Perspectives An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology Doing Fieldwork Methods in Cultural Anthropology

DOING FIELDWORK METHODS IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Katie Nelson , Hills Community College Learning Objectives Discuss what is unique about ethnographic fieldwork and how it emerged as a key strategy in anthropology Explain how traditional approaches to ethnographic fieldwork contrast with contemporary approaches . Identify some of the contemporary ethnographic fieldwork techniques and perspectives Discuss some of the ethical considerations in doing anthropological fieldwork . Summarize how anthropologists transform their fieldwork data into a story that communicates meaning . FINDING THE FIELD 45

46 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY My first experience with fieldwork as a student gist took place in a small indigenous community in Brazil studying the of ( Enchanted Lake ) I had planned to conduct an independent research project on land tenure among members of the nous tribe and had gotten permission to spend several months with the community . My Brazilian host family arranged for a relative to drive me to the rural community on the back of his motorcycle . After several hours navigating a series of bumpy roads in blazing equatorial heat , I was relieved to arrive at the edge of the reservation . He cut the motor and I removed my heavy backpack from my tired , sweaty back . Upon hearing us arrive , first children and then adults slowly and shyly began to approach us . I greeted the curious onlookers and explained who I was . As a group of children ran to fetch the cacique ( the political leader ) I began to explain my research agenda to several of the men who had gathered . I that I was interested in learning about how the tribe Chi , negotiated land use rights without any private land ownership . After hearing me use the colloquial term indio ( Indian ) a man who turned out to be the cacique cousin came forward and said to me , Well , your work is going to be difficult because there are no Indians here we are only Then , abruptly , another man angrily replied to him , stating firmly that , in fact , they were Indians because the community was on an Indian reservation and the Brazilian government had recognized them as an indigenous tribe . A few women then entered the discussion . I took a step back , surprised by the intensity of my first tion in the community . The debate subsided once the cacique arrived , but it left a strong impression in my mind . Eventually , I discarded my original research plan to focus instead on this disagreement within the community about who they were and were not . In anthropology , this type of in beliefs is known as contested identity . I soon learned that many among the did not embrace the Indian identity label . The tribe members were all monolingual who long ago had lost their original language and many of their traditions . Beginning in the , eral local researchers had conducted studies in the community and had concluded that the community had indigenous origins . Those researchers lobbied on the community behalf for official state and federal status as an nous reservation , and in 1997 the ( Author Kane Nelson ( center ) her Brazilian Host Family , 2001 do India or National Foundation for the Indian ) visited the community and agreed to officially demarcate the land as an indigenous reservation .

47 More than 20 years later , the community is still waiting for that demarcation . Some in the community embraced indigenous status because it came with a number of benefits . The state ( using funding from , built a new road to improve access to the munity . The government also constructed an elementary school and a common well and installed new electric lines . Despite those gains , some members of the community did not embrace indigenous status because being considered Indian had a pejorative connotation in Brazil . Many felt that the label stigmatized them by associating them with a poor and marginalized class of Brazilians . Others resisted the label because of family and in the community . Fieldwork is the most important method by which cultural gather data to answer their research questions . While acting on a daily basis with a group of people , cultural anthropologists document their observations and perceptions and adjust the focus of . A young ' boy shows off his their research as needed . They typically spend a few months to a few 20 ) I years living among the people they are studying . The field can be anywhere the people village in highland New Guinea or a market in downtown . Just as marine biologists spend time in the ocean to learn about the behavior of marine animals and geologists travel to a mountain range to observe rock formations , anthropologists go to places where people are . Doing Anthropology in this short film , Stefan , Erica James , and Heather , three members of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Anthropology Department , talk about their current work and the process of doing fieldwork . Making the Strange Familiar and the Familiar Strange The cultural anthropologist goal during fieldwork is to describe a group of people to others in a way that makes strange or unusual features of the culture seem familiar and familiar traits seem . The point is to help people think in new ways about aspects of their own culture by ing them with other cultures . The research anthropologist Margaret Mead describes in her monograph Coming in ( 1928 ) is a famous example of this . In 1925 , Mead went to American , where she conducted ethnographic research on adolescent girls and their experiences with sexuality and growing up . Mead mentor , anthropologist Franz Boas , was a strong proponent of cultural , the idea that one cultural upbringing and social environment , rather than ones biology , determine behavior . Boas encouraged Mead to travel to to study adolescent behavior there and to compare their culture and behavior with that of adolescents in the United States to lend support to his hypothesis . In the foreword of Coming of Age in , Boas described what he saw as the key insight of her research The results of her painstaking investigation confirm the suspicion long held by anthropologists that much of what we ascribe to human nature is no more than a reaction to the restraints put upon us by our Mead studied 25 young women in three villages in and found that the stress , anxiety , and moil of American adolescence were not found among Samoan youth . Rather , young women in experienced a smooth transition to adulthood with relatively little stress or difficulty . She documented

48 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL instances of socially accepted sexual experimentation , lack of sexual jealousy and rape , and a general sense of casualness that marked Samoan adolescence . Coming in quickly became popular , launching Mead career as one of the most anthropologists in the United States and haps the world . The book encouraged American readers to reconsider their own cultural assumptions about what adolescence in the United States should be like , particularly in terms of the sexual sion and turmoil that seemed to characterize the teenage experience in century America . Through her analysis of the differences between Samoan and American society , Mead also persuasively called for changes in education and parenting for children and adolescents . Another classic example of a style of anthropological writing that attempted to make the familiar strange and encouraged readers to consider their own cultures in a different way is Horace Miner 131 Ritual among the ( 1956 ) The essay described oral hygiene practices of the ( ican spelled backward ) in a way that , to cultural insiders , sounded extreme , exaggerated , and out of context . He presented the as if they were a cultural group with strange , exotic practices . Miner wrote the essay during an era in which anthropologists were just beginning to expand their focus beyond traditional societies far from home to such as the United States . He wrote the essay primarily as a satire of how anthropologists often wrote about the Other in ways that made other cultures seem exotic and glossed over features that the Other had in common with the anthropologist culture . The essay also challenged readers in general and anthropologists in particular to think differently about their own cultures and their cultural assumptions about what is and Perspectives When anthropologists conduct fieldwork , they gather data . An important tool for gathering data is study of everyday practices and lives of a people . produces a detailed description of the studied group at a particular time and location , also known as a thick description , a term coined by anthropologist Clifford in his 1973 book The of Culture to describe this type of research and writing . A thick description explains not only the behavior or cultural event in question but also the context in which it occurs and anthropological interpretations of it . Such descriptions help readers better understand the internal logic of why people in a culture behave as they do and why the behaviors are meaningful to them . This is important because understanding the attitudes , perspectives , and motivations of cultural insiders is at the heart of . gather data from many different sources . One source is the anthropologist own observations and thoughts . keep field notebooks that document their ideas and as well as what they do and observe when participating in activities with the people they are ing , a research technique known as participant observation . Other sources of data include informal conversations and interviews that are recorded and transcribed . They also collect such as letters , photographs , artifacts , public records , books , and reports . Different types of data produce different kinds of ethnographic descriptions , which also vary in terms of the perspective of the studied culture ( or from the perspective of the observer ( perspectives refer to descriptions of behaviors and beliefs in terms that are to people who belong to a specific culture , how people perceive and categorize their ture and experiences , why people believe they do what they do , how they imagine and explain things . To uncover perspectives , talk to people , observe what they do , and participate in

