ANTH 195 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ethnography, Thick Description
ANTH 195 Lecture 2
Fieldwork vs. Lab:
● People in environment vs. controlled research
● Across variables vs. cutting out variables
“Understanding a people’s culture exposes their normalness without reducing their particularity”
-- Geertz
Observing “mundane” tasks shows how cultures differ
Ethnography -- “thick description”
● Aim for breadth
● Process
○ Establishing rapport, transcribing texts, etc.
● Object
○ Kind of intellectual effort
Ethnographic Method:
● Participant Observation
○ Being a participant AND an observer
○ technique/method used in conducting ethnographic fieldwork, involving living
among people and participating in their lives
● Long-term Fieldwork
○ Extended period of close involvement with the people
○ Time-investment
Ethnographic Serendipity:
● When stuff happens, you cannot control what is around you
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