Introduction to Methods in Cultural Anthropology In this topic, you will explore how anthropologists conduct research with a special focus on ethics in anthropology. You will also have an opportunity to develop your own research proposal in Activity 1. Please note that you have 5 Activities due in this class ( If you are taking the class as the 8 week option you have 3 activities and if you are taking the class as a 12 week option you have four activities). Please note that no matter what option you are taking, you do end up doing all the work of the acitivies but in a different format). Due dates for the activities are noted on the When Assignments are Due page. Be sure to allow adequate time to complete. Please review all the assignments now and make plans in your schedule to work on them. These assignments are meant to help you learn the material as well as give you an opportunity to show what you are learning beyond just quizzes and exams. Horizontal Rule Objectives After completing the learning activities for this topic, you will be able to: List, define, and apply the steps in conducting fieldwork. Describe and cite examples of data-gathering techniques. Analyze the nature of ethical dilemmas in anthropological field work. Click on the image below to view a photo gallery. How Anthropologists Do Research -- The Importance of Ethics Written by Dr. Katherine R. Rowell, Professor of Sociology, Sinclair Community College Your textbook discusses the 5 steps of conducting anthropological research or fieldwork. I typically add another step in the beginning known as preparation. Thus, there are six steps to conducting anthropological fieldwork. In fact, the first step, preparation, is important for anyone visiting another culture or working with people from another culture. Step 1: Preparation Preparing to conduct research on a different culture or visit another culture can be time consuming. One of the most important issues is geographical location of the culture you plan to visit or study. There are funding issues, health precautions (shots and medications), governmental permissions (visas and passports), language issues (Do you have an interpreter? or Do you know the language?), Personal affairs (Who is going to pay your bills? Feed your cat?), Packing issues (How much are you allowed to take? What items are a necessity?) and finally, do you have an informant and a site to do research? (Someone within that culture to help you with your research or help you on your visit). These issues take a lot of time to work out and are an important first step. Step 2: Selecting a Research Problem In the past the goal of anthropological research was to describe a culture in as much detail as possible (ethnography). Today, the research is typically problem based. For example, when I went to Botswana, Swaziland, and South Africa my goal was to understand the AIDS crisis and compare approaches to reducing HIV/AIDS in these countries. Often times the re.

1. Introduction to Methods in Cultural Anthropology
In this topic, you will explore how anthropologists conduct
research with a special focus on ethics in anthropology. You
will also have an opportunity to develop your own research
proposal in Activity 1.
Please note that you have 5 Activities due in this class ( If you
are taking the class as the 8 week option you have 3 activities
and if you are taking the class as a 12 week option you have
four activities). Please note that no matter what option you are
taking, you do end up doing all the work of the acitivies but in a
different format). Due dates for the activities are noted on the
When Assignments are Due page. Be sure to allow adequate
time to complete. Please review all the assignments now and
make plans in your schedule to work on them. These
assignments are meant to help you learn the material as well as
give you an opportunity to show what you are learning beyond
just quizzes and exams.
Horizontal Rule
Objectives
After completing the learning activities for this topic, you will
be able to:
List, define, and apply the steps in conducting fieldwork.
Describe and cite examples of data-gathering techniques.
Analyze the nature of ethical dilemmas in anthropological field
work.
Click on the image below to view a photo gallery.
How Anthropologists Do Research -- The Importance of Ethics

2. Written by Dr. Katherine R. Rowell, Professor of Sociology,
Sinclair Community College
Your textbook discusses the 5 steps of conducting
anthropological research or fieldwork. I typically add another
step in the beginning known as preparation. Thus, there are six
steps to conducting anthropological fieldwork. In fact, the first
step, preparation, is important for anyone visiting another
culture or working with people from another culture.
Step 1: Preparation
Preparing to conduct research on a different culture or visit
another culture can be time consuming. One of the most
important issues is geographical location of the culture you plan
to visit or study. There are funding issues, health precautions
(shots and medications), governmental permissions (visas and
passports), language issues (Do you have an interpreter? or Do
you know the language?), Personal affairs (Who is going to pay
your bills? Feed your cat?), Packing issues (How much are you
allowed to take? What items are a necessity?) and finally, do
you have an informant and a site to do research? (Someone
within that culture to help you with your research or help you
on your visit). These issues take a lot of time to work out and
are an important first step.
Step 2: Selecting a Research Problem
In the past the goal of anthropological research was to describe
a culture in as much detail as possible (ethnography). Today,
the research is typically problem based. For example, when I
went to Botswana, Swaziland, and South Africa my goal was to
understand the AIDS crisis and compare approaches to reducing
HIV/AIDS in these countries. Often times the research question
is theory driven. We will cover theories in week 3.
Step 3: Formulating a Research Design
While there are both deductive and inductive means to
conducting research, your textbook presents the deductive
hypothesis testing model. Thus, you should decide what
hypothesis you are going to test and what variables you are
going to examine. Your textbook uses a study of Kenya to help