49 their daily activities with them . perspectives are essential for anthropologists efforts to obtain a detailed understanding of a culture and to avoid interpreting others through their own cultural beliefs . perspectives refer to explanations for behavior by an outside observer in ways that are ful to the observer . For an anthropologist , descriptions typically arise from conversations between the ethnographer and the anthropological community . These explanations tend to be based in science and are informed by historical , political , and economic studies and other types of research . The approach acknowledges that members of a culture are unlikely to view the things they do as thy or unusual . They can not easily stand back and view their own behavior objectively or from another perspective . For example , you may have never thought twice about the way you brush your teeth and the practice of going to the dentist or how you experienced your teenage years . For you , these parts of your culture are so normal and natural you probably would never consider questioning them . An lens gives us an alternative perspective that is essential when constructing a comprehensive view of a people . Most often , include both and perspectives in their research and writing . They first uncover a studied people understanding of what they do and why and then develop explanations for the behavior based on anthropological theory and analysis . Both perspectives are important , and it can be challenging to move back and forth between the two . Nevertheless , that is exactly what good must do . TRADITIONAL ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACHES Early Armchair Anthropology Before ethnography was a fully developed research method , anthropologists in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used techniques that were much less reliable to gather data about people throughout the world . From the comfort of their homes and library armchairs , early scholars collected others travel accounts and used them to come to conclusions about cultures and peoples . The reports typically came from missionaries , colonists , adventurers , and business travelers and were often incomplete , inaccurate , or misleading , exaggerated or omitted important information , and the culture . Early scholars such as Wilhelm Schmidt and Sir sifted through artifacts and stories brought back by travelers or missionaries and selected the ones that best fit their frequently ideas about the peoples involved . By relying on this data , they often drew inaccurate or even racist conclusions . They had no way of knowing how accurate the information was and no way to understand the full context in which it was gathered . The work of Sir James Frazer ( provides a good example of the problems associated with such anthropological endeavors . Frazer was a Scottish social anthropologist who was interested in myths and religions around the world . He read historical documents and religious texts found in libraries and book collections . He also sent questionnaires to missionaries and colonists in various parts of the world asking them about the people with whom they were in contact . He then used the information to draw sweeping conclusions about human belief systems . In his most famous book , Golden Bough he described similarities and differences in magical and religious practices around the world and concluded that human beliefs progressed through three stages from primitive magic to and from religion to science . This theory implied that some people were less evolved and more

50 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY primitive than others . Of course , contemporary anthropologists do not view any people as less evolved than another . Instead , anthropologists today seek to uncover the historical , political , and cultural sons behind peoples behaviors rather than assuming that one culture or society is more advanced than another . The main problem with Frazer conclusion can be traced back to the fact that he did not do any research himself and none of the information he relied on was collected by an anthropologist . He never spent time with the people he was researching . He never observed the religious ceremonies he wrote about and certainly never participated in them . Had he done so , he might have been able to appreciate that all human groups at the time ( and now ) were equally pragmatic , thoughtful , intelligent , logical , and He might also have appreciated the fact that how and why the information is gathered affects the quality of the information . For instance , if a colonial administrator offered to pay people for their stories , some of the storytellers might have exaggerated or even made up stories for financial gain . If a Christian missionary asked recently converted parishioners to describe their religious practices , they likely would have omitted practices and beliefs to avoid disapproval and maintain their positions in the church . A male traveler who attempted to document traditions in a ture that prohibited men from asking such questions of women would generate data that could suggest that women did not participate in such activities . All of these examples illustrate the pitfalls of armchair anthropology . Off the Veranda Fortunately , the reign of armchair anthropology was brief . Around the turn of the twentieth century , anthropologists trained in the natural sciences began to reimagine what a science of humanity should look like and how social scientists ought to go about studying cultural groups . Some of those insisted that one should at least spend significant time actually observing and talking to the people studied . Early such as Franz Boas and Alfred Cort typically traveled to the remote locations where the people in question lived and spent a few weeks to a few months there . They sought out a local Western host who was familiar with the people and the area ( such as a official , missionary , or businessman ) and found accommodations through them . Although they did at times venture into the community without a guide , they generally did not spend significant time with the local people . Thus , their observations were primarily conducted from the relative comfort and safety of a their . Polish anthropologist ( pioneering method of participant fundamentally changed the relationship between and the people under study . In 1914 , he traveled to the Islands and ended up spending nearly four years conducting work among the people there . In the process , he developed a rigorous set of detailed ethnographic he viewed as to gathering accurate and comprehensive ethnographic data . One of the hallmarks of his method was that it required the researcher to get off the veranda to interact with and even live among the natives . In a book about his research , of the Western ( 1922 ) described his research techniques and the role they played in his analysis of the Kula ceremony , an exchange of coral armbands and trinkets among members of the social elite . He concluded that the ceremonies were at the center of life and represented the culmination of an rate venture called the Kula Ring that involved dangerous expeditions and careful planning . Ultimately , the key to his discovering the importance of the ceremony was that he not only observed the Kula Ring but also participated in it . This technique of participant observation is central to

