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Revision:Fieldwork and Research

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TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > Anthropology > Fieldwork and Research

Contents

Fieldwork

Working on gathering information, data, research etc. on a certain people.


Research methods

Quantitative

(Give number and/or 'yes' and 'no' answers)

  • Surveys - a broad overview of particular subjects
  • Sampling - investigating a small part of a larger whole


Advantages Disadvantages
Easier to analyse Analysis of a lot of data
General Too general
Covers a large area Bias


Qualitative

(Detailed answers)

  • PO - involvement of anthropologist in daily activities of community.
  • Interviews - conversations between ethnographer and informants.
  • Focus groups - a group of people brought together to help explain a particular subject.
  • Network analysis - focusing on individuals/small groups and studying their relationships with others.
  • Genealogies - tracing links between individuals to find out about relations.
  • Life histories - personal study of an informants life and all that influenced it.
  • Case Studies - focusing on a single individual/episode.
  • Filmed and taped records
  • Team research - teams of ethnographers travelling together to study cultures etc.
Advantages Disadvantages
More specific Can influence persons answers
Informal & relaxed Time consuming (sometimes info is irrelevant)
Less 'power' relations Hard to extract information
Bias


Variables

Things which can change the process /outcome of research. The object is to minimise the variables, by looking at the same or similar group of people- the control group.


The control group

A group, similar in size and composition to the study group, is used for purposes of comparison or a cross-check on the data provided by the study group.


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