FieldMethods2021

                                                                      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

  What the hell do I do with all these fieldnotes? Discovering THEMES in your qualitative research: WORD-BASED TECHNIQUES (easy) TEXTUAL SCRUTINY (harder) ANALYZING LINGUISTIC FEATURES (not impossible) MANIPULATION OR THE TEXT (can't beat it- necessary) Word-based techniques  are typically a fast and efficient ways to start looking for themes, and are particularly useful at early stages of theme identification. These techniques are also easy for novice researchers to apply.  1. Word repetitions If you want to understand what people are talking about, look at the words they use. Words that occur a lot are often seen as being salient in the minds of respondents.  D'Andrade notes that "perhaps the simplest and most direct indication of schematic organization in naturalistic discourse is the repetition of associative linkages" (1991:294).  Anyone who has listened to long stretches of talk, whether generated by a friend, spouse, workmate, informant, or patient, knows how f

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

 Fieldworkers look to both verbal and nonverbal language to understand rules and meanings at their fieldsite Why study verbal language? verbal language brings nonverbal thoughts and ideas to the surface language can become the focal point of your research informants "voices" are most clearly transmitted through their verbal communication What do systems of communication reveal? solidarity and exclusion markers aspects unique to culture (jargon) symbolic systems within a culture the relationship between language and culture Nonverbal Communication: Body Language and Culture proxemics-use of and meaning of space kinesics-meaning of body movement and gesture microsignals-gaze (etc.) -unconsciouss small signals touch-meaning and use dress and adornments-meaning of chosen displayed symbols of identity tatoos dress hair piercings teeth makeup plastic surgery or other bodily "mutilations" Linking Words and Culture look for key words, phrases and ideas that serve as clues i

  "Stepping into the Worldview of Others" When we interview informants, we step into their worldview by stepping out of our own, we LISTEN CAREFULLY, but also notice the ARTIFACTS and MANNERISMS through which they express themselves and their identity. Good Interviewing is a collaboration between you and your informant, not very different from a friendly talk. skills: establishing rapport letting your informant drive the direction of the interview: digressing, topic changing, etc. listening carefully steering the interview in response to your informants' accounting THE INTERVIEW Expect the unexpected answer and follow its lead Work from your structured (prepared) questions (theory/assumptions) but listen carefully to answers to see where they go-BE FLEXIBLE It is our job to reveal our informants' perspectives and experiences rather than our own. ASKING QUESTIONS closed questions: answer is finite (don't ask too many) open questions: answer begs elaboration (takes

  What is an ethnographic interview? IF anthropology is the study of what we (humans) do and say and think and mean, and IF we cannot read minds… THEN the most ethically correct (and also effective, efficient, etc.) way to get at the thoughts and beliefs and understandings of other human beings is by asking them , in addition to observing them, thereby allowing  real human beings  to have  real voices and a real say  in what and why and how they do and say and think as they do.  “Man, drag queens are a unique bunch,” I think to myself. And I’ve done a solid amount of participant observing among them in pageants and shows for years. I can even arrive at conclusions based on my observing: “It seems to me that their decision to do drag are decisions to pursue their passions, despite the economic and social risks which still exist today. I mean, they talk about the importance of doing what you love and stuff all the time.” I continue thinking: “And yet… it seems to me that they share a st