AN101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, Culture Shock
Document Summary
Fieldwork- extended period of close involvement with people whose way of life anthropologists are interested, collect most of data here. Participant-observation- method anthropologists use to gather info by living and working with people whose culture they are studying while participating in their lives as much as possible. Modes of ethnographic fieldwork: a short history: anthropology: art and science, franz boas- inuit, b. c. First nations, race: bronislaw malinowski- first good fieldwork, pacific islands, papua. New guinea: margaret mead- culturally relevant questions and comparisons, Positivism- view that there is reality out there that can be detected through senses. Reflexivity- critically thinking about the way one thinks, reflecting on ones own experience. Relativistic nature of understanding culture, involves the researcher and the researched in a dialogue. Process of building bridge on understanding between anthropologist and informant so that each can begin to understand the other.
