New Stories All Stories
Seasons Episodes
Table of contents
Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
Table of contents
Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
Teaching
The Problems With Coming of Age
-
Unit 16

Using Ethnographic Methods

A layered image shows a large crowd of men waving their hands in the air.

In this unit (to accompany SAPIENS podcast S6E8), students will learn that ethnography is a research process that involves fieldwork and studying the cultural practices of a group of people in situ. According to Bronislaw Malinowski, the final goal of ethnography is “to grasp the native’s point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world” (Argonauts of the Western Pacific 1922).  In this unit, students will explore fundamental ethnographic principles and look at the nature of culture as it relates to social, economic, and historical factors.

Learning Objectives
  • Discuss the fundamental principles of ethnographic methods to understand and explore culture.
  • Examine the dynamic nature of culture and its relationship to various social, economic, and historical factors.
Sapiens articles
NASA anthropologist - Jack Stuster with a NASA space shuttle.
interview / Lab Bench

Can Anthropologists Propel Astronauts Toward Mars?

Amber Dance
Space anthropologist Jack Stuster has interviewed and observed astronauts for decades. In a Q&A, Stuster tells journalist Amber Dance how he has worked closely with NASA to improve the human experience of space exploration.
cocoa production - Chocolate comes from processing the seeds found in the fruit, or “pods” (shown here), of the cacao tree.
essay / Crossroads

The Bitter Side of Cocoa Production

Teresa Carr
An anthropologist works to give producers a voice in the chocolate industry, taking a lesson from high-end coffee, wine, and cheese.
Keywords
View All in Methods
An ape-like mannequin, with protruding facial features and a body covered in fur, stands in a museum exhibition under dramatic lighting. Next to it, a text panel starts, “The human story begins.”
essay / Origins

Lessons From Lucy

Denise Su
Fifty years ago, the remains of an Australopithecus afarensis ancestor, named “Lucy” by archaeologists, rewrote the story of human evolution.
Two people crouch down to create colorful chalk art on a street. Intricate designs and language characters surround a central circular moti
essay / Expressions

Tackling the Impossibility—and Necessity—of Counting the World’s Languages

Damián Blasi
A language scientist delves into historic and current efforts to catalog the planet’s 7,000-plus languages, uncovering colorful tales and Herculean challenges.
A serene lake is surrounded by a dense forest of evergreen trees. The calm, blue water reflects the clear sky above.
essay / Crossroads

On the Tracks to Translating Indigenous Knowledge

Alicia Colson, Michael “Mike” Makwa Auksi, and George “Choch” Kenny
A team of researchers will journey by railway to Lac Seul First Nation in Canada to better understand alternative ways of seeing the world.
Two side-by-side graphics depict skulls, one facing forward and the other in profile. Both images are outlined in blue and have sections shaded in yellow. The profile image has three red lines spanning across it in two V shapes.
essay / Unearthed

Learning From Snapshots of Lost Fossils

Christian Tryon and Shara Bailey
Not all fossil discoveries happen in the field. In museum archives, researchers found photos of remains from Paleolithic children who had belonged to a group of early Homo sapiens in Eurasia.
Against a black background, two faces in profile look in opposite directions. The one on the left has straight brown hair with pale skin, and the one on the right has slightly darker skin and disheveled orange hair.
essay / In Flux

Excavating the Coexistence of Neanderthals and Modern Humans

Rick Schulting
An archaeologist explains how remains recently recovered from a cave in present-day Germany suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans populated Europe together for at least 10,000 years.
In a wooden structure without walls, three people wearing loincloths and no shirts, and two individuals wearing T-shirts surround and point to spots on a large tan and green map.
essay / Cultural Relativity

Finding Footprints Laid at the Dawn of Time

Mariana Petry Cabral
In the Brazilian Amazon, a university-trained archaeologist and Wajãpi Indigenous people understand traces from the past differently—but their partnership bears fruit for both.
View All in Place
Massive vertical and horizontal stones stand in a field at night, with the sliver of a silver moon above.
essay / Unearthed

