The practice of anthropology

The practice of anthropology

• Research methods and data collection

  • The ethnographic method is one of the distinguishing features of social and cultural anthropology. The methods selected by an anthropologist for collecting data in the field relate to the theoretical perspective of the anthropologist and the production of the final ethnographic text. There are a number of methods and issues of data collection that anthropologists commonly need to consider in their preparation for fieldwork and during the data-gathering phase of their work.

• Fieldwork

  • Anthropological accounts are based on detailed and wide-ranging data collected over a substantial period of time. The time that an ethnographer spends studying a group is a process called 'fieldwork'. Fieldwork with a particular group often takes place more than once and involves a long-term personal engagement between the ethnographer and the group. However, in many contemporary fieldwork settings ethnographers may not have direct face-to-face contact over a prolonged period with a single and delimited group of people. For example, work in densely populated urban settings, in multi-sited settings, or in a virtual environment requires a rethinking and reconceptualizing of the relations between ethnographer and the group being studied.

• Participant observation

  • In the course of fieldwork, many ethnographers become involved as fully as possible in the activities that they study, rather than act as detached bystanders. At the same time, they must seek to preserve some analytical distance. The extent of their participation and its effect on the activity depends on a variety of factors including the nature of the activity, the rapport between observers and the particular members of the group being studied or 'actors', and the goals of the research. Participant observation has traditionally been the main method in anthropological fieldwork. Ethnographers and the actors develop social ties in the course of fieldwork. All parties involved must constantly negotiate the nature of these ties. Social relations in fieldwork are as complex as other social relations that human beings form in the course of their lives.

• Collection of data techniques

  • Ethnographers use a broad variety of techniques in collecting data, including interviewing, observation, note-taking, audio and visual recording, discussing recordings with members of the group being studied, keeping journals, collecting censuses, life histories, questionnaires, using archival materials, material culture and producing genealogies. Data may also be collected in a variety of forms that illustrate different aspects of a given society and culture at a given time and place. These may include expressive forms and internal accounts such as music, lyrics, literature, letters, stories and films. The nature of the data and the techniques used to collect it depend on the goals of the research. Each technique provides a partial view and therefore cannot stand alone, nor can it be used uncritically. It is essential that any such material should be examined from an anthropological perspective. The body of data collected during fieldwork is often substantial, and is used selectively in analysis and in writing up the results of the fieldwork. Fieldwork data is often supplemented with the materials gathered in libraries and museums.

• Use of qualitative and quantitative data

  • Qualitative data consists of texts, lists and recordings, which do not lend themselves to numerical representation, while quantitative data can be expressed in numbers. For most anthropologists, qualitative data is more crucial than quantitative data, although the quantitative often provides useful support for the qualitative.

• Analysis and interpretation

  • The analysis of anthropological data consists of discovering consistencies and other recurrent patterns in the data. This discovery process often relies heavily on the anthropologist's theoretical framework and on the relevant works of other anthropologists. Anthropologists recognize that description and analysis are never free of theoretical and personal biases, but always involve selection and interpretation.

• Ethical issues

  • Ethnographers are bound by ethical principles governing their conduct as fieldworkers and as professional practitioners. Among other things, these principles dictate that the ethnographer respects the dignity of the members of the group being studied, gives attention to the possibility that any disseminated information may be used against the best interests of those being studied, and recognizes any power differentials between the parties involved in fieldwork. Ethics is also concerned with the relationship between ethnographers and their colleagues, students and audiences. What constitutes ethical conduct is often the subject of debate and is best understood in context.