ASIANAM 50 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Trobriand Islands, Ethnography, Participant Observation

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Asian American Studies
• Course: ASIANAM 50
• Professor: Dorothy Fujita- Rony

Document Summary

Anthropological field methods: anthropologists use different methods to gain different views. Of course these different methods have pros and cons: surveys are very useful but can only give you distribution, ethnogragphy: long term qualitative data. Going to a field setting and living there for years. Living the routine lives and observing: holism: this idea that some social practice must be understood in the broader context in which is part. Appreciated as it is in within the whole. Need context to do all sorts of things. meaning of things in context. Need to connect. seek the connections: participant observation. Immerse yourself in the context and the day to day routine. Ethnography is the research and the book produced by the ethnography. Trobriand islanders: why learn about the trobrianders: matriliny v. patriliny and valuation of women. The birth of a boy brought the great happiness. The birth of a girl brought a small happiness.