Applied Anthropology provides a unique set of skills and capabilities that strengthen their application to the position of QRS. This setting allows applied anthropologist to express their strengths as a consultant, ensuring that the perspective of the other and proper research methods are addressed. The most evident strength of applied anthropology that would be useful in the context of a QRS is their expertise on qualitative and mixed research methods. Throughout the job posting there is a call for expertise in both qualitative and mixed methods research. It is widely known that through the discipline, anthropologist gain a variety of expertise in the wide ranges of qualitative tools and methods, including fieldwork, participant observation, …show more content…
The title for the position itself expresses the need for a focus on qualitative methods, which as stated above has been greatly crafted through the combination of tools and methods learned in the discipline. The section, Primary Purpose, calls even further for a need of expertise in qualitative and mixed method research. Regarding quantitative methods, anthropologists would likely develop these skills, perhaps not to a similar level of expertise as those of qualitative methods. However, by using a mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods it would not be a major weakness in this context as expertise in qualitative methods can support those in quantitative. As the primary purpose, it is clear that this strength of anthropology is the most fundamental within this context. It is with this skill that they would find a great deal of success, if they are able to surpass the challenge of communication and interpersonal connection as will be discussed …show more content…
As briefly stated above in order for the strength of qualitative methods to be fully utilized in this context it has to be communicated and presented in a way that is understood and useful. The position for the QRS position shows that there is a great need for interdisciplinary capabilities in team and collaborative settings and this is an area in which applied anthropologists succeed. They possess a great strength in navigating and understanding different, backgrounds, issues and values (Béguet, 2016) and in turn the discipline has grown to develop connection to a diverse array of sub disciplines and topics. This allows practitioners to develop skills in those areas and to strengthen their ability to draw from a diverse range of methods, tools and perspectives. This skill allows them to apply their expertise in a variety of contexts, including that of the QRS. Alexander Erwin acknowledges the ability of applied anthropologists to work in interdisciplinary teams and to synthesize their information through anthropological perspectives (Erwin, 2005). Despite this strength of working through diversity and synthesizing through the anthropological perspective, it continues to be faced with the challenge of communication and interpersonal skills that plague some
they perform the bulk of their work, and what it is they do in both problem
Power point slide Qualitative research is a difficult term to define…. Nevertheless, it is important to be familiar with some definitions in the field. The definition provided by Creswell 2009 is enlightening because it incorporates ……….. most important part of definition for me were reports detailed views of informants and natural setting.
The interviews in Anne Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down and Joshua Reno’s Waste Away both have their fair share of barriers to overcome, even though their research could not be more different. Anne Fadiman conducts interviews in two drastically different topics, Hmong culture and medicine. Joshua Reno favors a landfill in Michigan; interviewing residents living next to Four Corners Landfill. However different these two areas of research may be, both books show that interviewing individuals is a research method incredibly valuable when working to determine a person or group’s feelings and ideas. Both anthropologists use interviewing as a method to gain information, but are careful to align with the culture of each of the
Researchers are sometimes using Quantitative and Qualitative research methodologies interchangeably, or all three of the methodologies including the mixed approach, Creswell (2009). However, the most distinctive differences between the two is the application used, or the design, using words for qualitative analysis, and
An anthropologist usually, at the beginning of their career, conduct ethnographic research in a foreign country or remote location to validate themselves as a “bonafide anthropologist” (Brondo 43). Eventually however, the anthropologist will return home often to conduct research around their own familiar ethnic group. Tsuda refers to the anthropologists return to familiar territory as an “Ethnographic homecoming” (Brondo 44). The use of ethnographic methods in the anthropologist’s home or familiar environment is what Tsuda means by “native anthropology”.
Maxwell (2005) also notes that qualitative research can be used to address various issues and is not restricted to one ontological stance. The method also involves developing a relationship with the people one is studying, an aspect that is important in defining the authenticity of the data and determining the course of action.
The book has been written when the anthropology field is undergoing critical technological advancement. It is aimed at reaching generations that are experiencing problems with self-identification, power and over-ambitious objectives. This post-modern anthropology insists that the outside is of importance just like the inside (Strathern 1988:65). The foreign culture in the report has been disregarded due to lack of proper authenticity and instead the ethnography front page space has been taken over by the backstage field workers and self-questioning commentary.
Anthropology, as a discipline in the field of human sciences, is based on certain ethical principles to guide its practitioners through their research. This creates a stable framework on which to start any research project. Avoiding deviation, however, can be complicated. Anthropologists have a responsibility to their field,
Within this assignment we are asked to identify if the research article that we choose for this unit is either a phenomenological approach or a generic qualitative approach was used, and then describe the physiognomies the evidence to support the identification. We then must explain and identify the main phenomenon that was under investigation in the research; describe the qualitative approach to analyzing the data in this study; describe what the data collection process as well as the role of the researcher; and evaluate the scientific merit of the selected approach. Next we will discuss how did the approach we used (either phenomenology or generic qualitative) help the researcher to answer the research question, and how differently might we have designed the research study differently?
Researchers who uses qualitative study for addressing a problem they are interested in are most often confronted with enormous background knowledge they could use to make their research more successful. (Flick, 2007)
Watson believes that anthropologists like many other social scientists do very little compared to what their counterparts in the natural science perform especially when describing their equipment alongside the conditions under which their research was conducted (Watson, 1999). It is high time anthropologists became explicit about themselves, the primary tool for gathering vital information and autobiographical features of their
Qualitative research is conducted in a natural setting and attempts to understand a human problem by developing a holistic narrative and reporting detailed views of informants about the culture of a problem. It forms a report with pictures and words. One of the most important distinctions that sets qualitative research apart from more traditional types of research is that qualitative research is holistic in that researchers study phenomena in their entirety rather than narrowing the focus to specific defined variables” (p. 93). Similarly, Cresswell (1984) indicated that qualitative research “is defined as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting” (p. 2). Cresswell’s definition clearly delineates the major characteristics of qualitative research. Pg. 50 (Smith & Davis, 2010).
Creswell (2013) contends that “we need to identify our approach to qualitative inquiry in order to present it as a sophisticated study, to offer it as a specific type so that reviewers can properly assess it, and…to offer some way of organizing ideas that can be grounded in the scholarly literature of qualitative research” (p. 69). Although I believe all three arguments cited by the author are important, this week’s readings and discussion emphasized the third reason in particular. Indeed, reviewing the five approaches provided me with ideas regarding how to investigate and explore the topic. Although I am still struggling with some of the details and aspects, a rough framework is
Qualitative Research Methods provided insight and experience into field research and the issues experienced in various areas of study, such as: claims, validity, trustworthiness, in-depth field work, data collection, and analysis. Furthermore, the course provided framework for different methodologies within qualitative research that will create an understanding as students move into the next phase of the doctoral program. Some of the methodological designs discussed throughout the course are: designs of narrative, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case studies. Learning qualitative research methodologies through hands-on practice with inferential observation, in-depth interviewing, synthesis, wrestling with trustworthiness, and analyzing qualitative data were essential ways to impart the skills necessary to do qualitative research.
Qualitative research is a technique of promoting research that stresses the quality according to the user’s point of view and approaches. In depth interviews and focus groups are best examples of qualitative research. [Laura Lake, 2009]