Anthropologists in the Field

Anthropologists in the Field
Author: Lynne Hume
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2004
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0231130058

An excellent introduction to real-world ethnography, this book covers short- and long-term participant observation and ethnographic interviewing and uses diverse cultures as cases.

Being Ethnographic

Being Ethnographic
Author: Raymond Madden
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2010-04-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1446241467

Full of practical 'how to' tips for applying theoretical methods - 'doing ethnography' - this book also provides anecdotal evidence and advice for new and experienced researchers on how to engage with their own participation in the field - 'being ethnographic'. The book clearly sets out the important definitions, methods and applications of field research whilst reinforcing the infinite variability of the human subject and addressing the challenges presented by ethnographers' own passions, intellectual interests, biases and ideologies. Classic and personal real-world case studies are used by the author to introduce new researchers to the reality of applying ethnographic theory and practice in the field. Topics include: - Talking to People: negotiations, conversations & interviews - Being with People: participation - Looking at People: observations & images - Description: writing 'down' field notes - Analysis to Interpretation: writing 'out' data - Interpretation to Story: writing 'up' ethnography Clear, engaging and original this book provides invaluable advice as well as practical tools and study aids for those engaged in ethnographic research.

Constructing the Field

Constructing the Field
Author: Vered Amit
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2003-12-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134640676

Ethnographic fieldwork is traditionally seen as what distinguishes social and cultural anthropology from the other social sciences. This collection responds to the inte nsifying scrutiny of fieldwork in recent years. It challenges the idea of the necessity for the total immersion of the ethnographer in the field, and for the clear separation of professional and personal areas of activity. The very existence of 'the field' as an entity separate from everyday life is questioned. Fresh perspectives on contemporary fieldwork are provided by diverse case-studies from across North America and Europe. These contributions give a thorough appraisal of what fieldwork is and should be, and an extra dimension is added through fascinating accounts of the personal experiences of anthropologists in the field.

Ethnography as Risky Business

Ethnography as Risky Business
Author: Kees Koonings
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2019-04-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1498598447

Ethnography as Risky Business: Field Research in Violent and Sensitive Contexts offers a hands-on, critical appraisal of how to approach ethnographic fieldwork on socio-political conflict and collective violence, focusing on the global south. The volume’s contributions are all based on extensive firsthand qualitative social science research conducted in sensitive--and often hazardous--field settings. The contributors reflect on real-life methodological problems as well as the ethical and personal challenges such as the protection of participants, research data and the ‘ethnographic self’. In particular, the authors highlight how ‘risky ethnography’ requires careful maneuvering before, during, and after fieldwork on the basis of a ‘situated’ ethics, yet also point to the rewards of such an endeavor. If these methodological, ethical and personal risks are managed adequately, the yields in terms of generating a deep understanding of, and critical engagement with, conflict and violence may be substantial.

Dispatches from the Field

Dispatches from the Field
Author: Andrew Gardner
Publisher: Waveland Press
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2006-04-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1478608730

Penned by advanced graduate students amidst their dissertation fieldwork, these provocative essays capture the challenges and intricacies of that anthropological rite of passage. The collections authors frankly portray the mistakes they made in the field, their struggle to analyze the events unfolding before their eyes, the psychological and emotional frustration seemingly endemic to doing ethnography, and the ethical complexities of researching living people. The authors present these essays not as models of ideal fieldwork or as a series of lessons about how to overcome potential hurdles one faces in the field, but rather as a window into the complexities of being an ethnographer in the contemporary world. Against a backdrop of subject populations increasingly informed about global relations of power and, more specifically, informed about the topography of American imperialism, these humanistic essays vividly reflect recent shifts in both the focus and methods of anthropological research, as well as the dilemmas underlying the construction of anthropological knowledge. They are meant to spark discussion and debate. While tailored to an audience relatively new to ethnographic fieldwork (and intended as a teaching tool), this collection should appeal to anthropologists and ethnographers at all points in their career.