3. you understand this step, and I will use my own example to
further help you understand.
In my AIDS examination, I hypothesized that gender impacted
the ways in which a culture developed programs to prevent
HIV/AIDS and specifically the messages they sent about HIV
prevention. Thus, in this statement gender is the independent
variable. I believe that it might cause differences in HIV/AIDS
programming.
The next step was to define how I planned to measure or study
these two variables. I decided to focus on billboards and written
messages to the public about HIV/AIDS programming as my
dependent variable. I took photos of every billboard and
collected every brochure I could find trying to prevent
HIV/AIDS. I then compared the messages about men and women
in each. Some messages were gender neutral and others were
geared towards men and women. I coded these based on positive
and negative images. Here are some examples.
Step 4 Collect Data
There are numerous ways to collect data. In my AIDS example,
I mostly collected pictures and brochures. I did some
interviewing but did not do participant observation. In part, the
way you collect data really depends on your research question,
the amount of time and funds you have to conduct research, and
the culture you are studying.
Participant observation is a common method used by
anthropologists. However this method can be very time
consuming. There are many advantages of this method and
disadvantages. They are presented in a chart on page 103.
Interviewing is another method. Again, there are different ways
of conducting interviews. There is a table on page 106 that
presents steps.
Other methods of collecting data include census taking,
mapping, document analysis (this is the method I used in the

4. AIDS research), collecting genealogies, photography, and socio-
metric tracking. All the methods have issues
of validity and reliability.
Reliable research is research that can be tested by others. If
they find similar results the research was reliable.
Validity is a little more difficult. Validity is whether you
discovered the real truth or the entire story. There are multiple
ways to check for validity. The reliability and validity issue is
best demonstrated by the IQ test. The IQ test is a very reliable
measure. You can take it today and six months from now and
basically your score will be the same. Thus, it is rather reliable.
However, the question of validity is a different question. Is it
really measuring intelligence? Is it a valid measure of
intelligence? Some would say yes and others no.
You can use multiple data gathering techniques to see if you
find similar results. No matter what we know people change
their behavior when they are being studied, and good
anthropological research takes time and use of good techniques.
Your textbook does discuss a new method called rapid
ethnographic assessment. What do you think about this method?
How long does it really take to understand a problem in another
culture? Just something to think about.
Step 5: Analyzing the Data
This is where you look at all the data you have collected in Step
4. I had to code all the pictures by day and location including
the country and whether or not it was in a rural or urban
location. I did the same with the brochures. I also went back
and coded the few interviews that I conducted.
Step 6: Interpreting the Data
Depending on your research question, you will look back at
your hypothesis to see if you were correct or you may come up
with ideas for solutions to problems. In my AIDS work, I
discovered that there were gender differences in how the issue
of HIV/AIDS was being discussed in the countries. However,
there was a big difference in urban and rural areas. Overall, I
did discover that the cultural lens of gender does play a role in

