Ethnology and Ethnography
Word Count:
Dana Trippe
Anthropology Essay #2
10/1/2012
There are two major approaches to collecting information about human culture: ethnography and ethnology. Each approach has a specific goal. Each approach employs a variety of methods for data collection and analysis, all of which carry benefits but also challenges. Along with the challenges of data collection, field anthropologists face an additional set of logistical, emotional, and ethical obstacles. Anthropology is a difficult field but provides an important perspective on cultural diversity.
Ethnography and Ethnology both attempt at reaching certain goals. Ethnography is a written description of a culture based on data gathered from fieldwork, characterized by two methods, participant observation and interviews. When an anthropologist is researching through participant observation, they are attempting to study a culture while still trying to maintain the eye of an objective observer. Another form of getting data for ethnography is through interviews. Through interviews, either formal or informal, the anthropologist is attempting to gather and collect notable data. Formal interviews are more scripted and reduce the situational bias the anthropologists may experience. Informal interviews are more open ended questions that allow the informant to talk about what they think is more important in their culture. These interviews can help paint a more actual description of culture of what their beliefs and lifestyles are, instead of an "ideal culture". Sterk stated that the interviewer becomes much more involved in the interview when conversations are in-depth, more than when a structured questionnaire is being used (Sterk 2000: 27). Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct contact with the culture, ethnology takes the research that ethnographers have compiled and then compares and contrasts different cultures. Ethnology is the comparative study of cultures with the aim of
Dana Trippe
Anthropology Essay #2
10/1/2012
There are two major approaches to collecting information about human culture: ethnography and ethnology. Each approach has a specific goal. Each approach employs a variety of methods for data collection and analysis, all of which carry benefits but also challenges. Along with the challenges of data collection, field anthropologists face an additional set of logistical, emotional, and ethical obstacles. Anthropology is a difficult field but provides an important perspective on cultural diversity.
Ethnography and Ethnology both attempt at reaching certain goals. Ethnography is a written description of a culture based on data gathered from fieldwork, characterized by two methods, participant observation and interviews. When an anthropologist is researching through participant observation, they are attempting to study a culture while still trying to maintain the eye of an objective observer. Another form of getting data for ethnography is through interviews. Through interviews, either formal or informal, the anthropologist is attempting to gather and collect notable data. Formal interviews are more scripted and reduce the situational bias the anthropologists may experience. Informal interviews are more open ended questions that allow the informant to talk about what they think is more important in their culture. These interviews can help paint a more actual description of culture of what their beliefs and lifestyles are, instead of an "ideal culture". Sterk stated that the interviewer becomes much more involved in the interview when conversations are in-depth, more than when a structured questionnaire is being used (Sterk 2000: 27). Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct contact with the culture, ethnology takes the research that ethnographers have compiled and then compares and contrasts different cultures. Ethnology is the comparative study of cultures with the aim of