The Distant Origins of a Stonehenge Stone

Nicholas Pearce, Richard Bevins, and Rob Ixer
After two decades of research, scholars find that Stonehenge’s giant Altar Stone came from northeast Scotland.
An ancient circular stone structure lies exposed under the ground surface. In the distance, light-red and tan mesas and flat desert expanses lie under a piercing blue sky with scattered fluffy white clouds.
interview / Counterpoint

Digging Into an Ancient Apocalypse Controversy From a Hopi Perspective

Chip Colwell
When producers for a popular Netflix series sought a permit to film on public lands in the U.S. Southwest, many Native leaders objected. A Hopi tribal official, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, shares his views.
Amid a rocky landscape, a grove of gnarled olive trees stands under a nearly cloudless blue sky.
poem / Expressions

Griko’s Poetic Whisper

Manuela Pellegrino
In two poems, an anthropologist speaks to the timelessness and constant change of the minority language Griko in the Italian landscape.
A weathered hand grabs a tree branch laden with fresh green olives.
essay / Excerpt

A Palestinian Family’s History—Told Through Olive Trees

Sami Hermez and Sireen Sawalha
A new book chronicles a Palestinian family’s life and connections to their land over decades under Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
In a dusty, sepia-toned scene, a person wearing a headdress and long dress stands in the middle of a dirt road while a person operating a rickshaw passes them. A building, car, trees, and a distant mountain range fill the background.
poem / Reflections

Imphal as a Pond

Mesak Takhelmayum
As civil war continues to rip apart and threaten communities and families in Manipur in Northeast India, a poet reflects on those who leave and those who stay in the capital city of Imphal.
A person wearing a white hat, red-and-black backpack, and holding two hiking poles walks down a sandy trail lined with high grasses.
essay / In Flux

Conflicting Times on the Camino de Santiago

Augusta X. Thomson
As increasing numbers of pilgrims walk the Camino, a European network of historic pilgrimage routes, those who journey to “slow down” their lives often don’t recognize the burdens of tourism on locals.
View All in Disasters
An overhead view shows a street intersection filled with a mix of pedestrians, bicycles, rickshaws, motorcycles, and cars facing in various directions.
essay / In Flux

Being a “Good Man” in a Time of Climate Catastrophe

Patrick Beckhorn
An anthropologist follows a group of men who work in India’s rickshaw industry, revealing how their practices of masculinity and mutual aid shape their responses to intensifying flood disasters and political divides.
A person’s hand leans on a car’s steering wheel while holding a black-and-white aerial photograph of a section of town with particular sites such as Patapsco River, Dundalk, and Arundel Corp. Shipyard labeled.
essay / Excerpt

Baltimore’s Toxic Legacies Have Reached a Breaking Point

Chloe Ahmann
In a new book, an anthropologist reveals the heavy tolls industries have placed on residents in this eastern U.S. city. Here, she explains how these burdens have only worsened since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
A crowd of people, with several taking pictures on cellphones, surround a damaged structure in a public square. The small building, with its tiling cracked and wooden seating splintered, has a large arrangement of white flowers in front of it.
poem / Identities

At the Intersection of Sarinah Plaza, Thamrin Street

Moh. Faiz Maulana
A poet-anthropologist in Indonesia criticizes extremist militants who use religion to commit violence.
A crowd of adults and children wearing T-shirts, flip-flops, and denim shorts or sarongs looks at a water tap with the word “Italy” stamped on its side and a giant silver lock on it.
poem / Wayfinding

Strange Future

Ojo Taiye
A Nigerian eco-activist and poet wonders what future lies ahead in the face of climate change impacts and resistance to large-scale emission reductions.
Two people wearing waterproof pants, purple windbreakers, and black caps stand on a teal boat at sea, looking toward a white windmill.
essay / Excerpt

