research methods in anthropology

821 Pages·2009·9.09 MB·English

ANTHROPOLOGY • RESEARCH METHODS Bernard H. Russell Bernard
Research Methods in Anthropologyis the standard textbook for methods classes
in anthropology programs. Written in Russ Bernard’s unmistakable conversational
style, this fourth edition continues the tradition of previous editions, which have
launched tens of thousands of students into the fieldwork enterprise with a com-
bination of rigorous methodology, wry humor, and commonsense advice. The
author has thoroughly updated his text and increased the length of the bibliogra-
phy by about 50 percent to point students and researchers to the literature on
RESEARCH FOURTH
hundreds of methods and techniques covered. He has added and updated many
examples of real research, which fieldworkers and students can replicate. There METHODS IN
EDITION
is new material throughout, including sections on computer-based interviewing
ANTHROPOLOGY
methods; management of electronic field notes; recording equipment and voice
FOURTH
recognition software; text analysis; and the collection and analysis of visual
EDITION
R ES EA R C H
materials. Whether you are coming from a scientific, interpretive, or applied
anthropological tradition, you will learn field methods from the best guide in
both qualitative and quantitative methods.
M ETH O DS I N
H. Russell Bernard
is professor of anthropology at the University of
Florida. He is also the editor of Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology, the
author of Social Research Methods, and the founder and current editor of the
A NTH RO P O LO GY
journal Field Methods.
For orders and information please contact the publisher
QUALITATIVE AND
QUANTITATIVE
ISBN 978-0-7591-0868-4
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Research
Methods in
Anthropology

