AIM: HOW DO SOCIAL SCIENTISTS STUDY THE SOCIAL WORLD?

Doing Social Research

What is Anthropology?

The discipline of anthropology studies humankind in its entirety and aims to produce useful generalizations about the behavior of people around the world and throughout time.

Anthropology follows the holistic perspective, meaning that through cross-cultural comparison we can recognize both the great diversity between people as well as the human characteristics that unite us all.

Holism

Study of a culture by looking at all the parts of the system and how those parts are interrelated

Anthropology

Anthropology – the systematic study of humankind.

What do we mean by systematic? Scientific Method Empirical – based on observation and experiment Positivism - only authentic knowledge is that which is

based on sense, experience and positive verification Concept – a cognitive unit of meaning, an abstract

idea or a mental symbol Variable – logical set of characteristics of an object Hypothesis Theory

Quantitative v. Qualitative

Social Research Methods May Be Divided into two broad schools: Quantitative research approaches social phenomena

through numerical tabulations and statistical comparisons made possible by systematic surveys, observations, or analysis of records. Data is used to test hypotheses and create valid and reliable, general claims.

Qualitative research uses rich descriptions of cultural situations obtained from interviewing, participant observation, and collection of oral and textual materials. Ethnographies are reports from qualitative research.

Scientific Explanation

Empirical Evidence (data) information we can verify with our common sense

Science a logical system that bases knowledge on direct, systematic observations concerning human behavior

The goal of scientific explanation is to permit the scientist to move beyond simple descriptions to make reliable statements concerning the nature of relationships existing in observed phenomena. Reliable statements posses a high degree of certainty that what is predicted will be the successful combination of theory and relevant research.

Systematic plan for conducting research

Experiment a research method for investigating cause and effect under highly controlled conditions

Hypothesis an unverified statement of a relationship between variables A hunch or guess that is generally stated as a proposition of the

“if…then…” variety

Hawthron Effect a change in the subject’s behavior caused by the awareness of being studied

Science The Basic Elements and Limitations

Positivism only authentic knowledge is that which is based on sense, experience and positive verification

Concept refers to either relations or descriptions. Concepts are not statements and are neither true nor false When concepts are interrelated in a scheme, a theory begins to

emerge Variable a trait or characteristic that can vary in value

from case to case Characteristics that are variables can be made constant through

experimental design, as when a researcher focuses on people of the same age, sex, social class, etc., in order to study variation in other traits

Measurement a set of rules for the assignment of numbers to the different outcomes a variable can exhibit Concepts such as an inch, meter, etc., do not exist in nature but

are arbitrary measures of length, with agreed upon meanings, invented by scientists Examples: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

Reliability consistency in measure In order to have reliability, the test must be able to be replicated

and receive the same results

Validity precision in measuring exactly what one intends to measure. A test must measure exactly what it says it will measure

In order for research to be true, it must have both reliability and validity

Correlation measured strength between two variables

Control holding constant all variables except one in order to see clearly the effect of that variable

Ethnography

Ethnos (Greek) = to describe a people Grapho = to write

Ethnography aims to describe the nature of those who are studied through writing. Might be called a ‘field study’ or ‘case report.’

Description of a culture, usually based on the method of participant observation and field work. Field Work: living among a group of people for the purpose of

learning about their culture. Employed for gathering empirical data on human societies and

cultures.

Ethnography

Anthropological texts are usually written in the present. Many societies have changed since original fieldwork was done.

Importance of studies of these peoples does not lie primarily in their historical or genealogical explanatory power, but rather in their contribution to our understanding of similarities and differences of social life in general.

Cultural & Social Anthropology

Developed around ethnographic research and their canonical texts which are mostly ethnographies Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1928) by Bronislaw

Malinowski Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) by Margaret Mead The Nuer (1940) by E.E. Evans-Pritchard

The Range of Ethnographies

We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us (1979) – June Nash’s description of Bolivian tin miners and the ways in which transnational economic processes affect their lives.

Tuhami: Portrait of a Moroccan (1980) – Vincent Crapanzano’s ethnographic biography describes his encounter with ‘an illiterate Moroccan tile maker who believes himself married to a camel-footed she-demon.’

The Channeling Zone: American Spirituality in an Anxious Age (1997) – Michael Brown presents a fascinating look at the lives and experiences of New Age ‘channellers’ and their place in contemporary American spiritual life.

Medusa’s Hair (1981) – Gananath Obeyesekere brings insight from psychoanalysis to bear on ‘personal symbols and religious experience’ among ecstatic priests and priestesses in Sri Lanka.

Geisha (1983) – Liza Dalby trained as a geisha in Kyoto and provides a fascinating look at the ‘willow world.’

Javanese Shadow Plays, Javanese Selves (1987) – Ward Keeler lived with a Javanese puppeteer for several years and wrote this fascinating account of an ancient art form, is practitioners, and its place in modern culture

Typical Ethnography

Attempts to be holisticTypically follows an outline:

Brief history of culture being studied Analysis of physical geography / terrain

inhabited by the people, including climate and habitat

Material Culture, technology and means of subsistence (associated with physical geography and include descriptions of infrastructure)

Kinship & Social Structure (age grading, peer groups, gender, voluntarily association, clans, etc. )

Languages spoken, dialects and history of language change

Practices of childrearing, acculturation and ‘native’ (emic) views and values

(1955)

Data Collection

Participant Observation Interviews Questionnaires Surveys…just to list a few

Participant Observation

Direct, first-hand observation of daily participation.Living among the people being studied – observing,

questioning, and taking part in the important events of the group while also keeping a detailed record of your observations and interviews. Obtrusive Effect – you thrust yourself into the culture,

changing what is taking place.

