described as formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose (Hurston), or “deep hanging out”
Strength of participant observation:
- Observing routines that are difficult to describe
- Hearing the use of terms in context
- Seeing social organization in action
- Building trust to prepare for interviews
- Seeing discrepancies between what people say they do and actually do
Etnograpgic fieldwork is more than participant observation
can also take the form of open interviews (ideally conducted at a place that is meaningful for the respondent), walk-along interviews, photo elicitation, the drawing of mental maps, and so forth.
How does fieldwork work?
- The researcher is normally required to spend around a year. Many do shorter fieldwork, but many also return to the field several times, often spanning decades altogether’ (Eriksen 2023: 5).
- People have to get used to the researcher: ‘anthropologists ought to stay in the field long enough for their presence to be considered more or less “natural” by the permanent residents, the informants, although they will always to some extent remain strangers’ (Eriksen 2023: 33).
- Things happen over a year
Rural areas: activities change with the seasons (agricultural areas), but also in cities: traffic jams, religious festivals. - Inventor of modern day fieldwork: Malinowski, first in a systematic way
How do you do fieldwork?
- Many anthropologists involuntarily take on the role of the clown:
Less threatening, start to get a sense of culture when there are cultural miscommunications - Sometimes anthropologists take on the role of expert, can be problematic because of the deference and respect by their hosts
- One can feel helpless, it can also be challenging to adapt to societies where being alone is considered pitiful or a pathological condition
Fieldwork requires rapport:
Making contact, reaching someone. Crucial part is to try to diminish the distance between your interlocutor and yourself, speaking local language, adjusting to local situations
Immerse oneself into the life of the locals and tries not to be noticed, so that they can carry on with their own lives as usual. Like a chameleon
Important to account for positionality:
- Your background has an enormous influence on the research you do. Participant observation is by definition subjective
- ‘the anthropologist him- or herself is the most important “scientific instrument” used, investing a great deal of his or her own personality in the process. The gender, age, “race” and class of the anthropologist inadvertently influences the experience of fieldwork’ (Eriksen 2023: 35).
- But also: personality. No good or bad personalities, but good and worse matches. For example: being assertive
Weaknesses of ethnographic research:
- Takes a lot of time
- Cannot be a representative sample of the people you’re researching
It cannot be a random sample. No solution for this
Criteria for good research:
- Objectivity?
Is impossible, because you always put some of yourself in.
People you’re researching will react differently to different persons (with different backgrounds, personality, gender)
We cannot reach it, we cannot aim for it. We don’t bother with it - Large numbers?
Would be nice, if you can hang out with more people
But: what we do is so time consuming, so you cannot really get large numbers. - Rapport
Have you established a good relationship with the people you’re doing research with? Is there trust? - Reflexivity
Reflecting on how the fieldwork is done, did I establish rapport, but also on own background (positionality) - Ethnographic depth (thick description)
In itself, the description needs to be ‘thick’, rich descriptions of what happened
Informed consent:
The ethical guidelines of the professional associations nonetheless state in no uncertain terms that it is unethical not to inform your hosts what you are up to’ (Eriksen 2023: 35)
But: presupposes that your interlocutors know what they’re saying yes to, and that they’re autonomous
Ethical dilemmas
- Informed consent vs fly on the wall
- Personal involvement
- Ambivalent relationship with interlocutors
- Inequality in power vis-a-vis your interlocutors
- Local conflicts
Critique on fieldwork:
- Doing fieldwork at home can lead to homeblindness: taking too much for granted. Requires training.
- Monographs can have an influence on local societies itself. It will be read by the locals and thus become part of the social reality of the informants
- The writing itself will have a lot of influence on the text. Anthropological writings are shaped by the literary style, rhetoric and historical period. You therefore should be mindful of writing and reading texts.,
There is a difference between description and analysis:
- Description is usually close to the native conceptualisation of the world. Major challenge is the translation of native concepts into the anthropologists working language, quotes can help (emic)
- Analysis is about connecting the society to other societies on a theoretical level, using comparative terms (etic).