Tales of the Field

Tales of the Field
Author: John Van Maanen
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2011-07
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0226849643

Once upon a time ethnographers returning from the field simply sat down, shuffled their note cards, and wrote up their descriptions of the exotic and quaint customs they had observed. Today scholars in all disciplines are realizing how their research is presented is at least as important as what is presented. Questions of voice, style, and audience--the classic issues of rhetoric--have come to the forefront in academic circles. John Van Maanen, an experienced ethnographer of modern organizational structures, is one who believes that the real work begins when he returns to his office with cartons of notes and tapes. In Tales of the Field he offers readers a survey of the narrative conventions associated with writing about culture and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of various styles. He introduces first the matter-of-fact, realistic report of classical ethnography, then the self-absorbed confessional tale of the participant-observer, and finally the dramatic vignette of the new impressionistic style. He also considers, more briefly, literary tales, jointly told tales, and the theoretically focused formal and critical tales. Van Maanen illustrates his discussion of each style with excerpts from his own work on the police. Tales of the Field offers an informal, readable, and lighthearted treatment of the rhetorical devices used to present the results of fieldwork. Though Van Maanen argues ultimately for the validity of revealing the self while representing a culture, he is sensitive to the differing methods and aims of sociology and anthropology. His goal is not to establish one true way to write ethnography, but rather to make ethnographers of all varieties examine their assumptions about what constitutes a truthful cultural portrait and select consciously and carefully the voice most appropriate for their tales. Written with grace and humor, Tales of the Field will be an invaluable introduction to novices just learning the fieldwork trade and provocative stimulant to veteran ethnographers. "Engaging and well written."--H. Ottenheimer, Choice

The Ethnographic Self

The Ethnographic Self
Author: Amanda Coffey
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 196
Release: 1999-05-10
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9780761952671

"What are the relationships between the self and fieldwork? How do personal, emotional and identity issues impact on fieldwork?" "The Ethnographic Self argues that ethnographers and others involved in research in the field should be aware of how fieldwork affects the researcher, and how the researcher affects the field. Coffey synthesizes accounts of the personal experience of ethnography, and aims to make sense of the process of fieldwork research as a set of practical, intellectual and emotional accomplishments. The book is thematically arranged and illustrated with a wide range of empirical material. The author examines the ethnographic presence in the field, and the implications of this in and beyond fieldwork, exploring issues such as the creation of the ethnographic self, and the embodiment and sexualization of the field and self." "The Ethnographic Self will be of interest to anyone working in the area of qualitative research, but especially for sociologists, and educational and health researchers."--BOOK JACKET.

Applied Ethnography

Applied Ethnography
Author: Pertti J Pelto
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2016-06-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1315434687

This comprehensive, engaging guide to applied research distills the expertise of the distinguished ethnographer and methodologist Pertti Pelto over his acclaimed 50-year career. Having written the first major text promoting mixed qualitative and quantitative methods in applied ethnography in the 1970s, Pelto now synthesizes decades of innovation, including examples from around the world that illustrate how specific methods yield immediate results for addressing social problems. Ideal for researchers, students, training programs, and technical assistance projects, this thorough text covers the key topics and skills required: gaining entry, recording and organizing field data, a host of specialized techniques, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods, building and training research teams, rapid assessment and focused ethnographic studies, short- and long-term ethnography, writing up results, non-Western perspectives on research, and more.

In the Field

In the Field
Author: Prof. George Gmelch
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2018-05-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0520964217

This book offers an invaluable look at what cultural anthropologists do when they are in the field. Through fascinating and often entertaining accounts of their lives and work in varied cultural settings, the authors describe the many forms fieldwork can take, the kinds of questions anthropologists ask, and the common problems they encounter. From these accounts and the experiences of the student field workers the authors have mentored over the years, In the Field makes a powerful case for the value of the anthropological approach to knowledge.

Fieldwork Is Not What It Used to Be

Fieldwork Is Not What It Used to Be
Author: James D. Faubion
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2011-10-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0801463580

Over the past two decades anthropologists have been challenged to rethink the nature of ethnographic research, the meaning of fieldwork, and the role of ethnographers. Ethnographic fieldwork has cultural, social, and political ramifications that have been much discussed and acted upon, but the training of ethnographers still follows a very traditional pattern; this volume engages and takes its point of departure in the experiences of ethnographers-in-the-making that encourage alternative models for professional training in fieldwork and its intellectual contexts. The work done by contributors to Fieldwork Is Not What It Used to Be articulates, at the strategic point of career-making research, features of this transformation in progress. Setting aside traditional anxieties about ethnographic authority, the authors revisit fieldwork with fresh initiative. In search of better understandings of the contemporary research process itself, they assess the current terms of the engagement of fieldworkers with their subjects, address the constructive, open-ended forms by which the conclusions of fieldwork might take shape, and offer an accurate and useful description of what it means to become—and to be—an anthropologist today.