Participant Observation

Generally agreed that the anthropologist ought to stay in the field long enough for his or her presence to be considered more or less ‘natural’ by the permanent residence. Anthropologist should

also learn the local language as not have mistakes in translation or meaning.

Participant Observation

The anthropologist is the most important ‘scientific instrument’ used, investing a great deal of his or her own personality in the process. Anthropological writings are shaped by each author’s

biography, literary style, and rhetoric, as wells as the historical period in which they are writing (such as colonialism).

The gender, age, ‘race’ and class of the anthropologist inadvertently influences the field work.

Doing Anthropology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhCruPBvSjQ

Emic v. Etic Perspective

Emic: life as experienced and described by the members of a society themselves. “Native’s point of view’

Etic: Analytical description or explanation of the researcher. Cultural Relativism: understanding the ways of other

cultures and not judging these practices according to one's own cultural ways.

Emic v. Etic Perspective

Reasons why anthropologists view may never be an emic description: Usually have to translate between two different languages Use a written medium to reproduce oral statements

Meaning of utterances changes when they are transformed into writing

Anthropologist can never become identical with the people he or she writes about.

Only true emic descriptions possible in anthropology are therefore accounts written by natives in their vernacular

Types of Data Collected during Observation

Census Taking Population, age, sex, marital status, household composition, age/sex relationship

Mapping Locate people, material culture (villages, fields, pasture, livestock),

environmental features (rivers, lakes, mountains)

Document Analysis Public records, news papers, diaries, scientific publications

Geneologies Writing down relatives of informants, kinship relationships, how they are

referred to, addressed, treated

Event Analysis Documenting an event as it takes place (fight, puberty rite, cooking, marriage)

Problems with Participant Observation

Precludes a large sample sizeProblems in recordingLimited knowledge of languageOne’s informants may fail to represent

society as a whole

The Problem of Translation

How can we translate an alien way of experiencing the world into our own mode of thought?

How can we be certain that we do not misinterpret or distort the society when we try to describe it in our own terms?

How can we be entirely certain that we understand the alien society and culture at all?

The Problem of Translation

It is necessary to use abstract terms: kinship, social organization, social control, religion, etc. Terms are necessary for the discipline to be comparative in

scope

Abstract, technical terms used by anthropologists rarely exist in societies studied. Descriptive: usually close to native conceptualization of the

world, and a major challenge lies in translating native concepts into the anthropologist’s working language.

Analysis: trying to connect the society to other societies by describing it in the comparative terms of anthropology. Will describe the society with concepts which do not exist in the

society itself

Dichotomies

Dichotomy – separation of different or contradictory things. Small-scale / Large-

scale Oral / Written Traditional / Modern

The world as it is studied by anthropologists is not characterized by clear, binary boundaries, but rather by grey areas and differences in degree.

Models are not identical with the social world but a aid in organizing facts from the social world. Dichotomies may be used as scales

marked by differences in degree rather than absolute contrasts.

Interviewing

May include conversation with different levels of form and can involve small talk to long interviews

Questionnaires

Can be used to aid in the discovery of local beliefs and perceptions

Asking Questions: Survey Questions

Survey research method in which subjects respond to a series of statements or questions in a questionnaire or an interview Population the larger the population the better Sample part of the population that represents the whole. The

participants in a survey are the sample population of that survey

Using Available Data Secondary Analysis a researcher uses the data available Inductive Logic from inside out. The researcher works from

the specific to the general. (Individual problem to larger social issue)

Deductive Logic from outside in. The researcher works from the general to the specific. The theory is stated first then a hypothesis is formed and a method is found to test it

Anthropology vs. Sociology

Anthropology has traditionally distinguished itself from sociology through: Emphasis placed on participant observation and fieldwork Mainly study non-industrial societies

Sociology has concentrated on understanding, criticizing, and managing modern societies

Anthropologist try to account for variations and similarities in human existence and to record disappearing peoples ways of life in writing.

Ethical Guidelines for Internal Assessment

Do no harm to the people who participate in the fieldwork.

Respect the well-being of humans and the environment.

Obtain informed consent from the people who are the subjects of the fieldwork in a form appropriate to the context before you begin, providing sufficient information about the aims and procedures of the fieldwork.

Fieldwork involving children needs the written consent of parent(s) or guardian(s).

Maintain the anonymity of the people participating in the fieldwork, unless participants have given explicit permission to the contrary.

Store all data collected securely in order to maintain confidentiality.

Be honest about the limits of your training. Do not falsify or make up fieldwork data.

Report on research findings accurately and completely.

Do not use data for any purpose other than the fieldwork for which it was collected.

Develop and maintain a working relationship with the people that you study so that other researchers can continue to work with them.

Check with your teacher when the right way to behave is not clear.

Participate in reviews of the ethical considerations in the fieldwork proposals of your peers.

Fieldwork conducted online is subject to the same guide lines.

Covered Girls (2003)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkfXHB48rrs