Ethnographic Research and Writing
Spring 2003
MW 12:00-1:15
Instructor: Julian M. Murchison
Room: SH 347
Office: SH 346
Office Hours: MW 1:30-3:30, or by appointment
Email: murchjm@millsaps.edu
Phone: Ext. 1437
Contents:
Course Description
Course Requirements
Class Policies
Class Schedule
This course will introduce you to the fundamental techniques and challenges of ethnographic research and writing. You will encounter these techniques and challenges through first-hand experiences as you carry out different ethnographic exercises and complete a final ethnographic project. In terms of research techniques and data collection, the emphasis will be on qualitative research methods and design, the hallmark of most ethnographic research. Research design and data collection, however, are only one part of the ethnographic endeavor. Without informed analysis and skillful writing, even the best research design and data collection are only minimally helpful. Therefore, during the course of this semester, we will concentrate on the importance of constructing a complete ethnography. This sort of complete project begins with a research design that allows for productive data collection followed by informed analysis and culminates in a well-crafted final ethnography. We will examine the connections between data collection, analysis, and writing and look to analyze the different components of a good ethnography.
The format for this course will essentially be that of a workshop. Each of us, including myself, will present our work to the other members of the class in order to benefit from the insights and constructive criticism of fellow class members. This sort of feedback will be very helpful as we each work through our own ethnographic projects.
Required Texts:
Lareau, Annette and Jeffrey Shultz, eds.
1996 Journeys Through Ethnography: Realistic Accounts of Fieldwork. Boulder: Westview.
Kutsche, Paul
1998 Field Ethnography: A Manual for Doing Cultural Anthropology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Fetterman, David M.
1998 Ethnography: Step by Step. 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Rose, Dan
1990 Living the Ethnographic Life. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
LeCompte, Margaret D. and Jean J. Schensul
1999 Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research. Vol. 1 of Ethnographer’s Toolkit. Walnut Creek, California: Altamira.
Schensul, Stephen, Jean J. Schensul, and Margaret D. Lecompte
1999 Essential Ethnographic Methods: Observations, Interviews, and Questionnaires. Vol. 2 of Ethnographer’s Toolkit. Walnut Creek: Altamira.
Additional Reading:
Selections from Cry Lonesome and Other Accounts of the Anthropologist’s Project by Miles Richardson. 1990. Albany: SUNY.
1) Attendance/Participation (25%) – Because of the workshop format for this course, regular attendance and participation will be a crucial ingredient in this course. Therefore, this component will account for a quarter of your final grade for this course. I expect you to come to class prepared to participate and to make insightful and useful contributions.
2) Ethnography Reviews (25%) – During the course of the semester, each of you will review two different ethnographies that you have not previously read. These reviews will be approximately 1,500-2,000 words in length. Your reviews should examine the whole of the ethnographic project, including the research design, data collection methods, analysis, and the written product. In order to write a useful review, you will need to identify the positive attributes as well as the limitations of each ethnography.
3) Ethnographic Exercises (20%) – Kutsche provides four “Small Field Assignments” in his book. I have spread these exercises over the course of the semester. These exercises will help you to hone your ethnographic skills. We will review these exercises in class. Each exercise will count for 5% of your final grade.
4) Final Ethnographic Project (30%) – Each of you will design and carry out a detailed, semester-long ethnographic project of your own choosing. The goal will be to produce a well designed, researched, and written final ethnography approximately 6,000-9,000 words in length. For this project, you will submit work for consideration by the class in five different phases:
I) Proposal – In this proposal, you will introduce your preliminary ideas about your proposed ethnographic project. The main point of this proposal should be to identify a field site or sites and to conceptualize a central research question, including an explanation for why this is an important question for consideration.
II) Detailed Research Plan – In this research phase, you will provide a detailed plan for your ethnographic research and analysis. This plan should focus on the different techniques for data collection and analysis that you plan to implement. It will be important for you to consider and to explain how these methods and techniques allow you to address your research question most productively.
III) Progress Report – In this progress report, you will describe the ethnographic research and analysis that you have conducted up to this point. You should look back at your research plan and ask yourself which of your proposed plans you have completed and which methods and techniques have yielded the most useful results.
IV) Rough Draft – For this rough draft, you should have essentially completed your data collection and analysis. This draft should be a full-length ethnographic project in which you provide engaging ethnographic information combined with insightful analysis. We will devote an entire class period to discussion of each class member’s rough draft. These comments and suggestions will provide the basis for revision of the final ethnographic project.
V) Final Ethnographic Project – Based on peer reviews and comments, you will revise your rough draft in order to produce this final project. This final project should involve substantial revision and reorganization.
The dates provided on this syllabus for the submission of assignments are deadlines. You should submit all assignments by the beginning of the class meeting on the date due. You should also keep a hard copy of all assignments and save them on disk for your own records. Late submissions will only be accepted at the discretion of the instructor and, if accepted, will be penalized half of a letter grade (5%) for each day late. If legitimate, unavoidable circumstances require you to seek an extension, make sure you consult with me about an extension as early as possible before the deadline. No work will be accepted after the final exam date.
