Dear Students

Today we are going to be looking at Learning Theme Two: The Anthropological Way. Please
refer to your study guide for a more detailed discussion on this learning theme.

We are going to be focusing on ethnographic fieldwork, but we are first going to start off by
understanding the terms fieldwork and ethnography. These two terms are important in
anthropology, we could even say that ethnographic fieldwork which is a combination of
fieldwork and ethnography is a core aspect in anthropology.

Ethnographic fieldwork captures two crucial things, the first is the humanity in what the
researcher or anthropologist is studying. The second, and what I considered to be important
is that it captures the fact that the researcher or anthropologist does not know as much as
they think they know. It captures how the anthropologist becomes a student who is entering
a classroom, and how the research participant becomes the teacher. This is vital for us as
anthropologists to understand, is that we as researchers, when we conduct ethnographic
fieldwork, we are in actual fact students who are taught by our research participants.

It is important to note that anthropologists expertise lies specifically in their sensitivity to

people and their circumstances, their ability to become intensely involved with people, to
establish a rapport with people. Thus as an anthropologists you have to be curious, willing to
learn, and engage with people. And this is where fieldwork comes to play.

The term fieldwork refers to the direct contact with people in their world, to learn about them.
The most significant way in which anthropologists have tried to answer questions is by
spending extended periods of time with people from different societies, diverse settings or
among their own people and surrounding neighborhoods. Fieldwork in anthropology involves
participating in somebody else’s life, and becoming familiar with their activities, in their
context. And one of the ways in which this is done is through participant observation. Which
is a type of methodology, where the researcher or anthropologist becomes immensely
involved in the daily activities of the research participant.

Today fieldwork is done in environments ranging from small or isolated communities, to large
urban and even virtual environments. It can be any place or context where human beings
are working, functioning, and interacting.

Ethnography is a method in which anthropologists use to collect information or data, or

document and record the lives of the people they are researching. Ethnographic research is
one of the key characteristics in anthropology, because it specifically involves first hand,
direct and face to face contact with people that are being studied. It entails spending a
prolonged period of time studying the group, writing down, reporting your findings, and
collecting data. It is very detailed in nature. And this is essentially ethnographic fieldwork,
because ethnography is both the process and the product of fieldwork.

Anthropologists are curious, they are fascinated by people and the kinds of questions that
they want to answer is both descriptive, it is comparative, and it is analytical. So
ethnographic fieldwork is a part of anthropology, this is how anthropologists are able to tell
stories of what they observe. And this is how they acquire knowledge in the discipline.
Ethnographic fieldwork is thus your best friend.

Ethnographic fieldwork should always lead you to the theory, and not the other way round.
The best anthropological research starts with the ethnography. Where the ethnographic
fieldwork speaks for itself, and it leads you to the theory that is going to be used.

It is important to understand that it is a privilege to conduct ethnographic fieldwork, that

should never be taken for granted. People allow you as a researcher, as an anthropologists
into their world, and their space; and this should never to taken for granted, because you are
experiencing people’s lived realities. This should always be respected and never taken for
granted. When you are conducting ethnographic fieldwork, enter it with a frame of mind that
you are student and the teachers are the people who are granting you access to their space,
to their world. You are the student, and the research participant is the teacher. Ethnographic
fieldwork is a very humbling process, so never go into it with the assumption that you know
everything. Never go into ethnographic fieldwork with an authority-like attitude, rather
remember that you are a student, coming to learn, and as such your research participants
are in actual fact in charge.

In the words of Richard Carlson “being an anthropologists entails being interested without
judgment, in the way other people choose to live and behave”. Ethnographic fieldwork
requires this, being interested without judgement, recognizing that you are there to learn
about other people. That you are in fact the student and they (research participants) are the
teacher. Therefore, it is crucial to be humble, to be curious and to approach the people and
their spaces with respect and compassion.