The Persistence of Fukushima’s Fisherfolk

Satsuki Takahashi
In a new book, an anthropologist with long-term ties to northeastern Japan shares stories of how fishing communities have continued making a living in uncertain waters after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster.
An image shows a tan llama’s head and torso against a beige, sandy ground.
essay / Unearthed

Unearthing Culinary Pasts—With Help From Llama Poop

Katherine L. Chiou
A food archaeologist investigates everyday eating and lean times among the ancient Moche of Peru through a remarkable discovery of thousands of llama “beans.”
Glossary
Triangulation

  1. Using multiple data sources and methods to devise a comprehensive understanding of phenomena in qualitative research.

Professor Talking Points
  • Much of the data used in an ethnography are from researcher observation and participation. However, those are not the sole sources of information. Discuss the different ways of collecting evidence in ethnographic research.
  • Evidence also comes through a research method called passive observation, which can be done through note-taking, photography, audio and video recording, and other methods. This allows the researcher to maintain objectivity. It also mitigates any altered behavior that may result from researcher participation. Discuss the usefulness of passive observation and areas where it may be lacking.
  • Discuss a famous ethnographic study and how available technology can impact methods. An example would be Malinowski’s work in the Trobriand Islands. In Argonauts of the Western Pacific, Malinowski describes a ceremonial exchange of shell valuables called the kula ring. Malinowski’s mentor had provided him with a camera, a phonograph, and other anthropometric instruments for use in his work. Malinowski reported, “My weakest points are photographs and phonographic records … whenever skill comes into play I am not much good.” Ask students to discuss the role technology played in the study and how this advanced ethnographic work.
  • Ethnography is typically considered a qualitative methodology used in the social and behavioral sciences. Discuss how ethnography could be useful as an element in a mixed-methods research project.
Academic Articles

  1. Nader, Laura. 2011. “Ethnography As Theory.” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1 (1): 211–219.

  2. Miller, Daniel. 2017. “Anthropology Is the Discipline but the Goal Is Ethnography.” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 7 (1): 27–31.

  3. Shah, Alpa. 2017. “Ethnography? Participant Observation: A Potentially Revolutionary Praxis.” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 7 (1): 45–59.

Student Discussion Questions
  • How does conducting an ethnographic study differ from other types of research?
  • What are some of the practical considerations that need to be taken into account before conducting an ethnography?
  • How does culture change over time?
  • What are the ways a researcher can participate in ethnography?
Activities

Consider the following scenario and then provide answers to the questions below. Each answer should have one or two sentences.

You are a doctoral student from planet X. Your dissertation involves conducting an ethnography of human activity on planet Earth. Place yourself in a location where you can be a part of human behavior (or recall an event you have experienced, such as a holiday celebration, sporting event, etc., and try to imagine it as an outsider with no frame of reference for the activity). You have completed your experience and are ready to write your report, which should answer the following questions:

1. What is the name of the activity?
2. What is the activity’s purpose?
3. What procedures or protocols exist?
4. What are the activity’s time, space, and location requirements?
5. What personnel are required for the activity?
6. What is the nature of the group or social organization participating in the activity?
7. What are the occasions of the activity (specific date, frequency, etc.)?

After completing the questions above, answer this reflection question:

How would you use this information to construct theories about your subjects?

Slides

Infographic: “Ethnography Advantages and Disadvantages”

Slides: “Using Ethnographic Methods”

Additional Resources

  1. Article: Emerald Publishing’s “How to Use Ethnographic Methods and Participant Observation.”

  2. Book: Stephen Bochner’s Cultures in Contact: Studies in Cross-Cultural Interaction

Unit By

Aimee L. Richards, Freedom Learning Group

Teaching
The Problems With Coming of Age
-
Unit 17

Looking Back at Coming of Age

A small group of children run around under a tree, smiling happily.