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Ethnographic Exercises |
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Barnga - a culture game |
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Other Resources
Ethnographic Exercises
These exercises come from the work of Celia Roberts and Shirley Jordan, using an ethnographic approach to prepare students for the intercultural aspects of the PRA.
This work forms part of a sub-project of the LARA project based at Oxford Brookes, with whom we have collaborated under the RAM banner (Residence Abroad Matters).
The material quoted on this page is taken from a report of a workshop run collaboratively by ICP and LARA in February 1999, Analysing cross-cultural encounter and developing intercultural competence which can be downloaded as an RTF file, approx. 248 K
Please note that these exercises were developed as part of a module and that they may refer to other sections of the module which are not included on this page. For further information , visit the LARA website at http://lara.fdtl.ac.uk/lara/index.htm
Eating Habits: Taste or Symbol?
Assignment
1. Over the weeks try to engage as many of your friends/contacts/ teachers/family members etc. as possible in an ethnographic conversation about their eating habits.
2. Don't elicit information in an interview but try to work the conversation around to eating habits. Ideally, they should not feel they have been specifically questioned. But if you prefer to make your interest explicit, then mention that this is a subject you are looking at as part of your course. You may find talking about your own eating habits is a good way to get other people talking.
3. Elicit as much as you can about:
- what animals they consider edible
- what parts of the animal they are happy to eat/would never eat leg. liver, lungs, tongue, etc.)
- what meat they would consider eating if their normal food was not available (zebra, dog, sparrow, etc.)
- what vegetables they would never eat
- their feelings if someone sitting next to them was eating a food they would never eat
- other interesting perceptions that emerge within all these questions
Elicit as much as you can about their reasons for eating/not eating certain foods.
Try to construct some 'value' patterns or classifications from the data you have collected. You might be asked to draw up a chart or a diagram.
Concepts behind the task
1) Society is constructed out of feelings of affinity and estrangement (Bruce Lincoln, 1986).
2) "It is culture which constitutes utility" (Marshall Sahlins, 1976) and not the other way round. In other words, we don't do things for practical reasons and then find a meaning for them. The symbolic meaning is what underpins our practical endeavours.
3) The rituals around food and the discourses of food help to construct the "borders, structures and hierarchic relations that constitute society itself" (Lincoln, 1986).
Participant Observation
There are two main parts to this assignment. It is essential that you do both of them to really benefit from the discussions on ethnographic methods and methodology. Both are important learning exercises in themselves and will help you:
1. to gain an overall picture of what you have achieved so far and to consolidate what you have learned, a kind of 'stocktaking'.
2. to develop your analytical skills by doing what is called 'critique' and
3. to learn more about what is involved in actually 'doing' ethnography from a practical, emotional and ethical point ofview.
So give yourself plenty of time to do this assignment and don't rush it in the last minute.
Part I - Observing
Get your course file and retrieve all your assignments, tasks and notes on the following:
observing yourself (card exercise; life cycle line)
observing others (pub, NVC; focused and unfocussed gatherings; mixed-gender interactions; videos) as well as any other notes you have specifically about observation.
Next draw up a chart on a sheet of A4 paper. Starting with the card exercise, make notes on the following:
On the left hand side:
problems or difficulties with this kind of observation (e.g. high visibility, awkwardness - why?, note-taking problems, ethical issues etc.
On the right hand side:
advantages of this kind of observation
Remember to consider not only your own position, but also that of the people or situation you are observing.
Part II -'Critique'
Read the two ethnographic assignments written by students (G. Mortimer / A Seabourne) and based on three weeks' research.
Read the student assignments at least twice, use a highlighter pen, annotate the text and then write your comment making detailed notes on the following:
(1) What is the project about? (It might be useful to consider what title you would give it if you had written it.)
(2) What kind research do you think was needed to get the data on which this project was based?
(3) What kind of questions does it ask?
(4) How are these questions answered? (i.e. what evidence is given? Summarise and refer to text, page number and section.)
(5) Does it raise any possible further research questions in your mind which one could pursue given more time?
(6) What difficulties or problems do you think the ethnographer encountered?
(7) What 'role' did the ethnographer have to adopt (may be more than one)? How would you characterise their position as observer? Think also of the possible effects on the 'researched'.
(8) Any other thoughts and comments on these assignments?
Remember: To 'critique' is not synonymous with 'to criticise'! It is all right to be critical, but try to be analytical and constructive about it. This is not an exercise in running somebody else's work down, you are trying to learn from it.
Local Level Politics
In this exercise participants are asked to identify a gift/favour/exchange which they have each made within a given recent time period (e.g. one week).
They are then asked to consider, in discussion with a partner or group:
1. Relationship symbolised.
2. Associated obligations.
3. Wider implications.
Reproduced by kind permission of the authors and the LARA project.
