4. Researching Culture

This is the comment-and-question page for chapter two of Introducing Anthropology in Cultural Anthropology. The chapter is titled “Research Methods” as they pertain to social or cultural anthropology. Pountney and Marić make the case that “anthropology as a discipline is unique in its commitment to explore human cultures. . . . Social anthropologists learn about the culture of another society most distinctively through fieldwork and first-hand observation” (2021, 26). In our previous class we discussed how anthropology attempted to be an empirical answer to some of the “big” questions in Western thought. For the next class, we explored researching culture through the classic Public Space project.

Ethnography

• History of anthropological research methods

Bronislaw Malinowski

• Factors influencing choice of research method

Thomas Ward, Gangsters without Borders

• Participant observation

• Interviews

• Life histories

• Reflexivity in anthropology

Mwenda Ntarengwi, Reversed Gaze: An African Ethnography of American Anthropology
Brian Morris, An Environmental History of Southern Malawi
Garry Marvin, Bullfight

Researching Culture, digitally

Daniel Miller, Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing
Sarah Pink, Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practice
Crystal Abidin, Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures