Group Title: Doing Ethnography Locally
Group Abstract: Students in ANTH 220: Ethnographic Methods will present their individual fieldwork projects, as well as provide an introduction to ethnographic research.
Keywords: anthropology, ethnography, microcultures
Group 1 Title: What is Anthropology?
Group Members: Joshua Eyer, Kaitlyn Lundy
Group 1 Abstract: Anthropology will be defined and described. Each of the four sub-fields of anthropology will be explained. The four sub-fields of anthropology are: cultural, physical, archaeological, and linguistic anthropology. The concept of culture will be elucidated, and the term subculture will be clarified.
Group 2 Title: What is Ethnography?
Group Members: Megan Edwards, Amira Price, Jacob Robison
Group 2 Abstract: Ethnography will be defined and explored, including how ethnography is used to gather cultural knowledge of a social group or micro-culture. Culture exists at several different levels. National cultures and sub-cultures dominate an individual’s entire way of life, but micro-cultures only make up a portion of an individual’s day. The two key research methods used in ethnography will be described. These are ethnographic interviewing and participant observation. This presentation also covers how to locate an “informant”—someone to interview.
Group 3 Title: Asking Descriptive Questions
Group Members: Thomas Burke, Devin Donaghy, Isabella Valentin
Group 3 Abstract: Before conducting an ethnographic interview, it is important to understand the types of questions to be asked. This presentation will address how to ask descriptive questions. Ethnosemantics will be defined. It will be explained how this research method can be used to uncover the cultural categories within a micro-culture. The four different types of descriptive questions will be discussed and how they can be used to uncover folk terms will be explained.
Group 4 Title: Digging Deeper into a Microculture
Group Members: Erin Berry, Chelsea Collazo, Kaleb Prouse
Group 4 Abstract: This presentation explores how structural questions are used in ethnographic interviewing to uncover how informants organize their cultural knowledge. The information gained through structural questions can be displayed in taxonomies. Taxonomies are charts that allow a cultural outsider to see at a glance how a cultural insider is thinking about a particular cultural category or domain.
Group 5 Title: Uncovering the Difference
Group Members: Heather Gallus, Leyna Gilleland, Emily Zimmerman
Group 5 Abstract: This paper explains attribute questions and describes the four types of attribute questions, which are ethnographic questions designed to elicit attributes or the features used by informants to distinguish one item from the other items in a discrete category or sub-category. These latter units are called contrast sets, which will be defined. The information gained through attribute questions can be displayed in paradigms. Paradigms are charts that allow a cultural outsider to see at a glance how a cultural insider is distinguishing one item from another within one area of cultural knowledge. A sample taxonomy from one of the presenters’ research will be displayed. A contrast set will be selected from it, and how to analyze a contrast set using attribute questions will be demonstrated. The presenters will show from their own research how to construct a paradigm based on the information acquired through attribute questions.
Group 6 Title: Writing an Ethnography for the Real World
Group Members: Hannah Lerew, Tabatha Smith
Group 6 Abstract: Tips and strategies for keeping ethnographic research moving will be discussed. An overview of the process of writing an ethnography will be given, including selecting a focus for the final research report, identifying cultural themes that tie together the main domains, and outlining the ethnography. This presentation will close with ways to use ethnographic skills and tools in real world settings.