If you miss class, for whatever reason (i.e., excused or unexcused, including due to late registration), you are responsible for making up any work.
You are responsible for doing all of the reading on time. Read ahead if you can. If a reading assignment is listed for a particular day, that reading assignment should be completed prior to the class meeting on that day. In order for reading to be useful, you must comprehend and engage with the material. Therefore, reading involves more than simply passing your eyes over the text; it involves taking notes and thinking critically about the words on the page. Reading will provide the basis for class discussion and examination of key anthropological topics. You should come to class prepared to answer and discuss the review questions for that day’s readings.
If you have a question about a topic covered in the readings, class, or elsewhere, please do not hesitate to ask me about it. You are welcome to contact me over email or to come to see me in office hours, but I also encourage you to ask questions in class, where your classmates can benefit from your questions.
As students at Millsaps, you have all pledged to abide by the Millsaps Honor Code. I expect you to meet the high standards of academic honesty embodied in the Honor Code. Academic honesty is vital for our intellectual endeavors. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are acts of dishonesty. If I find that a student has been academically dishonest, college policies require that I report the case to the academic dean for consideration by the Honor Council. Please take your responsibilities under the Honor Code very seriously. You should always submit your own original work for this class and cite all sources upon which you have drawn in developing papers and other projects. I will be unable to grade your work if you fail to provide proper citations. If you have questions about these issues, please see me.
If you are challenged with a learning disability, it is your responsibility to register with Student Services and to inform me of any allowances granted by the college. I will be happy to work with you to make sure that we arrange for the appropriate allowances.
Week 1 (1/13/03-1/17/03): An Introduction to Ethnographic Research and Writing
Monday (1/13): Syllabus
Wednesday (1/15): Kutsche, 1-12; Richardson, 7-32
Week 2 (1/20/03-1/24/03): What is Ethnography?
Monday (1/20): Designing and Conducting, 1-40; Essential Ethnographic Methods, 1-8
Wednesday (1/22): Fetterman, 1-30; Designing and Conducting, 41-60
*FIRST ETHNOGRAPHIC EXERCISE DUE*
Week 3 (1/27/03-1/31/03): Doing Ethnography
Monday (1/27): Designing and Conducting, 161-182; Journeys through Ethnography, 1-73
Wednesday (1/29): Journeys, 75-151
*PROPOSAL DUE*
Week 4 (2/3/03-2/7/03): Research Design
Monday (2/3): Designing and Conducting, 61-126
Wednesday (2/5): Essential Ethnographic Methods, 9-68
*SECOND ETHNOGRAPHIC EXERCISE DUE*
Week 5 (2/10/03-2/14/03): Data Collection Techniques
Monday (2/10): Fetterman, 31-91
Wednesday (2/12): Designing and Conducting, 127-146
*DETAILED RESEARCH PLAN DUE*
Week 6 (2/17/03-2/21/03): Data Collection
Monday (2/17): Essential Ethnographic Methods, 69-120
Wednesday (2/19): Journeys, 195-236
Week 7 (2/24/03-2/28/03): Interviews
Monday (2/24): Essential Ethnographic Methods, 121-148
Wednesday (2/26): Essential Ethnographic Methods, 149-164
*THIRD ETHNOGRAPHIC EXERCISE DUE*
Week 8 (3/3/03-3/7/03): Surveys, Archives, and Secondary Data
Monday (3/3): Essential Ethnographic Methods, 165-200
Wednesday (3/5): Essential Ethnographic Methods, 201-270
*FIRST ETHNOGRAPHY REVIEW DUE*
SPRING BREAK!
Week 9 (3/17/03-3/21/03): Data Analysis
Monday (3/17): Fetterman, 92-110
*PROGRESS REPORT DUE*
Wednesday (3/19): Designing and Conducting, 147-160
Week 10 (3/24/03-3/28/03): Ethics
Monday (3/24): Fetterman, 129-146
Wednesday (3/26): Designing and Conducting, 183-204
*FOURTH ETHNOGRAPHIC EXERCISE DUE*
Week 11 (3/31/03-4/4/03): Ethnographic Writing
Monday (3/31): Fetterman, 111-128
Wednesday (4/2): Journeys, 151-194
Week 12 (4/7/03-4/11/03): Rough Drafts
Monday (4/7): Peer Review of Rough Drafts
*ROUGH DRAFTS DUE*
Wednesday (4/9): Peer Review of Rough Drafts
Week 13 (4/14/03-4/18/03): Postmodern Ethnography
Monday (4/14): Rose, 5-59
Wednesday (4/16): Richardson, 47-76
*SECOND ETHNOGRAPHY REVIEW DUE*
Week 14 (4/21/03-4/25/03): Ethnographic Films and Conclusions
Monday (4/21): TBA
Wednesday (4/23): TBA
*FINAL ETHNOGRAPHIC PROJECTS DUE*