FS280 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Thick Description, Cultural Anthropology, Clifford Geertz
Document Summary
How to do a participant observation : pick a location (carefully) Bias in an event is not necessarily bad, but you must acknowledge it: decide group roles : Taking notes about audience demographics (age, gender, ethnicity). Taking notes/photos about the event location and audience interaction with the environment. Paying close attention to the film/media text and taking notes about audience reactions (laughter, shouts, comments) Participate in the event: nonparticipation, passive participation (aka pure observation, moderate participation, active participation, complete participation. Take notes: bring a small notebook to record observations during the event, without being intrustive, if possible, take photos or short videos while there. Do not : record the films being screened, record individual peoples faces or opinions without their permission. Thick description : a technique promoted by cultural anthropologist clifford geertz in 1960"s-70"s. Promotes wiring down as much detail as possible to support accurate.