51 research today . did more than just observe people from afar he actively acted with them and participated in their daily activities . And unlike early anthropologists who worked through translators , learned the native language , which allowed him to immerse himself in the culture . He carefully documented all of his observations and thoughts . techniques are now central components of ethnographic fieldwork . Salvage Ethnography Despite tremendous to ethnography and anthropology ally , he was nevertheless a man of his time . A common view in the first half of the twentieth century was that many primitive cultures were quickly disappearing and features of those cultures needed to be preserved ( before they were lost . Anthropologists such as , Franz Boas , and many of their students sought to document , graph , and otherwise preserve cultural in dying Cultures in groups Such as ( Native Americans and other traditional experiencing rapid change due to modernization , dislocation , and contact with outside groups . They also collected cultural artifacts , removing property from the communities and placing it in and private collections . Others who were not formally trained in the sciences or in anthropology also participated in salvage activities . For instance , in his documentary film of the North ( 1922 ) filmed the life of an man named and his family in the Canadian Arctic . In an effort to preserve on film what many believed was a traditional way of life soon to be lost , took considerable artistic license to represent the culture as he imagined it was in the past , including staging certain scenes and asking the men to use spears instead of to make the film seem more Photographers and artists have likewise attempted to capture and preserve traditional indigenous life in paintings and photographs . Renowned painter George Catlin ( for example , is known to have embellished scenes or painted them in ways that glossed over the difficult reality that native people in the nineteenth century were actively persecuted by the government , displaced from their lands , and forced into unsustainable lifestyles that led to starvation and warfare . Photographer Edward tis ( has been criticized for reinforcing romanticized images of authentic native scenes . In particular , he is accused of having perpetuated the problematic idea of the noble savage and , in the process , distracted attention from the serious social , political , and economic problems faced by native Today , anthropologists recognize that human cultures constantly change as people respond to social , political , economic , and other external and internal there is no moment when a culture is more authentic or more primitive . They acknowledge that culture is and can not be treated as isolated in time and space . ust as we should not portray people as primitive vestiges of an earlier stage of human development , we also should not romanticize a culture or idealize another suffering as more authentic or natural .

52 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL Holism In the throes of salvage ethnography , anthropologists in the first half of the twentieth century actively documented anything and everything they could about the cultures they viewed as endangered . They collected artifacts , excavated ancient sites , wrote dictionaries of languages , and cultural traditions , stories , and beliefs . In the United States , those efforts developed into what is known today as the approach or simply as general anthropology . This approach integrates multiple scientific and humanistic perspectives into a single comprehensive discipline composed of , archaeological , physical , and linguistic anthropology . A hallmark of the approach is its holistic perspective anthropologists are interested in studying everything that makes us human . Thus , they use multiple approaches to understanding humans throughout time and throughout the world . They also acknowledge that to understand people fully one can not look solely at biology , culture , history , or language rather , all of those things must be considered . The between the four of anthropology are important for many anthropologists today . Linguistic anthropologists Edward and Benjamin , for instance , examined ships between culture , language , and cognition . They argued that the language one speaks plays a cal role in determining how one thinks , particularly in terms of understanding time , space , and matter . They proposed that people who speak different languages view the world differently as a result . In a example , contrasted the Hopi and English languages . Because verbs in Hopi no future or past tenses , argued that understand time in a fundamentally different way than . An observation by an would focus on the ence in time while an observation by a would focus on

OBJECTIVE FIELD or ( sworn ) or mini PERSON IS non ( net ) SITUATION II . at nu non . MILD BLANK . OI is . STATEMENT OF FACY ) us nu now an mun ( OF FACT FROM ) FIELD BLANK fur mu . nun . surname ! or ) nuns ( son TEAM ) non . OF Luv ) OBJECTIVE FIELD BLANK I FIELD BLANK A chart from a publication by illustrates differences between a temporal language ( English ) and a timeless ' language ( Hopi ) In another example , Peter Gordon spent many years living among the tribe of Brazil learning their language and culture . He noted that the have only three words for numbers one , two , and many . He also observed that they found it difficult to remember quantities and numbers beyond three even after learning the Portuguese words for such Numerical Terms In this short film , linguist Daniel Everett illustrates numerical terms . Although some scholars have criticized and Gordon conclusions as overly deterministic , their work certainly illustrates the presence of a relationship between language and thought and between cultural and biological . Words may not force people to think a particular way , but they can our thought processes and how we view the world around us . The holistic tive of anthropology helps us to appreciate that our culture , language , and physical and cognitive for language are interrelated in complex ways .

54 AN OPEN CULTURAL TODAY Distinctive Research Strategy Ethnography is cultural anthropology distinctive research strategy . It was originally developed by anthropologists to study , relatively isolated cultural groups . Typically , those groups had simple economies and technologies and limited access to larger , more technologically advanced societies . Early sought to understand the entirety of a particular culture . They spent months to years living in the community , and in that time , they documented in great detail every dimension of peoples lives , including their language , subsistence strategies , political systems , formation of families and marriages , and religious beliefs . This was important because it helped researchers the interconnectedness of all dimensions of social life . The key to the success of this ethnographic approach was not only to spend considerable time observing people in their home settings engaged in activities but also to participate in those activities . Participation informed an tive of the culture , something that had been missing in earlier social science research . Because of how useful the ethnographic research strategy is in developing an perspective , it has been adopted by many other disciplines including sociology , education , psychology , and political ence . Education researchers , for example , use ethnography to study children in classrooms to identify their learning strategies and how they understand and make sense of learning experiences . Sociologists use ethnography to study emerging social movements and how participants in such movements stay motivated and connected despite their goals . New Sites for Ethnographic Fieldwork Like the cultures and peoples studied , anthropology and ethnography are evolving . Field sites for ethnographic research are no longer exclusively located in , isolated , Increasingly , anthropologists are conducting ethnographic research in complex , technologically advanced societies such as the United States and in urban environments elsewhere in the world . For instance , my doctoral research took place in the United States . I studied identity formation among undocumented Mexican immigrant college students in Minnesota . Because some of my informants were living in Mexico when my fieldwork ended , I also traveled to , Mexico , and spent time conducting research there . Often , anthropologists who study migration , and people in motion must conduct research in multiple locations . This is known as ethnography . Anthropologists use ethnography to study people wherever they are and however they interact with others . Think of the many ways you ordinarily interact with your friends , family , professors , and boss . Is it all communication or do you sometimes use text messages to chat with your friends ?

Do you also sometimes email your professor to ask for clarification on an assignment and then call your boss to discuss your schedule ?

Do you share funny videos with others on Facebook and then later make a Skype video call to a relative ?

