Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Spring 2012

2.3 Methods, Writing, and Ethics

Interviewing: The Most Important Methods for Gathering Data in Anthropology

Genealogical Method

Basic information gathered through demographic survey.

Construct “family trees” to map out social relationships.

Provides basis for understanding social and political organization in non-industrial societies (see Chagnon, Evans-

Pritchard).

Surveys

Same question asked of everybody. Answers can be quantified.

How old are you? How many years of school did you attend?

Do you consider yourself a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or Other? On a scale of 1 to 5 (one being very

good, 5 being very poor), how would you rate your health?

- Face-to-face, telephone, self-administeredo Can be very challenging to track people down in the field when they aren’t busy

- Paradigm shift in rural economy can be shown through survey data (longitudinal data)

Statistical Data from Surveys

Contextual background information.

Snapshot of present (cross-sectional data).

Change over time (longitudinal data).

Reveals more about what is happening than about why it is happening.

In-depth interviewing

Key Cultural Consultants (“Key Informants”)

Somebody with especially good knowledge about a particular aspect of life.

Interviewed in-depth and repeatedly.

Semi-Structured Interviewing

Use of an “interview schedule”. Everybody asked same questions.

Asking same questions facilitates comparison (e.g., differences by gender? By age? By wealth?)

Guided yet flexible. People express answers in own terms. Tangents are sometimes important.

Person-Centered Interviewing

Informant: interviewee as expert witness (key informant/key cultural consultant).

Conveys information about generally held cultural ideals, beliefs, and practices.

Respondent: interviewee as object of study.

Conveys information on what they actually do in certain circumstances.

Cultural Domain

A set of items that are generally accepted as being of the same type.

Cultural domains = perceptions, not preferences.

Can consist of physical, observable things (plants, colors, animals, illness symptoms).

Can consist of conceptual things (occupations, roles, emotions).

A cultural domain has internal structure; items can be directly compared/contrasted.

Cultural Domain Analysis

Combination of survey and in-depth interviewing techniques.

The goal is to determine what items constitute a cultural domain. What attributes and relations structure the

domain. How items are positioned relative to each other in the domain.

Fact or Fiction (Benedict)

Process of Writing Ethnography

How do you move from data collection to ethnographic writing?

Write in third person (objective detachment)? Write in first person (subjective interpretation)?

How to make the ethnographic account interesting to readers?

Do you need to sacrifice objective truth in order to write compelling ethnography?

Is ethnography fiction? Changing names, composite characters, inventing transitions, reorganizing narratives.

Is the information people give you (e.g., in interviews) even accurate?

Writing Conventions in Anthropology

Establishing Reliability: How long did ethnographer spend “in the field”?

Correlation between intimate data and length in residence.

Fieldwork longevity enhances credibility.

Establishing Reliability: Writing in the first person.

Being a first-hand witness bolsters the credibility of the author’s account.

Establishing Reliability: Does the ethnographer actually speak the language? How well?

Language proficiency is key to getting good data and insider’s perspective.

Convey linguistic proficiency by using local terms.

Establishing Reliability: How well did author establish rapport with the people?

Good data contingent on good rapport.

Points to Ponder

An ethnography is not merely a neutral, value free description of another society.

Ethnographic data can be very subjective.

Through writing conventions an ethnographer positions him/herself to establish authority, and to assert that the

account is reliable.

Moral Dilemmas and Ethical Controversies (Kirsch)

Contrasting stories of vengeance:

Father-in-law refrains from killing the man accused of killing his family members.

New Guinea man organizes attack to avenge killing of his uncle.

Conclusion: state suppresses desire for revenge; no such constraints exist in non-state societies.

Scholarly Criticism

Numerous inaccuracies.

Using single anecdote to generalize about everyone in a country (New Guinea) and, by extension, all members of

non-state societies.

Kirsch’s counter-examples

Ethical Criticism

Diamond either fabricated data or misused data in order to construct a compelling account that justified his theory.

Diamond published names of people involved in violent acts thereby exposing them to possible retaliation and criminal charges.

Points to Ponder

Nowadays one must assume that research publications will be read by research subjects.

Can any ethnographic account (reconstructed conversations, composite characters, selective use of narratives)

stand up to the scrutiny of such an investigation?

Ethics in Anthropology

The Dual Engagement

Personal: need to get along with people (anthropology involves social interaction).

Professional: need as much info out of people as possible (your career depends on it!)

Brokerage

Outside interest groups (govts, development agencies) may want your information.

How to decide when or when not to share data? Different agendas? Are their interests benign? Will they interpret

and use the information in a proper manner?

Impacts of Publishing

How will your publications influence the way others perceive the subjects of study?

Chagnon’s “Yanomamö: The Fierce People”. Diamond’s “Vengeance Is Ours”.

Reciprocity

Careers built on studying peoples who are often poor and marginalized. Ethical obligation to give back.

Advocacy/Involvement

Under what conditions should one be permitted to intervene in local affairs or act on behalf of the society that you

are studying?