What Are The Pros And Cons Of Ethnographic Research

Article “OMG! We've been here B4!” by Clive Thompson is a reflection of what the effects the telephone has on everyday communication as well as the development of the telephone over the years. Thompson however explains that the early days of the telephone weren't seen as a helpful tool for social interaction, but an abate to conversation. When the cell phone first emerged on scene, it was believed that people choose to communicate face-to-face less and call instead. Clive Thompson explores the thought that texting may make people shield their emotions, limit conversations to only the phone, and erode intimacy. Although the telephone had various opinions, the cell phone did not destroy traditional etiquette but altered the way we communicate with one another.

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

Within our own world, there was a study done by a group researchers with the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia and the Department of Information Science at Cornell University titled Talking Less during social interactions Predicts Enjoyment which is focused on the loss of human connection present within modern day social interactions. Within the study, they were able to use an app to observe how often people texted each other and what they sent. Through this program, the researchers were able to observe the social interactions between different focus groups. The pilot study was used to demonstrate, “How conversational properties of social interactions can predict psychologically meaningful outcomes, such as how much a person enjoys the conversation

In person conversations involve body language of both the person listening and speaking; body language is a major component of conversations and therefore, it is wrong to assume the results of an “artificial conversation” to be one similar and better in a real conversation (Fredrickson 111). As stated before, multiple people listened to

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.

Smartphones are available everywhere and keep people busy by linking the gaps in the daily lives of people by keeping them entertained or deserving too much attention by creating a line of notification. The smartphones interfere with the direct conversations of people and end up reducing them. They manage to help people to evade conversation because they use text messages or social media to communicate hence, missing crucial elements of conversation. A small segment of the conversation is relayed and aspects such a tone, facial expression or the body language are ignored using smartphones (Roberts 8). Although the phones serve as a way to dodge small talks, the influence is extending beyond the bus or train stop. People also post most information on social media about funerals and weddings hence, capacitate others to get out of

Although the scale of this investigation is rather small I found for practicing anthropology to be different than I had originally anticipated. After the process I have concluded that conducting properly as an ethnographer in the moment is rather challenging. Although none of my original questions were leading I skewed them during the conversation and therefore allowed room for my influence to persuade the interviewee. Secondly, I have learned that at certain points during an interview, formal or informal, it is necessary to give up the agenda and follow the natural flow of the conversation. Letting the interviewee fully articulate their thoughts without interruption is the best way to stimulate meaningful responses. From this experience I learned that it is important to remain conscious of the original agenda while anticipating change in order to adapt preemptively. In some cases, particularly for larger research agendas, investigating the topic before the interview process could benefit the findings. Although my specific topic is more personal to individuals than other ethnographies, prior research could include statistics of siblings at college institutions and various other numbers supporting or negating whether or not it is a positive thing for family members to go to college together. If I were to continue research on this topic I would take it upon myself to

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

The interviews will be collected using a recorder, with consent of the participant. Then the data will be transcribed narratively, demonstrating important discussion and also

The ways of ethnology have modified significantly over the years. Throughout the second part of the previous century, there was a unilinear evolution of society where it included all human beings. Anthropologists, for example, Spencer, Morgan, Tyler, and Lubbock supported this idea. However, Boas argues the techniques of analysis into the historical improvement of society. More current advancement as for the surprising changes moves back to some extent to the impact of Ratzel whose geological activity inspired him with the significance of spreading and migrations. Hence, through this time ethnological study, especially in England and Germany, is based upon the notion of migration and spread instead of evolution (Boas: 117).

Rubin’s piece on qualitative interviewing presents ideas that have not been mentioned in the reading above; this conversation brings forth the idea of cultural connotations as well as the belief that the interviewer is not an objective member in the process but rather an active participant. While Cribb and Berger delve into the methods of proper interviewing they miss an essential first step; understanding the possibility of diverse meanings attached to words. Rubin specifies that before the interviewing process begins the two involved (interviewer and interviewee) must come to a shared meaning of the words to be used in the interview in order to prevent confusion among the parties. Berger and Cribb assume that throughout their conversation the interviewee will not encounter a word or phrase that holds different meaning to the researcher, however as Rubin discusses this is not the case. Due to the vast amount of diverse cultures in the world, the chance of approaching a word that holds a separate meaning to the two parties is highly likely and will affect the outcome of the

To begin, the authors introduce their topic by conceptualizing conventional forms of ethnography, including its use of a researcher as a participant-observer in an unknown culture, and practices like interviews, surveys, informants, and settings (Martey and Shiflett, 5). With these developed practices, the authors’ main argument is to show

The method of ethnographic research was popularized by anthropologists. And has since then moved over to other social sciences, as proof of its effectiveness. There are many researchers that favor this approach over others, given the nature of the data collected as a result of the interactions with the subjects of a study. On the other hand, the are those who argue the compromised position a researcher would see itself in after having observed the subjects of study from “the inside”. I consider myself included on the first group, as research information obtained by submerging yourself inside a culture could be considered more honest, therefore, more reliable.

Central idea: Humans have always communicated face-to-face and the use of technology poses cognitive obstacles to communication. The lack of human presence during technology-mediated communication contributes to less nonverbal cues possibly creating a politer conversation if it is not face-to-face.

In addition, the interviewer was afforded the opportunity to ask more detailed questions. One main advantage of this process was that the respondents’ own words were recorded and the interviewer was able to resolve any uncertainties. Since the interviews were done face-to-face, the interviewees were more comfortable and able to express their opinions openly. The interview process entailed the use of an office assistant. She was versed in shorthand and took notes and transcribed information for the researcher. The interviews were also recorded using a digital recorder.