Window on Humanity Conrad Kottak Third Edition Chapter 2 Ethics and Methods © 2008 McGraw-Hill...

Window on HumanityConrad Kottak

Third Edition

Chapter 2Ethics and Methods

© 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Overview

• Anthropological ethics• Research methods in anthropology– Multidisciplinary research in biological and

archaeological anthropology– Ethnographic techniques– Survey research


Ethics and Methods

• Ethics and anthropology– Proper relations with host nations, regions, and

communities– AAA Code of Ethics• Informed consent• Collaborative relationships• Inclusion of host country colleagues in planning,

funding requests, and dissemination of results• “Giving something back”


What would you do? Ethical Dilemmas

1. Pseudonyms or real names? 2. In the case of Malpractice3. To medicate or not to medicate? 4. Granddaughter or Researcher?


Multidisciplinary Approaches to Anthropology and Archaeology

• There are all sorts of specialized research interests topics and methods within physical anthropology and archaeology

• Scientists from diverse fields collaborate with anthropologists in the study of sites where fossils or artifacts have been found.


Palynology

• study of ancient plants through pollen samples

• Determine sites environment at the time of occupation


Bioarchaeology• Study of human skeletons to reconstruct

physical traits, health status, diet• Look for evidence of social status, diet,

genetic differences


Remote sensing (e.g., aerial photos, satellite imagery)

• Used to locate archaeological features as well as patterns of flooding and deforestation, with can then be examined on the ground

• Try to find footbaths, roads, canals, irrigation systems


Primatology– Study of primates (apes, monkeys, lemurs) in zoos

and natural settings– Data on primate social systems and behavior– Hypotheses about behavior that humans do or do

not share with other primates and hominid ancestors


Anthropometry• Measurement of human body parts and

dimensions• Body mass and composition indicate

nutritional status in living people


Bone biology– Study of bone genetics; cell structure; growth,

development, and decay; patterns of movement– Paleopathology – study of disease and injury in skeletons

from archaeological sites– Forensic anthropology – recovery, analysis, and

identification of human remains in legal contexts


Molecular anthropology

• Genetic analyses to assess evolutionary relationships• Ancient and contemporary populations, species• Reconstruction of migration and settlement


Paleoanthropology

• Study of early hominids through fossil remains


Research methods in physical anthropology and

archaeology


Two Basic Field Work Strategies

1. Systematic survey– Gathers information on settlement patterns*

(distribution of sites) over large areas– Researchers record the location, size, and

approximate age of sites– Questions they ask: • Where are sites located? How bid are they? What

kinds of buildings? How old are the sites?

*Distribution of sites within a region


Two Basic Field Work Strategies

2. Excavation– Scientists recover remains by digging through

layers of deposits– Sites are only excavated because they are

endangered, or to answer specific research questions – WHY?


Kinds of archaeology

• Experimental archaeology – replication of ancient techniques and processes – (e.g., tool making)

• Historical archaeology – use of written records (when available) as guides and supplements to archaeological research

• Classical archaeology – study of the literate civilizations of the Old World – (e.g., Greece, Rome, Egypt)

• Underwater archaeology – investigation of submerged sites – (e.g., shipwrecks)


Dating the past• Relative dating techniques– Provides a time frame IN RELATION to other strata or

materials– Not absolute dates in numbers– Stratigraphy – science that

examines the accumulation of sediments in layers (strata)

– Principle of superposition


Dating the past

• Absolute dating techniques– More precise dating of artifacts and fossils– Dates in numbers– Radiometric techniques – based on known rates

of radioactive decay of elements– Examples:

• Carbon-14 (14C)• Potassium-argon (K/A)• Uranium series (238U)• Thermoluminescence (TL)• Electron spin resonance (ESR)


Understanding Geological Time

• Answer the questions as you navigate through Understanding Geological Time.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/explorations/

tours/geotime/gtpage1.html


Research methods in cultural anthropology

– Cultural anthropology and sociology• Share interest in social relations, organization, and

behavior• Sociology traditionally focused on large, industrialized

Western nations– Questionnaires, collection of masses of quantifiable data– Reliance on sampling and statistical techniques

• Anthropology traditionally focused on small, nonliterate populations– Ethnographic techniques


Ethnography

• Firsthand, personal study of local cultural settings

• Extended period of time in a given society or community

• Holistic approach – attempt to understand the totality of a particular culture


Observation and participant observation

• Awareness and recording of details from daily events

• Establishment of rapport with hosts• Participant observation – taking part in the

activities being observed


Conversation, interviewing, and interview schedules

• Various types of ethnographic interviews– Undirected conversation– Open-ended interviews focusing on specific topics– Formal interviews using a predetermined schedule

of questions


The genealogical method

• Procedures used to discover and record connections of kinship, descent, and marriage

• Genealogy essential to social organization of nonindustrial societies

• Genealogical data help anthropologists understand current social relations and reconstruct history


Key cultural consultants (key informants)

• Key cultural consultants (key informants) – people who can provide the most complete or useful information about particular aspects of life


Life histories

• Reveal how specific people perceive, react to, and contribute to changes that affect their lives

• Illustrate diversity within a given community


Local beliefs and perceptions versus those of the ethnographer

• Emic (native-oriented) approach– How local people perceive and categorize the

world – what is meaningful to them– Emic perspective provided by cultural consultants

(informants)

• Etic (science-oriented) approach– Emphasizes categories, explanations, and

interpretations the anthropologist considers important


Problem-oriented ethnography

• Investigate a specific problem (although they remain interested in the whole context of human behavior)

• Collection of data on range of variables (e.g., population density, environmental quality, climate, physical geography, diet, land use)


Longitudinal Research

• Long-term study of a community, region, society, culture, or other unit, usually based on repeated visits

• Increasingly common• Often conducted by research teams


Team research

• multiple ethnographers conducting complimentary research in a given community, culture, or region


Culture, space, and scale

– Analyze the ongoing and inescapable flows of people, images, technology, and information that shape social life

– Cultures cannot be located in bounded spaces – so-called local events are always influenced by wider information flows and experiences

– Anthropologists increasingly study people in motion, traveling with them as they move from village to city, cross borders, or travel internationally


Survey research

– large-scale societies– Complement more traditional ethnographic techniques– Goal is to draw inferences about larger population– Considerably more impersonal than ethnography– Ethnography can be used to supplement, fine-tune survey

research


Window on Humanity Conrad Kottak Third Edition Chapter 2 Ethics and Methods © 2008 McGraw-Hill...

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