5. how HIV/AIDS education and programming is discussed and
presented in all three countries. Although there were differences
in all three countries. I then used this research and compared it
to some of the theories and presented several sessions on the
issues facing women in sub-Saharan Africa. You can read more
about the AIDS crisis by going to United Nations Program on
HIV/AIDS.
While most of you will not have the opportunity to conduct
anthropological research, you may have the opportunity to visit
another country. Culture shock is something that many people
face. (See page 112 for a table that lists the symptoms of culture
shock.)
I have been fortunate in that I have not really been faced with
serious culture shock. In part this may be due to my training as
a sociologist, or it may be due to the fact that I am part of a
subculture in the United States known as Appalachians. I have
found many cultures share some of the subcultural values that I
have. Although, using a pit toilet numerous times in my life did
not prepare me for trying to stand over a hole on a moving
train!!!!
Working in another culture, visiting another culture, or just
making friends with people from a different culture can often
result in the development of a bicultural perspective. This is the
ability to view the world through two or more cultures at one
time.
Of all the important points in conducting researching on other
cultures, ethics is of utmost importance. In the past,
anthropologists probably harmed numerous cultures and
changed them. One such example is Project Camelot as
discussed in your textbook. You will want to be sure to read
over the ethics section in Chapter 3(if you have the 10th edition
of this book). If you do not have the 10th edition of this book,
the ethics section is still in Chapter 5.
Anthropologists have major areas of responsibility when
working with other cultures. Of utmost importance is not to
cause physical or psychological harm to those being studied.

6. Participation should always be voluntary and participants
should know they are being studied. They have the right to
informed consent. (Be sure to review the list presented in your
textbook.)
In conclusion, much of what you will learn in your other
courses and in your major about other cultures and how to work
for other cultures is from anthropological research. Medical
anthropology is a huge discipline. Many of our medications
come from indigenous people and so called "primitive cultures."
In math education there is a field known
as ethnomathematics where they study how different cultures
learn mathematical concepts. There are numerous books on how
to conduct business in other cultures. The list goes on and on.
Anthropological research plays an important role in helping you
learn how to interact with others who are different from you.
You will find that anthropologists don't give you the "lists" of
how to work with people who are different from you. Because
of ideal versus real culture, subcultures, and the fact that all
individuals are different, these lists can be problematic. For
example, although I am Appalachian, I have lived outside that
community for a long time and have adapted new acceptable
norms. If you are given lists on how to treat people from
different cultures, always keep in mind that the lists may not be
totally accurate.
Discussion Forum 2 - Ethical Dilemmas
See the following three dilemmas below. For this discussion
forum you will need to do a post that includes your thoughts on
each dilemma. In order to make this clear, you will need to post
three times.
In the subject headings, use Dilemma 1, Dilemma 2, and
Dilemma 3. You will need to write only write at minimum five

7. sentences for each one and cite for each one (like you did for
Week 1 but this time, you do have to do 3 separate posts). Since
this requires a little more work, you do still need to reply to at
least one Dilemma 1, Dilemma 2, and Dilemma 3 but your
replies can be one or two sentences noting if you agree or
disagree with classmates.
So, how to do you survive (perform at full credit) for this
discussion forum?
Post three times on your own, One post should be Dilemma 1,
One post should be Dilemma 2, and one post should be Dilemma
3. You do need to include a citation in each dilemma. Since this
requires a little more work, you only need to write 4 sentences
for each post (more is always welcome).
After you have posted your thoughts on each dilemma, you do
need to reply to at least one student on Dilemma 1, Dilemma 2,
and Dilemma 3 but replies can be two sentences.
See Rubric Below for how this assignment will be
evaluated/graded.
Horizontal Rule
Dilemma 1
Mary Thompson had been conducting fieldwork in a Southeast
Asian community for 18 months. Her house was ideally located
on the edge of the village plaza, allowing her to readily observe
daily activities that took place in the plaza. In addition to
gatherings of women who shared food preparation tasks and
talk, and groups of men working individually on carvings, the
plaza was regularly a gathering place for men at night.
Imange of man stabbing another manOne night while Thompson
was working up some statistical problems in her house, she was
distracted by loud, seemingly argumentative discussions in the