These new technological sites of human interaction are fascinating to many and have expanded the definition of fieldwork . Research 55 In the early years , were interested in exploring the entirety of a culture . Taking an inductive approach , they generally were not concerned about arriving with a relatively narrow fined research topic . Instead , the goal was to explore the people , their culture , and their homelands and what had previously been written about them . The focus of the study was allowed to emerge gradually during their time in the field . Often , this approach to ethnography resulted in rather general graphic descriptions . Today , anthropologists are increasingly taking a more deductive approach to ethnographic research . Rather than arriving at the field site with only general ideas about the goals of the study , they tend to select a particular problem before arriving and then let that problem guide their research . In my case , I was interested in how undocumented Mexican immigrant youth in Minnesota formed a sense of while living in a society that used a variety of dehumanizing labels such as illegal and alien to refer to them . That was my research problem , and it oriented and guided my study from beginning to end . I did not document every dimension of my informants lives instead , I focused on the things most closely related to my research problem . Quantitative Methods Increasingly , cultural anthropologists are using quantitative research methods to complement approaches . Qualitative research in anthropology aims to comprehensively describe human behavior and the in which it occurs while quantitative research seeks patterns in numerical data that can explain aspects of human behavior . Quantitative patterns can be gleaned from statistical analyses , maps , charts , graphs , and textual descriptions . Surveys are a common quantitative technique that usually involves questions in which respondents select their responses from a list of choices such as their degree of agreement or disagreement , answers , and rankings of items . While surveys usually lack the sort of contextual detail associated with qualitative research , they tend to be relatively easy to code numerically and , as a result , can be easier to analyze than qualitative data . Surveys are also useful for gathering specific data points within a large tion , something that is challenging to do with many qualitative techniques . Anthropological nutritional analysis is an area of research that commonly relies on collecting data . Nutritional anthropologists explore how factors such as culture , the environment , and economic and political systems interplay to impact human health and nutrition . They may count the calories people consume and expend , document patterns of food consumption , measure body weight and body mass , and test for the presence of parasite infections or nutritional deficiencies . In her Dancing Skeletons Life and Death in West Africa ( 1993 ) Katherine described how she conducted nutritional research in Mali , which involved weighing , measuring , and testing her research subjects to collect a variety of quantitative data to help her understand the causes and consequences of child malnutrition . Mixed Methods In recent years , anthropologists have begun to combine ethnography with other types of research methods . These approaches integrate qualitative and quantitative evidence to provide a more comprehensive analysis . For instance , anthropologists can combine ethnographic data with , statistical data , and a media analysis . Anthropologist Leo Chavez used mixed methods to

56 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL conduct the research for his book The Latino Threat Constructing Immigrants , Citizens , and the Nation ( 2008 ) He started with a problem how has citizenship been discussed as an identity marker in the mainstream media in the United States , especially among those labeled as Latinos . He then looked for a variety of types of data and relied on ethnographic case studies and on quantitative data from surveys and questionnaires . Chavez also analyzed a series of visual images from photographs , magazine covers , and cartoons that depicted Latinos to explore how they are represented in the American mainstream . Mixed methods can be particularly useful when conducting research on complex , technologically advanced societies such as the United States . Detailed statistical and quantitative data are often available for those types of societies . Additionally , the general population is usually literate and somewhat comfortable with the idea of filling out a questionnaire . ETHNOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES AND PERSPECTIVES Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism The guiding philosophy of modern anthropology is cultural idea that we should seek to understand another person beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their culture rather than our own . Anthropologists do not judge other cultures based on their values nor view other cultural ways of doing things as inferior . Instead , anthropologists seek to understand people beliefs within the system they have for explaining things . Cultural relativism is an important methodological consideration when conducting research . In the field , anthropologists must temporarily suspend their own value , moral , and esthetic judgments and seek to understand and respect the values , morals , and of the other culture on their terms . This can be a challenging task , particularly when a culture is significantly different from the one in which they were raised . During my first field experience in Brazil , I learned firsthand how challenging cultural relativism could be . Preferences for physical proximity and comfort talking about one body are among the first differences likely to be noticed by visitors to Brazil . Compared to Americans , Brazilians generally are much more comfortable standing close , touching , holding hands , and even smelling one another and often discuss each others bodies . Children and adults commonly refer to each other using playful names that refer to their body size , body shape , or skin color . Neighbors and even strangers frequently stopped me on the street to comment on the color of my skin ( It concerned some as being overly pale or I ill ?

Was I sunburned ?

the texture of my hair ( How did I get it so smooth ?

Did I straighten my hair ?

and my body size and shape ( You have a nice bust , but if you lost a little weight around the middle you would be even more ) During my first few months in Brazil , I had to remind myself constantly that these comments were not rude , disrespectful , or inappropriate as I would have perceived them to be in the United States . On the contrary , it was one of the ways that people showed affection toward me . From a culturally perspective , the comments demonstrated that they cared about me , were concerned with my , and wanted me to be part of the community . Had I not taken a culturally relativistic view at the outset and instead judged the actions based on my cultural perspective , I would have been frustrated and likely would have confused and offended people in the community . And offending your informants and the rest of the community certainly is not conducive to completing

57 ity ethnography ! Had I not fully understood the importance of body contact and physical proximity in communication in Brazil , I would have missed an important component of the culture . Another perspective that has been rejected by anthropologists is tendency to view one own culture as most important and correct and as a stick by which to measure all other . People who are ethnocentric View their own cultures as central and normal and reject all other cultures as inferior and morally suspect . As it turns out , many people and cultures are ethnocentric to some degree ethnocentrism is a common human experience . Why do we respond the way we do ?

Why do we behave the way we do ?

Why do we believe what we believe ?

Most people find these kinds of difficult to answer . Often the answer is simply because that is how it is They believe what they believe because that is what one normally believes and doing things any other way seems wrong . Ethnocentrism is not a useful perspective in in which people from different cultural grounds come into close contact with one another , as is the case in many cities and communities throughout the world . People increasingly find that they must adopt culturally relativistic perspectives in governing communities and as a guide for their interactions with members of the community . For anthropologists in the field , cultural relativism is especially important . We must set aside our innate and let cultural relativism guide our inquiries and interactions with others so that our observations are not biased . Cultural relativism is at the core of the discipline of anthropology . Objectivity and Activist Anthropology Despite the importance of cultural relativism , it is not always possible and at times is inappropriate to maintain complete objectivity in the field . Researchers may encounter cultural practices that are an affront to strongly held moral values or that violate the human rights of a segment of a population . In other cases , they may be conducting research in part to advocate for a particular issue or for the rights of a marginalized group . Take , for example , the practice of female genital cutting ( also known as female genital lation ( a practice that is common in various regions of the world , especially in parts of Africa and the Middle East . Such practices involving modification of female genitals for and reasons range from clitoridectomy ( partial or full removal of the clitoris ) to infibulation , which involves removal of the clitoris and the inner and outer labia and suturing to narrow the vaginal ing , leaving only a small hole for the passage of urine and menstrual Anthropologists working in regions where such practices are common often understandably have a strong negative opinion , ing the practice as unnecessary medically and posing a risk of serious infection , infertility , and from childbirth . They may also be opposed to it because they feel that it violates the right of women to experience sexual pleasure , something they likely view as a fundamental human right . Should the anthropologist intervene to prevent girls and women from being subjected to this practice ?

