Course Description
Provides the basic foundations for conducting ethnographic fieldwork. Students will explore the unique strengths and utility of an ethnographic approach; learn how to conduct ethnographic techniques through hands-on, experiential learning activities; and apply these skills to a research project of their choice. These projects will be closely mentored by the faculty member.
Athena Title
Ethnographic Research Methods
Prerequisite
ANTH 1102 or ANTH 1102E or ANTH 2120H
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
By the end of this semester, those who take this course should: 1. Understand the unique value of ethnographic methods and techniques; 2. Learn and begin to acquire the observational skills, sensitivities, and ethical orientations required of the ethnographer; 3. Have hands-on experience in the conduct of ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions. This experience will be acquired through experiential learning throughout the term, as well as through the preparation of final ethnographic research papers. 4. Articulate, implement, and reflect on the application of acquired skills to a real-world problem of personal interest, including project conception, design, data collection, analysis, and write-up; 5. Be familiar with more engaged and participatory forms of research and the methodologies and ethical concerns associated with each; 6. Gain experiential learning credit through “ownership” of an independent research project and by “challenging” themselves to push the boundaries of their own experience through engagement with an unfamiliar sub-culture of the Athens community and/or in a new problem arena; 7. Understand, through the integration of conceptual and experiential learning, how to position themselves and anthropological expertise more broadly within an identified problem arena (e.g., in healthcare, rural development, natural resource management).
Topical Outline
Date Topic Week 1 Course and thematic overview Week 2 Ethnography: An introduction Week 3 Ethics Week 4 Ethnographic research papers: Orientation, rubrics, and timeline Unit I – Techniques In Unit I, a set of methods and techniques will be introduced through readings, lecture and discussion, and through hands-on activities both inside class (e.g., in-class design of questions/questionnaires, student role plays) and outside of class. Students will be expected to apply these methods to a topic of choice in their final ethnographic research paper. Each student may not incorporate all of the methods, but will be required to select at least three from among them and apply them in their final project. Participant observation, focus group discussions, and semi-structured individual interviews (key informant interviews or life histories) are required components of the final papers. Week 5 Participant observation Week 6 Interviews Week 7 Semi-structured interviews and checklist design Week 8 Focus group discussions Week 9 Engaged research methods Week 10 Participatory action research Week 11 Data analysis and ethnographic writing Unit II – Applications In this Unit, one class each week will be more discussion-based (a reading, short lecture, and discussion). The second class will consist of group work where students will be asked to apply the methods learned earlier in the semester to a series of problems given to them on the specified topics. This will equip students with the necessary skills to understand how the methods introduced in weeks 5-11 are applied in different arenas, equipping them with skills necessary for the final research project. Week 12 Focus on healthcare Week 13 Focus on agricultural and rural development Week 14 Focus on conservation and natural resource management Week 15 Student presentation of ethnographic research projects Papers will be presented to the Anthropology Department, most likely in the Junior Seminar, which involves all Anthropology majors in their junior year.
Syllabus