Fill This Form To Receive Instant Help
Fill This Form To Receive Instant Help
Homework answers / question archive / Since this is the first discussion assignment, please briefly introduce yourself to the class: who you are, where you're from, and anything else you'd like us to know about you
Since this is the first discussion assignment, please briefly introduce yourself to the class: who you are, where you're from, and anything else you'd like us to know about you. Then answer the discussion question below. For every discussion question, I'm looking for the following:
Length: 250-300 words
Completeness: Address all aspects of the question
Evidence: Bring in specific evidence from class materials
Cultural anthropologists use the ethnographic research method to try to understand communities and cultural groups from an “emic” or “insider’s” perspective. Using the chapter “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari” as an example, briefly discuss the advantages and limitations of the ethnographic method.
Now think about current applications. How might anthropologists use the ethnographic method to understand “global conflicts?”
My name is Maxx, I am a senior studying computer science at OSU-Cascades. I am originally from Hawaii, but I have been living in Oregon for the last 14 years now. This is my final class before I graduate!
Using the ethnographic research method seems like it has a lot of advantages. You are able to observe how people interact with each other within a society that you would not be able to observe as an outsider. Richard Lee was trying to do just this by staying with the !Kung Bushmen in order to observe how they live. However, he fell prey to one of the downsides of ethnographic research. He believed that he understood how the relationships and community worked, when in fact he had no idea how they treated each other. He thought that everyone would be delighted with the large ox that he bought for them but was instead met with negativity. He assumed that he was being treated that way because he was an outsider, only to discover the opposite. Lee was there for almost an entire year and only discovered how the !Kung treated each other at the very end of his time there. Ethnographic research can be very informative, but it is very hard to tell if you are actually and “insider”.
In terms of understanding global conflicts, it could be very useful to use ethnographic research. Being able to understand where the opposing sides are coming from and how their culture works gives you a better understanding as to why the conflict exists in the first place. Lee’s experience is a great example of this. He was expecting everyone to be outwardly grateful to him for the ox and was angered when they dismissed it and claimed it would feed nobody. Without understanding the values of the opposition, conflict is very hard to resolve.