Anthropologist Janice studied in rural northern and sought to explain it from a culturally relativistic perspective . She found that the practice persists , in part , because it is believed to preserve a womans chastity and curb her sexual desire , making her less likely to have affairs once she is married . research showed how the practice makes sense in the context of a culture in which a womans sexual conduct is a symbol of her family honor , which is important relativistic explanation helps make the practice comprehensible and allows cultural outsiders to understand how it is internally culturally coherent . But the question remains . Once anthropologists understand why people practice , should they accept it ?

Because they uncover the cultural 58 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL meaning of a practice , must they maintain a neutral stance or should they fight a practice viewed as an injustice ?

How does an anthropologist know what is right ?

Unfortunately , answers to these questions are rarely simple , and anthropologists as a group do not always agree on an appropriate professional stance and responsibility . Nevertheless , examining practices such as can help us understand the debate over objectivity versus activism in anthropology more clearly . Some anthropologists feel that striving for objectivity in ethnography is paramount . That even if objectivity can not be completely achieved , anthropologists ethnography should be free from as much subjective opinion as possible . Others take the opposite stance and produce anthropological research and writing as a means of fighting for equality and justice for or voiceless groups . The debate over how much ( if any ) activism is acceptable is ongoing . What is clear is that anthropologists are continuing to grapple with the contentious relationship between objectivity and activism in ethnographic research . Science and Humanism Anthropologists have described their field as the most humanistic of the sciences and the most of the humanities . Early anthropologists fought to legitimize anthropology as a robust field of study . To do so , they borrowed methods and techniques from the physical sciences and applied them to anthropological inquiry . Indeed , anthropology today is categorized as a social science in most academic institutions in the United States alongside sociology , psychology , economics , and cal science . However , in recent decades , many cultural anthropologists have distanced themselves from research and embraced approaches , including symbolic and perspectives . Interpretive anthropology treats culture as a body of texts rather than attempting to test a hypothesis based on deductive or inductive reasoning . The texts present a particular picture from a particular subjective point of view . Interpretive anthropologists believe that it is not necessary ( or even possible ) to objectively interrogate a text . Rather , they study the texts to untangle the various webs of meaning embedded in them . Consequently , interpretive anthropologists include the context of their interpretations , their own perspectives and , importantly , how the research participants View themselves and the meanings they attribute to their lives . Anthropologists are unlikely to conclude that a single approach is best . Instead , anthropologists can apply any and all of the approaches that best suit their particular problem . Anthropology is unique among academic disciplines for the diversity of approaches used to conduct research and for the broad range of that fall under its umbrella . Science in Anthropology For a discussion of science in anthropology , see the following article published by the American Responds to Controversy Over Science in Anthropology . Observation and Participant Observation Of the various techniques and tools used to conduct ethnographic research , observation in general and participant observation in particular are among the most important . are trained to pay attention to everything happening around them when in the routine daily activities

59 such as cooking dinner to major events such as an annual religious celebration . They observe how ple interact with each other , how the environment affects people , and how people affect the ment . It is essential for anthropologists to rigorously document their observations , usually by writing field notes and recording their feelings and perceptions in a personal journal or diary . As previously mentioned , participant observation involves observing while they in activities with their informants . This technique is important because it allows the researcher to better understand why people do what they do from an perspective . noted that observation is an important tool by which to grasp the natives point of view , his relation to life , to realize his vision of his To conduct participant observation , must live with or spend considerable time with their informants to establish a strong rapport with them . Rapport is a sense of trust and a comfortable working relationship in which the informant and the ethnographer are at ease with each other and agreeable to working together . Participant observation was an important part of my own research . In 2003 , I spent six months living in two Mayan villages in highland , Mexico . I was conducting ethnographic research on behalf of the Science Museum of Minnesota to document changes in huipil textile designs . are a type of blouse that Mayan women in the region weave and wear , and every town has its own style and designs . At a large city market , one can easily identify the town each weaver is from by the colors and designs of her . For hundreds of years , huipil designs changed very little . Then , starting around 1960 , the designs and colors of in some of the towns began to change rapidly . I was interested in learning why some towns designs were changing more rapidly than other towns were and in collecting examples of to supplement the museums ing collection . I spent time in two towns , and San Andres . was located near the main city , San de las . It received many tourists each year and had regularly established bus and van routes that locals used to travel to San to buy food and other goods . Some of the men in the town had worked in the United States and returned with money to build or improve their family homes and businesses . Other families were supported by from relatives working in the United States or in other parts of Mexico . San Andres , on the other hand , was relatively isolated and much further from San . Most families there relied on subsistence farming or intermittent agricultural labor and had limited access to tourism or to outside communities . San Andres was also the site of a major indigenous revolt in the that resulted in greater autonomy , recognition , and rights for indigenous groups throughout Mexico . Politically and socially , it was a progressive in many ways but remained conservative in others . I first asked people in why their huipil designs , motifs , and colors seemed to change almost every year . Many women said that they did not know . Others stated that weaving was easy and could be boring so they liked to make changes to keep the interesting and to keep weaving from getting dull . When I asked people in San Andres what they thought about what the women in tan had said , the San Andres women replied that Yes , perhaps they do get bored easily . But we in San Andres are superior weavers and we dont need to change our Neither response seemed like the full story behind the difference . Though I spent hundreds of hours observing women preparing to weave , weaving , and selling their textiles to tourists , I did not truly understand what the women were telling me until I tried weaving myself . When I watched them , the process seemed so easy and simple . They attached strings of thread vertically to two ends of the looms . When weaving , they increased and decreased the sion on the vertical threads by leaning backward and forward with the back strap and teased individual

60 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY threads horizontally through the vertical threads to create the desired pattern . After each thread was placed , they pushed it down with great force using a smooth , wooden trowel . They did the entire process with great ease and . When I only watched and did not participate , I could believe the women when they told me weaving was easy . When I began to weave , it took me several days simply to learn how to sit correctly with a strap loom and achieve the appropriate tension . I failed repeatedly at setting up the loom with vertically strung threads and never got close to being able to create a design . Thus , I learned through participant observation that weaving is an exceptionally difficult task . Even expert weavers who had decades of experience sometimes made mistakes as and rejected textiles littered many homes . Although the women appeared to be able to while weaving ( stoking the fire , calling after small Children , cooking food ) weaving still required a great deal of concentration to do well . Through participant observation , I was able to recognize that other factors likely drove the changes in their textiles . I ultimately concluded that the rate of change in huipil design in was likely related to the pace of cultural change broadly in the community resulting from interactions between its residents and tourists and relatively frequent travel to a environment . Participant tion was an important tool in my research and is central to most ethnographic studies today . Conversations and Interviews Another primary technique for gathering ethnographic data is simply talking with casual , unstructured conversations about ordinary topics to formal scheduled interviews about a topic . An important element for successful conversations and interviews is establishing rapport with informants . Sometimes , engaging in conversation is part of establishing that rapport . frequently use multiple forms of conversation and interviewing for a single research project based on their particular needs . They sometimes record the conversations and interviews with an audio recording device but more often they simply engage in the conversation and then later write down everything they recall about it . Conversations and interviews are an essential part of most ethnographic research designs because spoken communication is central to humans experiences . Gathering Life Histories Collecting a personal narrative of someone life is a valuable ethnographic technique and is often combined with other techniques . Life histories provide the context in which culture is experienced and created by individuals and describe how individuals have reacted , responded , and contributed to changes that occurred during their lives . They also help anthropologists be more aware of what makes life meaningful to an individual and to focus on the particulars of individual lives , on the tenor of their experiences and the patterns that are important to them . Researchers often include life histories in their ethnographic texts as a way of intimately connecting the reader to the lives of the informants . The Genealogical Method The genealogical ( kinship ) method has a long tradition in ethnography . Developed in the early years of anthropological research to document the family systems of tribal groups , it is still used today to