Ethnographic Exercises
These exercises come from the work of Celia Roberts and Shirley Jordan, using an ethnographic approach to prepare students for the intercultural aspects of the PRA.
This work forms part of a sub-project of the LARA project based at Oxford Brookes, with whom we have collaborated under the RAM banner (Residence Abroad Matters).
The material quoted on this page is taken from a report of a workshop run collaboratively by ICP and LARA in February 1999, Analysing cross-cultural encounter and developing intercultural competence which can be downloaded as an RTF file, approx. 248 K
Please note that these exercises were developed as part of a module and that they may refer to other sections of the module which are not included on this page. For further information , visit the LARA website at http://lara.fdtl.ac.uk/lara/index.htm
Eating Habits: Taste or Symbol?
Assignment
1. Over the weeks try to engage as many of your friends/contacts/ teachers/family members etc. as possible in an ethnographic conversation about their eating habits.
2. Don't elicit information in an interview but try to work the conversation around to eating habits. Ideally, they should not feel they have been specifically questioned. But if you prefer to make your interest explicit, then mention that this is a subject you are looking at as part of your course. You may find talking about your own eating habits is a good way to get other people talking.
3. Elicit as much as you can about:
- what animals they consider edible
- what parts of the animal they are happy to eat/would never eat leg. liver, lungs, tongue, etc.)
- what meat they would consider eating if their normal food was not available (zebra, dog, sparrow, etc.)
- what vegetables they would never eat
- their feelings if someone sitting next to them was eating a food they would never eat
- other interesting perceptions that emerge within all these questions
Elicit as much as you can about their reasons for eating/not eating certain foods.
Try to construct some 'value' patterns or classifications from the data you have collected. You might be asked to draw up a chart or a diagram.
Concepts behind the task
1) Society is constructed out of feelings of affinity and estrangement (Bruce Lincoln, 1986).
2) "It is culture which constitutes utility" (Marshall Sahlins, 1976) and not the other way round. In other words, we don't do things for practical reasons and then find a meaning for them. The symbolic meaning is what underpins our practical endeavours.
3) The rituals around food and the discourses of food help to construct the "borders, structures and hierarchic relations that constitute society itself" (Lincoln, 1986).
Participant Observation
There are two main parts to this assignment. It is essential that you do both of them to really benefit from the discussions on ethnographic methods and methodology. Both are important learning exercises in themselves and will help you:
1. to gain an overall picture of what you have achieved so far and to consolidate what you have learned, a kind of 'stocktaking'.
2. to develop your analytical skills by doing what is called 'critique' and
3. to learn more about what is involved in actually 'doing' ethnography from a practical, emotional and ethical point ofview.
So give yourself plenty of time to do this assignment and don't rush it in the last minute.
Part I - Observing
Get your course file and retrieve all your assignments, tasks and notes on the following:
observing yourself (card exercise; life cycle line)
observing others (pub, NVC; focused and unfocussed gatherings; mixed-gender interactions; videos) as well as any other notes you have specifically about observation.
Next draw up a chart on a sheet of A4 paper. Starting with the card exercise, make notes on the following:
On the left hand side:
problems or difficulties with this kind of observation (e.g. high visibility, awkwardness - why?, note-taking problems, ethical issues etc.
On the right hand side:
advantages of this kind of observation
Remember to consider not only your own position, but also that of the people or situation you are observing.
Part II -'Critique'
Read the two ethnographic assignments written by students (G. Mortimer / A Seabourne) and based on three weeks' research.
Read the student assignments at least twice, use a highlighter pen, annotate the text and then write your comment making detailed notes on the following:
(1) What is the project about? (It might be useful to consider what title you would give it if you had written it.)
(2) What kind research do you think was needed to get the data on which this project was based?
(3) What kind of questions does it ask?
(4) How are these questions answered? (i.e. what evidence is given? Summarise and refer to text, page number and section.)
(5) Does it raise any possible further research questions in your mind which one could pursue given more time?
(6) What difficulties or problems do you think the ethnographer encountered?
(7) What 'role' did the ethnographer have to adopt (may be more than one)? How would you characterise their position as observer? Think also of the possible effects on the 'researched'.
(8) Any other thoughts and comments on these assignments?
Remember: To 'critique' is not synonymous with 'to criticise'! It is all right to be critical, but try to be analytical and constructive about it. This is not an exercise in running somebody else's work down, you are trying to learn from it.
Local Level Politics
In this exercise participants are asked to identify a gift/favour/exchange which they have each made within a given recent time period (e.g. one week).
They are then asked to consider, in discussion with a partner or group:
1. Relationship symbolised.
2. Associated obligations.
3. Wider implications.
Reproduced by kind permission of the authors and the LARA project.