Research Design

 



Steps to Creating a Research Design

  • usually begin with abroad research question, but this question must be clearly articulated and carefully linked to the methodology of the research itself.
  • Research question usually emerges from observations gathered from informal visits to the fieldsite
  • linked to the process of exploration/modified in the field
  • good question centers around interests of the larger research community if possible
    • research NARROWLY and think BROADLY
    • read and think deeply about prior work
    • think historically
    • do a thorough literature review
    • something you are DEEPLY CURIOUS ABOUT
  • requires lengthly period of engagement, based on participant observation,  entailing a significant commitment of time, emotion and energy.
Selecting a Group or Activity to Study
  • must always explain what you mean by "community"
  • group size depends on the community or activity you are studying
Scope of the Fieldsite
  • single site (traditional)
    • focused
  • multi-sited ethnography (more illustrative of the post globalization world). 
    • sites trace linkages: people, artifact, behaviors across national boundaries.
    • online and offline
    • follow the behavior rather than be constrained by a physical boundary
Offline Contexts and Online Contexts intertwine in a variety of ways.
  • Understanding how to behave within social groupings is the first and most important task of the ethnographer entering a fieldsite. 
  • specialized knowledge: language, religion, food traditions, politeness rules, gender distinctions, etc. are all part of necessary knowledge. 
  • in-person interaction is more productive (easier to get information).
  • participant observation is the bedrock of ethnography
Fieldsite is our partner's room for today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Urban Legends Interview: Discovering Language

Image
Assuming these widely-shared tales are not actually true, what makes them endure?  Urban legends are those fanciful tales that grip listeners and are spread widely across continents and oceans while repeated by individuals often claiming the facts reported in the tale happened to a “friend of a friend,” or are based on “facts” reported in news reports that the teller of the tale had allegedly read in the past.   A classic example of an enduring urban legend is the enduring tale of the blind, white alligators that inhabit the sewers of New York. In the legends, sun-seeking tourist return from Florida with pet alligators, small babies that quickly became unmanageable and their owners, unwilling to kill them, simply flush them down the toilet. In this environment rich in food (rats), but lacking in sunlight, the alligators became blind albinos, witnessed by the occasional unwary New Yorker of urban legend. they are not necessarily urban nor are they legends in the strict sense of the term
Read more

Initial Themes from Beginning of Fieldwork

Image
                                                                      Chunky Marinara Drag as Inclusion/celebration: Sandy Beach : book newer queens to work with more experienced queens. The mentor thing, it is what we do. Mimi caused a bit of a stir…drag exploded. At the same time, Ru Paul has shoved drag into the mainstream. Its exploded now. Is Ru Paul’s drag race now setting the standard? Will it go back to being cookie cutter…marketting yourself for television instead of entertainment and performance. Cleophatra:  Drag is a celebration of everything, life, unity, inclusion…it should never be something that excludes. The only label I need is my name. Gender queer punk rock aret comedy, dance, camp, queens. Drag queens do not have to conform to a mold. The performance art community is very gender fluid in Philadelophia, in drag, burlesque everywhere. Drag can be cookie cutter or open. In AC, it is open Farrah: Its  our second high school…we were bullied in high school and now the dr
Read more

Fieldwork and Field Methods

Image
  Fieldwork/Field Methods Anthropologists strive to produce DETAILED, SITUATED accounts of specific cultures in a manner that reflects the perspective of the people in that culture.  The concept of THICK DESCRIPTION describes the kind of writing that is rich in situated context (Geertz) Anthropologists have respect for those that we study and their authority Fieldwork is by definition an EMBODIED practice where the anthropologist places themselves physically within the cultural they are studying. What to make of virtual or even technologically mediated participant observation, and can this even be possible? so.... Fieldwork is the foundation of creating  ethnography  in anthropology (Malinowski) The field is the site for doing research, and  fieldworking  is the process of doing it although there are other methods,  participant-observation  is the principle method for collecting data when fieldworking P-O studies people within the context of their (sub) culture fieldworking requires an
Read more