discover connections of kinship , descent , marriage , and the overall social system . Because kinship and genealogy are so important in many nonindustrial societies , the technique is used to collect data on important relationships that form the foundation of the society and to trace social relationships more broadly in communities . When used by anthropologists , the genealogical method involves using symbols and diagrams to relationships . Circles represent women and girls , triangles represent men and boys , and squares represent ambiguous or unknown gender . Equal signs between individuals represent their union or marriage and vertical lines descending from a union represent relationships . The death of an individual and the termination of a marriage are denoted by diagonal lines drawn across the shapes and equal signs . Kinship charts are from the perspective of one person who is called the Ego , and all of the relationships in the chart are based on how the others are related to the Ego . Individuals in a chart are sometimes identified by numbers or names , and an accompanying list provides detailed information . Anthropological Kinship Chart Created by one of Katie Nelson Cultural Anthropology Students Key Informants Within any culture or subculture , there are always particular individuals who are more able about the culture than others and who may have or privileged knowledge . conducting ethnographic research in the field often seek out such cultural specialists to gain a greater understanding of certain issues and to answer questions they otherwise could not answer . When an anthropologist establishes a rapport with these individuals and begins to rely more on them for information than on others , the cultural specialists are referred to as key informants or key cultural consultants . Key informants can be exceptional assets in the field , allowing the ethnographer to uncover the meanings of behaviors and practices the researcher can not otherwise understand . Key informants can also help researchers by directly observing others and reporting those observations to the researchers ,

62 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL especially in situations in which the researcher is not allowed to be present or when the researchers presence could alter the participants behavior . In addition , can check information they obtained from other informants , it , and review it for accuracy . Having a key informant in the field is like having a research ally . The relationship can grow and become enormously fruitful . A famous example of the central role that key informants can play in an ethnographer research is a man named Doc in William Street Corner Society ( 1943 ) In the late , studied social relations between street gangs and corner boys in a Boston urban slum inhabited by and Italian immigrants . A social worker introduced to Doc and the two hit it off . Doc proved instrumental to the success of research . He introduced to his family and social group and vouched for him in the community , providing access that could not have gained otherwise . Field Notes Field notes are indispensable when conducting ethnographic research . Although making such notes is , they form the primary record of ones observations . Generally speaking , write two kinds of notes field notes and personal . Field notes are detailed descriptions of everything the ethnographer observes and experiences . They include specific details about what at the field site , the ethnographer sensory impressions , and specific words and phrases used by the people observed . They also frequently include the content of conversations the ethnographer had and things the ethnographer overheard others say . also sometimes include their on the experience of writing field notes . Often , brief notes are jotted down in a book while the anthropologist is observing and participating in activities . Later , they expand on those quick notes to make more formal field notes , which may be organized and typed into a report . It is mon for to spend several hours a day writing and organizing field notes . often also keep a personal journal or diary that may include information about their emotions and personal experiences while conducting research . These personal can be as important as the field notes . Ethnography is not an objective science . Everything researchers do and experience in the field is filtered through their personal life experiences . Two may a situation in the field in different ways and understand the experience differently . For this son , it is important for researchers to be aware of their reactions to situations and be mindful of how their life experiences affect their perceptions . In fact , this sort of reflexive insight can turn out to be a useful data source and analytical tool that improves the researchers understanding . The work of anthropologist provides a useful example of how anthropologists can use their emotional responses to fieldwork situations to advance their research . In 1981 , and his wife , Michelle , were conducting research among the of Northern in the Philippines . was studying men in the community who engaged in emotional rampages in which they murdered others by cutting off their heads . Although the practice had been banned by the time arrived , a longing to continue headhunting remained in the cultural psyche of the community . Whenever asked a man why he engaged in headhunting , the answer was that rage and grief caused him to kill others . At the beginning of his fieldwork , felt that the response was overly simplistic and assumed that there had to be more to it than that . He was frustrated because he could not uncover a deeper understanding of the phenomenon . Then , on October 11 , 1981 , wife was walking along a ravine when she tripped , lost her footing , and fell 65 feet to her death , leaving a grieving single father . In his essay Grief and a Headhunter Rage , later wrote that it was

63 his own struggle with rage as he grieved for his Wife that helped him truly grasp What the men meant when they described their grief and rage . Only a Week before completing the initial draft of an earlier version of this introduction , I ered my journal entry , written some six weeks after Michelle death , in which I made a vow to myself about how I would return to writing anthropology , if I ever did so , by writing Grief and a Headhunter Rage . My journal went on to more broadly on death , rage , and headhunting by speaking of my wish for the solution they are much more in touch with reality than Christians . So , I need a place to carry my anger and can we say a solution of the imagination is better than theirs ?

And can we condemn them when we napalm villages ?

Is our rationale so much sounder than theirs ?

