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| doing your ethno- graphic project |
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| General Aims of the Project The object of your ethnographic project has several purposes: 1. To get you to think like anthropologists. 2. To challenge you to think about themes in everyday life and interactions. 3. To get you to recognize the potential of ethnography in describing and explaining the above. 4. To get you to engage with the ways that ethnographic data can contribute to public policy. The result will be a written presentation of your analysis, drawing on the fieldnotes you have made (more on this below). More particularly, I want you to pay attention to the following issues while you are doing your fieldwork: 1. Focus on social interactions between people. 2. Ask people -- those involved, and those observing -- what their interpretations of the events/interactions are. 3. With this information in hand -- your observations, and the participants' interpretations -- bring your interpretations to bear, along with your knowledge of the context of the interactions. As an anthropologist it is always important to provide details about the context and history of the places you do your fieldwork (to the extent that you know them). The reading that you have done in conference this semester will form the theoretical background for your final research report. However, the focus of your actual fieldwork will be the issues in the above list -- the actual interactions, what the people involved in them think about them, and what analyses you can make from the latter two. So, provide a brief context of the place you've done your fieldwork, and the literature about the topic you've taken on, but don't let it take over your final project report. Any social event or interaction can be seen from a number of perspectives. Your job is to do this kind of work: to observe what is happening and to listen to what other people have to say about it. Once you have this information, you can begin to bring your own interpretation to the material. Pay close attention to which interpretations are yours and which interpretations are those of participants in the events -- don't confuse the two. This is absolutely the central element of this project. As a student of anthropology, and as someone interested in the relationship between anthropology and public policy, you need to be on the lookout for those themes that we have discussed in class so far. In terms of interactions, here are some hints of things to look out for: 1. How do people think about themselves as participants in the context you are working in? 2. What do they say about themselves, about the place you are doing your research, about the role of the organization, about the broader social issue you are interested in? 3. What explanations do they give for their actions or their views? What similarities or differences are there between different people, and how might you account for them? Further, how do they account for those differences. Listen to what people are saying and focus on the themes that come up for them. Draw your analysis from your data, not from the theoretical framework we've developed. At the same time, have in the back of your mind some of the common themes we've looked at, and will look at, in class: e.g. the way people make sense of themselves through narrative. In sum, your real task, as both an anthropologist (and as a student of American culture in this instance), is to defamiliarize yourself from being American (or at least a resident of America), to listen and observe, and to participate, without jumping to conclusions. Be prepared to be surprised. Expect things that don't seem to fit. In the end, you will probably find that these things are the most interesting. What is participant-observation? Participant-observation is the fine art of extended and attentive hanging out. What you will actually do during your fieldwork periods depends entirely on the context of your research site. For example, if you have gained access to your site by volunteering to perform a particular role (e.g. helping to teach students in an after-school program), expect that much of your time will be taken up doing this. This does not mean you are not doing participant-observation -- indeed, these are often the most productive moments of fieldwork because you get to interact with people. You should make sure to do what you say you're going to do, but these interactions themselves are data. Whatever you're doing -- tutoring, filing, answering phones, attending a meetings, having lunch with your informants, hanging drapes, or just hanging out -- you are never just doing those things. You are paying attention, always, to what people are doing and saying, asking questions when appropriate, taking notes (if appropriate -- see below), and, most importantly, listening. As an attentive ethnographer, you must have a careful ear for recurring themes, for conflicts, for puzzling statements, for confusing situations, and for your informants' insights and interpretations of their lives and situations. You might also supplement your participant-observation by doing interviews and/or life stories/narratives like Ginsburg or Farmer. If you do so, it is best that you tape record these (please see me if you plan to do this so we can organize equipment for you). But remember that these narratives or interviews are only supplementary to the main task. As I wrote above, keep your eyes open especially for conflicts. By this I mean everything from arguments or disagreements to, for example, policy differences between the organization you are