8. plaza. When the noise of the argument reached a high pitch, she
decided to investigate the situation. Just as she stepped from her
doorway, she saw one of the men in the group of five, angrily
raise his machete and deliver a deadly blow to another--Tom--in
the group. Stunned silence fell over the other three men, as they
watched their companion quickly bleed to death before their
eyes. Moments later people from the other homes began moving
into the plaza in response to the wailing that came from the man
who had wielded the machete. Mournful crying and wailing was
carried throughout the village. The family members of the dead
man carried him to their home and began funeral preparations.
The next evening, Tom was buried. The man who had dealt the
deadly blow was allowed to participate in the funeral and to
make a death payment to the family of the deceased.
Two days after the funeral, three regional policemen came to
the village. As part of a new governmental program designed to
reduce blood feuds, the regional authorities now regularly
sought to arrest and jail people who were involved in killings.
They had heard about the recent death.
They began questioning the villagers in an attempt to determine
if Tom had been "murdered." Thompson had written a detailed
description of the events of the night of Tom's death in her
notebook which contained a running record of village activities.
Thompson's Dilemma: (1) Since she knew the police would
question her, should she quickly tear out and destroy the pages
in her notebook where the events were recorded? (2) When
questioned by the police should she, like the other villagers,
plead ignorance concerning the killing?
Horizontal Rule
Dilemma 2

9. Rose Stone moved into an urban ghetto in order to study
strategies for survival used by low-income residents. During the
first six months of research, Stone was gradually integrated into
the community through invitations (which she accepted) to
attend dances, parties, church functions, and family outings, and
by "hanging out" at local service facilities (laundromats, health
centers, recreation centers, and so on). She was able to discern
that there were two important survival tactics used by the
community residents which she could not engage in: the first
was a system of reciprocity in the exchange of goods and
services (neither of which she felt she had to offer), and the
second was outright theft of easily pawned or sold goods
(clothing, jewelry, radios, TVs, and so on).
Man breaking into carOne night, a friend from the community
stopped by "for a cup of coffee" and conversation. After they
had been talking for about two hours, Stone's friend told her
that she had some things she wanted to give her. The friend
went out to her car and returned with a box of clothing (Stone's
size) and a record player. Stone was a bit overwhelmed by the
generosity of the gift and protested her right to accept such
costly items. Her friend laughed and said, "Don't you worry, it's
not out of my pocket," but then she became more serious and
said, "Either you are one of us or you aren't one of us. You can't
have it both ways. "
Stone's Dilemma: Suspecting that the items she was being
offered were probably "hot" (e.g., stolen), she was afraid that if
she wore the clothes in public, or had the record player in her
apartment, she would be arrested for "accepting stolen goods."
At the same time, she knew that "hot" items were often given to
close friends when it was observed that they could use them.
Still, this implied that there would be reciprocal giving (not
necessarily in kind) at a later date. So, should she accept or
refuse the proffered gifts?

10. Horizontal Rule
Dilemma 3
Fingers crossed behind backMickey Jordan had developed a
collaborative social-impact assessment project involving two
colleagues and three students. The six-person team was
responsible for collecting field data in a wide geographical area
at some distance from their university. Each person was
responsible for a specific region. The data were fed, by region,
into a computer on a weekly basis and monthly meetings were
held so that progress reports could be made by team members.
At these meetings, names of individuals who had been
interviewed during the preceding period were given as a means
of checking off the list of identified community specialists, so
that the overall progress of the project could be ascertained.
Information filed in the computer did not contain informants'
names or other identifiers, as a measure for maintaining
confidentiality and anonymity of informants. Each member of
the team was paid by the funds made available through a
contract with a federal agency (the faculty members were able
to buy release time from teaching with contract funds).
Jordan had an occasion to be in the region assigned to one of
the faculty members, Brian Cash, and happened to find himself
talking with one of Cash's reported informants, Henry Jones.
Jordon took the opportunity to ask Jones for clarification of
reported data that had puzzled him. Jones appeared confused
and asked Jordan why he was asking him "these questions."
Jordan explained that he had been curious about specific details
of Cash's report and thought this would be an opportune time to
get further information. Jones said that he had never heard of
Brian Cash, much less having ever talked to him, and
furthermore he did not even know a research project was being
conducted in his community.

11. Jordan's Dilemma: Should he accept Jones's statement as a
denial of participation in the project to maintain anonymity?
Should he accuse Jones of lying? Should he drop the matter for
the moment and later tell Cash about the incident? Perhaps Cash
had lied about interviewing Jones? Should be confront Cash
with this suspicion? Since it was some distance to the field site
from the university, should he [Jordan] now seek out other
informants Cash had reported on to determine whether or not
they had been interviewed? Or, were there other tactics to be
employed?
After you have posted your opinion on the discussion forum,
you may want to go to the American Anthropological
Association Website on Ethics to view their responses.