Trobriand Islands

Fieldwork is the most important method by which cultural anthropologists gather data to answer their research questions. While interacting on a daily basis with a group of people, cultural anthropologists document their observations and perceptions and adjust the focus of their research as needed.

Malinowski originated the school of social anthropology known as functionalism. In contrast to Radcliffe-Brown’s structural functionalism, Malinowski argued that culture functioned to meet the needs of individuals rather than society as a whole.

Participant observation was introduced into anthropology at the beginning of the twentieth century when Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942) challenged the traditional paradigm of researchers conducting their studies from the veranda of a missionary station, by taking accounts from individuals rather than observing …

Fieldwork developed from those who wished to learn more and who were willing to fully take on the lives of the people they studied in order to get those answers.

Four common qualitative anthropological data collection methods are: (1) participant observation, (2) in-depth interviews, (3) focus groups, and (4) textual analysis. Participant Observation. Participant observation is the quintessential fieldwork method in anthropology. In-Depth Individual Interviews.

The main advantage of ethnography is that it gives the researcher direct access to the culture and practices of a group. It is a useful approach for learning first-hand about the behavior and interactions of people within a particular context.

How to Do Ethnography Research

1. Identify Research Question. Determine what problem you are seeking to better understand.
2. Determine Location(s) for Research.
3. Formulate Presentation Method.
4. Acquire Permissions and Access.
5. Observe and Participate.
6. Interview.
7. Collect Archival Data.
8. Code and Analyze Data.

Ethnography is conventionally written in first person, from the researcher’s point of view. Using first person we can connect directly with the reader. One consideration you must address when writing in first person is how present the researcher ‘I’ is in your narrative.

With the workings of power as its analytic focus, institutional ethnography is useful to critical psychologists studying the agencies and institutions in which psychologists work and offers a radical methodological alternative to studying organization design and program evaluation, by making connections between the …

Definition: “The study of the culture and social organization of a particular group or community… Ethnography refers to both the data gathering of anthropology and the development of analysis of specific peoples, settings, or ways of life.”

Grounded theory is an approach whereby the researcher refers back to the literature relevant to the research topic and to qualitative observations throughout data collection and analysis.

Grounded theory is a well-known methodology employed in many research studies. Qualitative and quantitative data generation techniques can be used in a grounded theory study. Grounded theory sets out to discover or construct theory from data, systematically obtained and analysed using comparative analysis.

Cons (disadvantages) Grounded theory methods tend to produce large amounts of data, often difficult to manage. Researchers need to be skillful in using grounded theory methods. There are no standard rules to follow for the identification of categories.

Disadvantages of Grounded Theory Methodology

• Grounded theory methodology is time consuming and difficult to conduct.
• There is a great room for researcher-induced bias.
• Presentation of research findings in grounded theory is not straightforward.