working in and the organization's funders. Conflict is generally present in any social situation, and in conflict, meaning bubbles to the surface. That is, in any disagreement, the social actors involved are working with different views of what the world is like or should be like. Your attention to these moments will enable you to both observe, and question people about, what these assumptions are. Likewise, you should pay attention to -- indeed, latch onto -- things you find puzzling or contradictory. Things which don't make sense to you are things that you need to investigate. Don't ignore them -- go after them. Very likely, you'll find a central piece of the issue you are interested in. Generally, then, your task is, through such extended hanging out, to try and identify the patterened behaviors and meanings that give shape to the daily lives of your informants. What are their assumptions about the world? What do they agree on? What is important to them? Are their disagreements or conflicting ideas among them? Finally, don't be perturbed if you end up being directed away from your initial research topic: go where the data leads you, don't try and make the data fit your interests. That is, listen!! Setting Boundaries and Writing Notes I would suggest that you make clear boundaries around the fieldwork. I am suggesting you do around 8 hours of fieldwork a week, preferably broken up into two periods of fieldwork on different days, but this is negotiable. Once you have decided when you are doing fieldwork, you must take fieldnotes for the days you are doing fieldwork. It is vital that you make notes on those days: do not leave it until the day after, and if your site is familiar to you, do not make general notes on your overall experience of being in your site. This project is about observing and participating in specific interactions at specific times. Your fieldnotes are a vital part of the project. If you can, make notes during the events/days you have chosen. If it seems inappropriate or awkward, write your notes as soon after your fieldwork period as possible. I would strongly suggest typing up your notes afterwards so that you have a record of your observations and interpretations (this will also make the writing of the final presentation easier). Don't rely on your memory: trust me, you will forget very quickly what happens on a moment-to-moment basis. Once you have finished your fieldwork period, stop making notes, or you will go slowly insane. Presenting the project In writing your final project, do not make generalized observations without tying them to specific events. This is what will make your project ethnographic. It should be organized in the manner that is most useful to you, i.e. I have no prerequisites on organization, except that it should be organized in some fashion. You may want to order your paper chronologically or thematically. Choose whichever works best for you. In summary: --> Define clear boundaries in terms of time -->Make notes during (if possible) or immediately after the events you are participating in and observing. Ethics and confidentiality Ethical considerations in behavioral research have become a central concern of researchers during the past 50 years. In order to familiarize yourself with some of the ethical issues you may face, I want you to read the Belmont Report, available on line at http://ohrp.osophs.dhhs.gov/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.htm Basically, you are ethically bound to protect the people with whom you work against risk. While, in the kind of research you are doing, there may be little risk to the people you study, those of you studying vulnerable populations must pay special attention to the ethics of your research. The primary issue involves informed consent. You must ensure that you let people know -- to the extent that you are able -- that you are doing this project and get their permission. Part of informed consent is developing both a written and oral consent statement that we will work on together in conference. Some of the primary things you should include in your statements are: you should say that your research is for a class, that the project will not be published, that your fieldnotes/audiotapes/videotapes will be protected, and that you will use a pseudonym for them if they so desire. Often, you will find that this causes people not to talk to you -- remember, this is also data. At other times, you will find that this information gets people to talk to you very openly and assertively about their ideas and interpretations -- this, too, is data. Most importantly, for those of you who are working with vulnerable populations (e.g. children, drug users, sex workers), which is most of you, you must ensure that you both assure people of their confidentiality by informing them of the purposes of your research, ensure them that their identities will be protected, and, MOST importantly, ensure that you actually do this! Your consent form should contain a section on what you plan to do to ensure the confidentiality of your fieldnotes (e.g. the use of password protection on your typed notes), tape recordings of conversations (keeping them in a safe, locked place), your plans to use pseudonyms etc. This should be included in the methodology section of your final paper. Conclusion This is not meant to be an exhaustive guide to doing fieldwork -- you should also read the ethnographic texts we are reading with a view to thinking about how the anthropologists we are studying did their research. There are also several good handbooks on ethnographic research which I can point you toward if you are interested in reading further. |