All this was written in despair and Only through the very personal and emotionally devastating experience of losing his wife was aldo able to understand the perspective of the headhunters . The result was an and insightful ethnographic account . ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS Ethical Guidelines From the earliest days of anthropology as a discipline , concern about the ethical treatment of people who take part in studies has been an important consideration . Ethical matters are central to any research project and anthropologists take their ethical responsibilities particularly seriously . As cussed throughout this chapter , anthropologists are oriented toward developing empathy for their informants and understanding their cultures and experiences from an perspective . Many also have a sense of personal responsibility for the of the local people with Whom they Work in the field . The American Anthropological Association has developed a Code of Ethics that all anthropologists should follow in their work . Among the many ethical responsibilities outlined in the code , doing no harm , obtaining informed consent , maintaining subjects anonymity , and making the results of the research accessible are especially important responsibilities . Do No Harm First and foremost , anthropologists must ensure that their involvement with a community does not harm or embarrass their informants . Researchers must carefully consider any potential harm with the research , including legal , emotional , political , economic , social , and cultural dimensions , and take steps to insulate their informants from such harm . Since it is not always possible to anticipate every potential repercussion at the outset , anthropologists also must continually monitor their work to ensure that their research design and methods minimize any risk . Regrettably , the proscription to do no harm is a deceptively complex requirement . Despite their best efforts , anthropologists have run into ethical problems in the field . Work by Napoleon among an isolated indigenous tribe of the Amazon , the , is a example of ethical

64 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL problems in anthropological research . In his groundbreaking ethnography The Fierce People ( 1968 ) portrayed the as an intensely violent and antagonistic people . The was well received initially . However , not long after its publication , controversy erupted . and other scholars have accused of encouraging the violence he documented , staging fights and scenes for documentary films and fabricating data . Today , Do No Harm is a central ethical value in anthropology . However , it can be difficult to predict every challenge one may encounter in the field or after the work is published . Anthropologists must continually reevaluate their research and writing to ensure that it does not harm the informants or their communities . Before fieldwork begins , researchers from universities , colleges , and institutions usually must submit their research agendas to an institutional review board ( review research plans to ensure that the proposed studies will not harm human subjects . In many cases , the is aware of the unique challenges and promise of anthropological research and can guide the researcher in eliminating or mitigating potential ethical problems . Obtain Informed Consent In addition to taking care to do no harm , anthropologists must obtain informed consent from all of their informants before conducting any research . Informed consent is the informants agreement to take part in the study . Originally developed in the context of medical and psychological research , this ethical guideline is also relevant to anthropology . Informants must be aware of who the anthropologist is and the research topic , who is financially and otherwise supporting the research , how the research will be used , and who will have access to it . Finally , their participation must be optional and not coerced . They should be able to stop participating at any time and be aware of and comfortable with any risks associated with their participation . In medical and psychological research settings in the United States , researchers typically obtain informed consent by asking prospective participants to sign a document that outlines the research and the risks involved in their participation , acknowledging that they agree to take part . In some logical , however , this type of informed consent may not be appropriate . People may not trust the state , bureaucratic processes , or authority , for example . Asking them to sign a formal document may intimidate them . Likewise , informed consent can not be obtained with a signed ment if many in the community can not read . The anthropologist must determine the most appropriate way to obtain informed consent in the context of the particular research setting . Maintain Anonymity and Privacy Another important ethical consideration for anthropologists in the field is ensuring the anonymity and privacy of informants who need such protection . When I did research among undocumented ican immigrant college students , I recognized that my informants legal status put them at considerable risk . I took care to use pseudonyms for all of the informants , even when writing field notes . In my ing , I changed the names of the informants relatives , friends , schools , and work places to protect them from being identified . Maintaining privacy and anonymity is an important way for anthropologists to ensure that their involvement does no harm .

65 Make Results Accessible Finally , anthropologists must always make their final research results accessible to their informants and to other researchers . For informants , a written report in the researchers native language may not be the best way to convey the results . Reports can be translated or the results can be converted into a more accessible format . Examples of creative ways in which anthropologists have made their results available include establishing accessible databases for their research data , contributing to existing databases , films that portray the results , and developing texts or recommendations that provide tangible assistance to the informants communities . Though it is not always easy to make research results in culturally appropriate ways , it is essential that others have the opportunity to review and benefit from the research , especially those who participated in its creation . WRITING ETHNOGRAPHY Analysis and Interpretation of Research Findings Once all or most of the fieldwork is complete , analyze their data and research findings before beginning to write . There are many techniques for data analysis from which to choose based on the strategy and goals of the research . Regardless of the particular technique , data analysis involves a systematic interpretation of what the researcher thinks the data mean . The ethnographer reviews all of the data collected , findings from the review , and integrates those findings with prior studies on the topic . Once the analysis is complete , the ethnographer is ready to write an account of the work . Ethnographic Authority In recent years , anthropologists have expressed concern about how should be written in terms of ethnographic authority how present themselves and their informants in text . In a nonfiction text , the author is a mediator between readers and the topic and the text is written to help readers understand an unfamiliar topic . In an ethnography , the topic is people , and people rally vary in terms of their thoughts , opinions , beliefs , and perspectives . That is , they have individual voices . In the past , anthropologists commonly wrote ethnographic accounts as if they possessed the ultimate most complete scientific knowledge on the topic . Subsequently , anthropologists began to that writing style , particularly when it did not include the voices of their informants in the text and analysis . Some of this criticism originated with feminist anthropologists who noted that women experiences and perspectives frequently were omitted and misrepresented in this style of writing . ers believed that this style of writing reinforced existing global power dynamics and privileges afforded to Western anthropologists voices as most important .

66 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL In response to criticisms about ethnographic authority , anthropologists have begun to include . A text is one in which more than one person voice is presented , and its use can range from ensuring that informants perspectives are presented in the text while still Writing in the researchers voice to including informants actual Words rather than paraphrasing them and ing the ethnography with an informant . A good example of is anthropologist Ruth book Translated Woman Crossing the Border with Esperanza Story ( 1993 ) book documents the life story of a Mexican street peddler , Esperanza Hernandez , and their unique friendship . Large sections of the book are in Esperanza own words and discuss issues that are important to her . also includes pieces of her own life story and an anthropological analysis of Esperanza story . By using , researchers can avoid writing from the perspective of the ultimate graphic authority . A style also allows readers to be more involved in the text since they have the opportunity to form their own opinions about the ethnographic data and perhaps even critique the authors analysis . It also encourages anthropologists to be more transparent when presenting their methods and data . Reflexivity Reflexivity is another relatively new approach to ethnographic research and writing . Beginning in the 19605 , social science researchers began to think more carefully about the effects of their life , status , and roles on their research and analyses . They began to insert themselves into their texts , including information about their personal experiences , thoughts , and life stories and to analyze in the accounts how those characteristics affected their research and analysis . Adoption of reflexivity is perhaps the most significant change in how ethnography is researched and written in the past 50 years . It calls on anthropologists to acknowledge that they are part of the world they study and thus can never truly be objective . has also contributed to anthropologists appreciation of the unequal power dynamics of research and the effects those dynamics can have on the results . Reflexivity reminds the ethnographer that there are multiple ways to interpret any given cultural scenario . By acknowledging how their backgrounds affect their interpretations , can begin to remove themselves from the throne of ethnographic authority and allow other , empowered voices to be heard . Discussion Questions i . What is unique about ethnographic fieldwork and how did it emerge as a key strategy in anthropology ?

How do traditional approaches to ethnographic fieldwork contrast with contemporary approaches ?

What are some of the contemporary ethnographic fieldwork techniques and perspectives and why are they important to ?

