Doing Ethnography

Course goals

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. Understand and apply the principal methodologies of ethnographic research.
2. Select various methods and develop a methodological approach for your forthcoming research.
3. Critically reflect on the effects of using particular methods and your positionality as a researcher.

Content

Ethnographic fieldwork is the defining research strategy of anthropology and requires thorough preparation. This course is centred around the practicalities of doing ethnographic fieldwork and introduces aspects central to the ethnographic approach, such as participant observation and interviewing as well as doing online research and using visual methods. You will “do ethnography” through practicing these methods and turning observations into ethnography. This course will equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills for writing your research proposal (block 2) and conducting your fieldwork (semester 2). By the end of the course, you will also produce a research synopsis which will form the foundation of the research proposal that you will develop in block 2.