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‘Duh! We knew that!’ – The Goal of Ethnography

Published on November 1, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, fieldwork / methods

TechnoTaste

I was reading recently in Weiss’ book Learning From Strangers, and was struck by one simple passage. It stated that the goal of any research, ethnography included, was to answer a question – to provide some information that wasn’t previously known. I think ethnography is different.

Anthropologists have developed the habit of delivering the final ethnography to the group under study, and gathering their reactions as a sort of postscript. When I have done this, I have encountered a reaction that I think many ethnographers have: the study participants all say ‘Duh! We knew that!’

In the context of ethnography I consider this the mark of success, not of failure. Here’s why >> continue

TechnoTaste

I was reading recently in Weiss’ book Learning From Strangers, and was struck by one simple passage. It stated that the goal of any research, ethnography included, was to answer a question - to provide some information that wasn’t previously…

Acoustic Environments in Change – a multi-disciplinary project

Published on October 19, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, ecology nature, fieldwork / methods, music

Department of Music Anthropology, University of Tampere (Finland)

The Department of Music Anthropology is an indisputable pioneer of soundscape research in Finland. “The word has been used to describe the field of sounds that surrounds us: noise, music, the sounds of nature, people and technology”, PhD Helmi Järviluoma explains.

The Department of Music Anthropology takes part in an international project where the researchers and artists study the soundscapes of six European villages and the changes in their soundscapes. >> continue or go directly to the multimedia presentation Acoustic Environments in Change!

Department of Music Anthropology, University of Tampere (Finland)

The Department of Music Anthropology is an indisputable pioneer of soundscape research in Finland. "The word has been used to describe the field of sounds that surrounds us: noise, music, the sounds of…

The Anthropologist as Barman – Durham Anthropology Journal fulltext online

Published on October 17, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, culture traditions, Europe, fieldwork / methods, journal articles / papers, music, Open Access Anthropology and Knowledge Sharing, tourism

Adam R. Kaul, Durham Anthropology Journal

My doctoral research looks at the way in which tourism is changing and interacting with the performance and meaning of traditional Irish music. I carried out over 14 months of fieldwork in a small, rural Irish village of under 600 people, called Doolin, in northwest County Clare.

Anthropologists and sociologists are relatively new to the field of tourism, but I would argue we have some powerful qualitative tools at our disposal that can contribute to a much richer understanding of tourists and tourist destinations. This is true not just for tourist populations, but for other mobile or shifting groups like asylum seekers or economic migrants.

We need to start discussing the everyday realities of doing fieldwork, the potential problems and opportunities, in much more detail in the literature, and how they might be used as units of analysis in and of themselves. >> continue

SEE ALSO
More articles in Volume 12 / Issue 1 Durham Anthropology Journal (Formerly Dyn)

Adam R. Kaul, Durham Anthropology Journal

James Acheson the 2004 winner of American Anthropological Association’s award

Published on October 15, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, ecology nature, fieldwork / methods, Northern America, persons and theories

Eurek Alert

University of Maine anthropology and marine sciences professor James Acheson has been named the 2004 winner of the American Anthropological Association’s Kimball award for effecting change in public policy. Acheson will receive the Award at the association’s annual meeting in San Francisco in November.

“In the past few years, my primary contribution has been to use ‘rational choice theory’ to show under what conditions groups of people will and will not develop rules to conserve the resources on which their livelihood depends,” Acheson says. “This has led me into a far more theoretical realm – namely trying to understand the circumstances under which people develop rules in general.”

Acheson has studied the system of self governance in the Maine lobster industry and has chronicled the circumstances under which lobster fishermen developed informal rules and lobbied for formal laws to conserve the lobster stock. >> continue

READ ALSO
James Acheson: Capturing the Commons (University Press of New England)

Eurek Alert

University of Maine anthropology and marine sciences professor James Acheson has been named the 2004 winner of the American Anthropological Association's Kimball award for effecting change in public policy. Acheson will receive the Award at the association's annual meeting…

New book: Anthropologist roams the corridors and meeting rooms of the BBC

Published on October 4, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, books, corporate & business anthropology, fieldwork / methods

The Guardian

What happens when you let a sharp-eyed anthropologist roam the corridors and meeting rooms of the British Broadcasting Corporation for several years? You get this, a fascinating patchwork of interviews, testimonials, diary entries and analysis that offers distressing evidence – if any still were needed – of the ideological vandalism committed by John Birt in the name of efficiency. >> continue

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More info on the book “Uncertain Vision: Birt, Dyke and the reinvention of the BBC”Research project: The Future of Public Service Broadcasting (Cambridge University)

The Guardian