What are some of the ethical considerations in doing anthropological fieldwork and why are they important ?

How do anthropologists transform their fieldwork data into a story that communicates meaning ?

How are reflexivity and changing the way anthropologists communicate their work ?

67 GLOSSARY Contested identity a dispute within a group about the collective identity or identities of the group . Cultural relativism the idea that we should seek to understand another person beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their own culture and not our own . Culture a set of beliefs , practices , and symbols that are learned and shared . Together , they form an encompassing , integrated whole that binds people together and shapes their worldview and . Deductive reasoning from the general to the specific the inverse of inductive reasoning . Deductive research is more common in the natural sciences than in anthropology . In a deductive approach , the researcher creates a hypothesis and then designs a study to prove or disprove the hypothesis . The results of deductive research can be generalizable to other settings . the scattering of a group of people who have left their original homeland and now live in various locations . Examples of people living in the are Salvadorian immigrants in the United States and Europe , Somalian refugees in various countries , and Jewish people living around the world . a description of the studied culture from the perspective of a member of the culture or insider . Ethnocentrism the tendency to View one own culture as most important and correct and as the stick by which to measure all other cultures . Ethnography the study of the everyday practices and lives of a people . a description of the studied culture from the perspective of an observer or outsider . Indigenous people who have continually lived in a particular location for a long period of time ( prior to the arrival of others ) or who have historical ties to a location and who are culturally distinct from the dominant population surrounding them . Other terms used to refer to indigenous people are aboriginal , native , original , first nation , and first people . Some examples of indigenous people are Native cans of North America , Australian Aborigines , and the ( or ) of North Africa . Inductive a type of reasoning that uses specific information to draw general conclusions . In an tive approach , the researcher seeks to collect evidence Without trying to definitively prove or disprove a hypothesis . The researcher usually first spends time in the field to become familiar with the people before identifying a hypothesis or research question . Inductive research usually is not generalizable to other settings . Key Informants individuals who are more knowledgeable about their culture than others and who are particularly helpful to the anthropologist . Kinship blood ties , common ancestry , and social relationships that form families within human groups . Land tenure how property rights to land are allocated Within societies , including how permissions are granted to access , use , control , and transfer land . Noble savage an inaccurate way of portraying indigenous groups or minority cultures as innocent , childlike , or uncorrupted by the negative characteristics of Participant observation a type of observation in which the anthropologist observes while ing in the same activities in which her informants are engaged . Qualitative anthropological research designed to gain an , understanding of human behavior . Quantitative anthropological research that uses statistical , mathematical , or numerical data to study human behavior . money that migrants laboring outside of the region or country send back to their towns and families . In Mexico , make up a substantial share of the total income of some towns populations .

68 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Thick description a term coined by anthropologist Clifford in his 1973 book The Interpretation of Cultures to describe a detailed description of the studied group that not only explains the behavior or cultural event in question but also the context in which it occurs and anthropological interpretations of it . Undocumented the preferred term for immigrants who live in a country without formal authorization from the state . Undocumented refers to the fact that these people lack the official documents that would legally permit them to reside in the country . Other terms such as illegal immigrant and illegal alien are often used to refer to this population . Anthropologists consider those terms to be discriminatory and dehumanizing . The word undocumented acknowledges the human dignity and cultural and political ties immigrants have developed in their country of residence despite their inability to establish formal residence permissions . ABOUT THE AUTHOR , Katie Nelson is an instructor of anthropology at Hills Community . Her research focuses on migration , identity , belonging , and citizenship ( in human history and in the contemporary United States , Mexico , and Morocco . She received her . in anthropology and Latin American studies from College , her . in anthropology from the University of California , Santa Barbara , an . in education and instructional technology from the University of Saint Thomas , and her from de en Social for Research and Higher tion in Social Anthropology ) based in , Mexico . Katie views teaching and learning as central to her practice as an anthropologist and as mutually forcing elements of her professional life . She is the former chair of the Teaching Anthropology Interest Group ( of the General Anthropology Division of the American Anthropological tion and currently serves as the online content editor for the Teaching and Learning Anthropology . She has contributed to several open access textbook projects , both as an author and an editor , and views the of quality learning materials as an important piece of the equity and inclusion puzzle in higher and BIBLIOGRAPHY , Ruth . Translated Woman Crossing the Border with Esperanza Story . Boston , MA Beacon Press , 1993 . Civilizing Women British Crusades in Colonial . Princeton , Princeton University Press , 2007 . Napoleon . The Fierce People . New York Holt , and Winston , 1968 .

69 Chavez , Leo . The Latino Threat Constructing Immigrants , Citizens and the Nation . Stanford Stanford Press , 2008 . Katherine A . Dancing Skeletons Life and Death in . Long Grove , IL Press , 2014 Frazer , James . The Golden Bough A Study in Comparative Religion . London Press , 1894 . Clifford . The Interpretation of Cultures Selected Essays . New York Basic Books , 1973 . Gordon , Peter . Numerical Cognition without Words Evidence from Science 306 no . 5695 ( 2004 ) of the Western Pacific An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the New Guinea . London Paul 1922 . Mead , Margaret . Coming in A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization . New York William Morrow and Company , 1928 . Miner , Horace . Body Ritual Among the American Anthropologist 58 no . 1956 ) Nelson , Katherine . 2015 . Between Citizenship and Alienage Flexible Identity Among Informally Authorized Mexican College Students in Minnesota , USA . de en Social Institute for Research and Higher Education in Social Anthropology ) Grief and a Headhunter Rage in Violence in War and Peace , edited by Nancy Hughes and Philippe , MA , 2004 . Nancy . Saints , Scholars , Schizophrenics Mental Illness in Rural Ireland . Los Angeles , CA University of California Press , 1979 . Benjamin Lee . Science and MIT Technology Review 42 ( 1940 ) William . Street Corner Society The Social Structure ofan Italian Slum . Chicago University of Chicago Press , 1993 1943 . Notes Franz Boas , in Coming in by Margaret Mead ( New York William Morrow , 1928 ) Examples of Curtis photography can be found in Edward Curtis , The North American Indian The Photographic Images ( New York Aperture , 2005 ) Benjamin Lee , Science and Linguistics , MIT Technology Review 42 ( 1940 ) Peter Gordon , Numerical Cognition Without Words Evidence from , Science 306 no . 5695 ( 2004 ) Janice , Civilizing Women British Crusades in Colonial ( Princeton Princeton University Press , 2007 ) of the Western Pacific An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the New Guinea ( London Paul , 1922 ) 25 . Grief and a Rage , in Violence in War and Peace , ed . Nancy and Philippe ( MA , 2004 ) 171 .