Research
Methods in
Anthropology
FourthEdition
Qualitative and
Quantitative Approaches
H. Russell Bernard
A Division of
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
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Bernard,H.Russell(HarveyRussell),1940–
Researchmethodsinanthropology:qualitativeandquantitativeapproaches/H.
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p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-7591-0868-4(cloth:alk.paper)—
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Contents
Preface vii
1. AnthropologyandtheSocialSciences 1
2. TheFoundationsofSocialResearch 28
3. PreparingforResearch 69
4. TheLiteratureSearch 96
5. ResearchDesign:ExperimentsandExperimentalThinking 109
6. Sampling 146
7. SamplingTheory 169
8. NonprobabilitySamplingandChoosingInformants 186
9. Interviewing:UnstructuredandSemistructured 210
10. StructuredInterviewingI:Questionnaires 251
11. StructuredInterviewingII:CulturalDomainAnalysis 299
12. ScalesandScaling 318
13. ParticipantObservation 342
14. FieldNotes:HowtoTakeThem,CodeThem,ManageThem 387
15. DirectandIndirectObservation 413
16. IntroductiontoQualitativeandQuantitativeAnalysis 451
17. QualitativeDataAnalysisI:TextAnalysis 463
18. QualitativeDataAnalysisII:ModelsandMatrices 522
v
vi Contents
19. UnivariateAnalysis 549
20. BivariateAnalysis:TestingRelations 594
21. MultivariateAnalysis 649
AppendixA:TableofRandomNumbers 697
AppendixB:TableofAreasunderaNormalCurve 700
AppendixC:Student’stDistribution 703
AppendixD:Chi-SquareDistributionTable 704
AppendixE:FTablesforthe.05and.01LevelsofSignificance 706
AppendixF:ResourcesforFieldworkers 710
References 711
SubjectIndex 771
AuthorIndex 791
AbouttheAuthor 803
Preface
S
ince 1988, when I wrote the first edition of this book, I’ve heard from
many colleagues that their departments are offering courses in research
methods. Thisiswonderful.Anthropologistsofmy generation,trainedinthe
1950sand1960s,werehard-pressedtofindcourseswecouldtakeonhowdo
research.Therewassomethingrathermysticalaboutthehow-tooffieldwork;
itseemedinappropriatetomaketheexperiencetoomethodical.
Themystiqueis stillthere. Anthropologicalfieldwork isfascinatingand
dangerous. Seriously: Read Nancy Howell’s 1990 book on the physical haz-
ards of fieldwork if you think this is a joke. But many anthropologists have
found that participant observation loses none of its allure when they collect
datasystematicallyandaccordingtoaresearchdesign.Instead,theylearnthat
havinglotsofreliabledatawhentheyreturnfromfieldworkmakestheexperi-
enceallthemoremagical.
Iwrotethisbooktomakeiteasierforstudentstocollectreliabledatabegin-
ningwiththeirfirstfieldworkexperience.Weproperlychallengeoneanother’s
explanationsforwhyHindusdon’teattheircattleandwhy,insomecultures,
mothers are more likely than fathers are to abuse their children. That’s how
knowledgegrows.Whateverourtheories,though,allofusneeddataonwhich
to test those theories. The methods for collecting and analyzing data belong
toallofus.
What’sinThisBook
ThebookbeginswithachapteraboutwhereIthinkanthropologyfitsinthe
socialsciences.Withonefootplantedsquarelyinthehumanitiesandtheother
in the sciences, there has always been a certain tension in the discipline
betweenthosewhowouldmakeanthropologyaquantitativescienceandthose
whose goal itis to produce documents that conveythe richness—indeed, the
uniqueness—ofhumanthoughtandexperience.
vii
viii Preface
Students of cultural anthropology and archeology may be asked early in
their training to take a stand for qualitative or quantitative research. Readers
of this textbook will find no support for this pernicious distinction. I lay out
my support for positivism in chapter 1, but I also make clear that positivism
is not a synonym for quantitative. As you read chapter 1, think about your
ownposition.Youdon’thavetoagreewithmyideasonepistemologicalissues
toprofitfromthelaterchaptersonhowtoselectinformants,howtochoosea
sample,howtodoquestionnairesurveys,howtowriteandmanagefieldnotes,
andsoon.
Chapter2introducesthevocabularyofsocialresearch.There’salotofjar-
gon, but it’s the good kind. Important concepts deserve words of their own,
and chapter 2 is full of important concepts like reliability, validity, levels of
measurement,operationism,andcovariation.
WheneverIintroduceanewterm,likepositivism,hermeneutics,stan-
dard error of the mean, or whatever, I put it in boldface type. The index
shows every example of every boldfaced word. So, if you aren’t sure what a
factorialdesignis(whileyou’rereadingaboutfocusgroupsinchapter9,on
interviewing), theindex will tell youthatthere areother examples of that
piece of jargon in chapter 5 (on experiments), in chapter 10 (on question-
naires),andinchapter18(onqualitativeanalysis).
Chapter 3 is about choosing research topics. We always want our research
to be theoretically important, but what does that mean? After you study this
chapter, you should know what theory is and how to tell if your research is
likely to contribute to theory or not. It may seem incongruous to spend a lot
oftimetalkingabouttheoryinatextbookaboutmethods,butitisn’t.Theory
is about answering research questions . . . and so is method. I don’t like the
bogus distinction between method and theory, any more than I like the one
betweenqualitativeandquantitative.Chapter3isalsooneofseveralplacesin
the book where I deal with ethics. I don’t have a separate chapter on ethics.
Thetopicisimportantineveryphaseofresearch,eveninthebeginningphase
ofchoosingaproblemtostudy.
Chapter4isaboutsearchingtheliterature.Actually,‘‘scouring’’isabetter
wordthan‘‘searching.’’Intheolddays,BC(beforecomputers),youcouldget
awaywithstartingaresearchpaperoragrantproposalwiththephrase‘‘little
isknownabout ...’’andfillingintheblank.Now,withonlinedatabases,you
simplycan’tdothat.
Chapter 5 is about research design and the experimental method. You
shouldcomeawayfromchapter5withatendencytoseetheworldasaseries
ofnaturalexperimentswaitingforyourevaluation.
Chapters 6, 7, and 8 are about sampling. Chapter 6 is an introduction to