Natural? The romantic notion of ethnographic research is that we conduct naturalistic observation. But what is natural? Anthropologists understand that in any research setting we begin with some level of unnaturalness - it’s impossible to avoid. The trick? The first step is to acknowledge this fact. The second is to decide how much unnaturalness the study can handle. In other words, we must first understand that we are intruders and then we must decide what level of intrusion our study, our participants and we as researchers can tolerate.
October 29th, 2007 - Posted in Ethnography | |
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We watched our nephew get Bar Mitvah(ed). He did an amazing job, as we all knew he would. But really interesting was his choice of “Bar Mitzvah” project. On his invitation we read that rather than gifts, he wanted everyone to donate money to their local animal shelter or the ASPCA. Everyone who really knows our nephew knows how deep his love for animals goes, so his choice was easy to understand. When we got to his house he was his usual talkative self and couldn’t wait to point out that people had made donations to shelters from Montana to New Hampshire. Maybe more interesting were the responses on the cards he got back. Everyone was thanking him for such a great idea — they seemed to have gotten as much out of the project as he did! And the shelters too, some who sent cards, were equally impressed by his idea. In other words, everyone was thankful for the gift they received by participating in our nephew’s project!
Giving has once again become an incredibly important activity in our society. The difference today is the desire to give at all levels — but especially to make local, small and very targeted gifts. An interesting example of a type of organization popping up is Bring Light.
Bringlight creates an online “giving marketplace.” More importantly, Bring Light helps you 1) find causes that connect to you specifically and may connect to you because they are literally right around the corner, and 2) better understand where your money goes and how it makes a difference.
Our nephew and Bringlight are just a few examples of the new giving trend. If you’re reading and feel the urge to give, great. If you want to be in on our nephew’s project – go for it. And let me know if you do, cause I would love to let our nephew know just how many animals his project helped.
October 17th, 2007 - Posted in Cultural Trends | |
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Ethnography’s primary focus is on the observation of daily and even mundane behaviors that get connected back to larger societal and cultural behaviors. But ethnography must take the longview too. Historical context is an essential part of ethnographic and anthropological analysis.
October 15th, 2007 - Posted in Ethnography | |
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Ethnographic data is not insightful on its own. Interpretation is the necessary for the data to gain meaning. This is key. By itself, ethnography is only a method. When you do ethnography you must also decide the type of interpretation you will use. The approaches are numerous, from anthropological to ergonomic. Without this step ethnography remains just description. “Thick” description, but just description nonetheless.
October 8th, 2007 - Posted in Ethnography | |
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