Week 3 Overview

Topic

Doing Anthropology: How do we research culture?


Goals

By the end of this week you should be able to:

  • Describe three stages in the history of research in cultural anthropology.
  • Conceptualize the several stages involved in designing and carrying out a research project in cultural anthropology.
  • Explain how the research goals of cultural anthropology influence the selection of methods for data gathering and analysis.
  • Recognize the difference between etics and emics.
  • Define participant observation, what it involves, and why it is the central research method in cultural anthropology.
  • Explain how microcultural differences affect research in cultural anthropology.
  • Name several special types of data gathered by cultural anthropologists and provide an example of what they reveal.
  • Describe key differences between qualitative and quantitative data, how the two types of data are analyzed, and what they reveal about culture.
  • Discuss ethical issues in cultural anthropology research and how anthropologists face them.
  • List major safety issues in cultural anthropology research and know how they can be better addressed.
  • Discuss the culture of the Trobriand Islanders of Papua New Guinea and contemporary challenges they are facing.
  • Recognize and locate the places that appear in the maps in this chapter and know something about their social characteristics.

Weekly Schedule

Due date Activity
2/4 Reading:Miller Ch. 2 pp. 27-43