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Activity# 4

Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Professor’s Name
Course Name
Date
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Activity# 4

Question One

The main reason Murchison describes the history of Tanzania with such detail is that

during the process of developing and writing this book, he was keen to include a team of

Tanzanian colleagues to help in the planning of the foundational version of Majimaji Selebuka.

This gave him more information about the Tanzanian culture which he incorporated very well in

his long-term ethnographic research in Tanzania (Murchison, 2017). Since ethnography is the

scientific definition of people and their cultures, customs, habits, and mutual differences, it helps

us understand the present in the sense that it helps us to have a historical background of the

things happening.

Question Two

From what we have learned in class, Murchison follows the correct procedure for

ethnographic study as well as all ethical obligations. For example, we have learned that ethical

ethnographical research should not manipulate the subjects through deception. Murchison

portrays this well in this research since he does not take advantage of his research subjects; in

fact, he works with them to collect more information.

Question Three

Murchison defines medical pluralism as the presence of different medical approaches,

interventions, treatments, and institutions accessible to the public in pursuit of health. One of his

ethnographic snapshots that is a good illustration of medical pluralism is Damas who is a

multifaceted person with numerous means to earn in a complex society. Damas’ snapshot shows

the need for pluralism in the healthcare industry as well.

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Question Four

The thing that I have read and is new to me is the concept of ethics in ethnographic

research. I have learned that anthropologists have the ethics they should follow. These include

being honest with the nature of their research, avoiding misrepresenting information, and

preserving chances for future researchers in the same field to ensure that the information

collected works on the set purpose.

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Reference

Murchison, J. M. (2017). X-Rays, spirits, and witches: Understanding health and illness in an

ethnographic context. Rowman & Littlefield