Doing Cultural Anthropology: Projects for Ethnographic Data Collection

201 Pages·2006·3.09 MB·English

by  Michael V. Angrosino

second edition
Doing Cultural
Anthropology
….
second edition
Doing Cultural
Anthropology
projects for ethnographic data collection
Michael V. Angrosino
University of South Florida
WAVELAND
PRESS, INC.
Long Grove, Illinois
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Copyright © 2007, 2002 by Waveland Press, Inc.
10-digit ISBN 1-57766-464-7
13-digit ISBN 978-1-57766-464-2
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys-
tem, or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from
the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
8 7 6 5 4 3 2
This book is dedicated
to the memory of Julia G. Crane—
inspiring teacher, generous mentor, and good friend
….
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Michael V. Angrosino
1 Becoming a Participant Observer 9
Gerry Tierney
2 Exploring Genealogy 19
Constance P. deRoche
3 Conducting a Life History Interview 33
Michael V. Angrosino
4 Analyzing Narrative Data 45
Nancy Redfern-Vance
5 Reconstructing a Community
through Archival Research 63
Cheryl Rodriguez & Yvette Baber
vii
viii Contents
6 Using a Museum as a Resource for
Ethnographic Research 71
Serena Nanda
7 Observing a Workplace 83
Kathryn Borman, Ellen Puccia, Amy Fox McNulty, & Bill Goddard
8 Carrying Out a Structured Observation 91
Laurie J. Price
9 Designing a Questionnaire for
Cross-Cultural Research 99
Roberta D. Baer & Susan C. Weller
10 Working with Numerical Data 109
Martha W. Rees
11 Planning and Moderating
Focus Group Research 115
Carol Bryant
12 Applying Visual Methods in
Ethnographic Research 129
S. Elizabeth Bird
13 Constructing a Virtual Ethnography 139
S. Elizabeth Bird & Jessica Barber
14 Developing an Electronic Ethnography 149
Alvin W. Wolfe & Guy Hagen
15 Composing Autoethnographic Stories 161
Leigh Berger & Carolyn Ellis
16 Participating in an Ethnographic Field School 177
Tim Wallace
Contributors 187
Acknowledgments
I am deeply grateful to Thomas Curtin, the Anthropology Editor of
Waveland Press, who has been a faithful supporter of Field Projects in Anthro-
pology for many years, and whose insightful comments about a possible new
edition of that handbook led directly to this new endeavor.
All the contributors to this volume deserve special thanks for respond-
ing to my call for chapters in a timely and efficient manner, and for producing
such readable and useful essays. I also thank my students at the University of
South Florida whose experiences and expressed needs in doing ethnographic
research have shaped my approach to the material. I acknowledge the clerical
and editorial assistance of Petra LeClair.
Most of all, however, I acknowledge my great debt to Julia Crane, my
teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend of more than three decades. Although
she was unable to participate directly in the preparation of this book, her
approach to the learning of ethnography, her knowledge of and unflagging
enthusiasm for field research, and her affection and respect for students
shaped my outlook. In a very real sense, this book is her production as much
as it is mine and the contributors’.
ix