Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology

by Bernard, H. Russell

• ISBN13: 9780761991519
• ISBN10: 0761991514
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-09-22
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

The Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology establishes a benchmark for synthesizing anthropological research practices over the past 100 years. Avoiding the divisive debates over science and humanism, the authors contributing to this important volume draw upon both traditions to define and describe anthropological fieldwork in practice. Authored by 27 of the leaders in the discipline, these chapters provide the reader with comprehensive, contemporary descriptions of the methods that anthropologists use, the logic behind them, and the complex problems that field research with humans entails. In addition to traditional participant observation and related strategies, the Handbook examines historical methods, surveys, linguistic methods, comparative research, social intervention, and visual anthropology as ways in which anthropologists seek to understand the world. Related questions of research strategies and designs, ethics, epistemology, and presentation of anthropological results round out the volume. This is an essential reference tool for all academic, professional and graduate-level anthropologists, and will also be of inestimable value to other social researchers who use field methods in their work.

Table of Contents

Preface	7	(2)
H. Russell Bernard
Introduction: On Method and Methods in Anthropology	9	(30)
H. Russell Bernard
Part I: Perspectives
Epistemology: The Nature and Validation of Anthropological Knowledge	39	(50)
Thomas Schweizer
In Search of Meaningful Methods	89	(42)
James Fernandez
Michael Herzfeld
Research Design and Research Strategies	131	(42)
Jeffrey C. Johnson
Ethics	173	(30)
Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban
Feminist Methods	203	(32)
Christine Ward Gailey
Transnational Research	235	(24)
Ulf Hannerz
Part II: Acquiring Information
Participant Observation	259	(42)
Kathleen M. Dewalt
Billie R. Dewalt
Coral B. Wayland
Direct Systematic Observation of Behavior	301	(32)
Allen Johnson
Ross Sackett
Person-Centered Interviewing and Observation	333	(32)
Robert I. Levy
Douglas W. Holland
Structured Interviewing and Questionnaire Construction	365	(46)
Susan C. Weller
Discourse-Centered Methods	411	(48)
Brenda Farnell
Laura R. Graham
From Pictorializing to Visual Anthropology	459	(54)
Fadwa El Guindi
Fieldwork in the Archives: Methods and Sources in Historical Anthropology	513	(36)
Caroline B. Brettell
Part III: Interpreting Information
Reasoning with Numbers	549	(46)
W. Penn Handwerker
Stephen P. Borgatti
Text Analysis: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods	595	(52)
H. Russell Bernard
Gery W. Ryan
Cross-Cultural Research	647	(44)
Carol R. Ember
Melvin ember
Part IV: Applying and Presenting Anthropology
Methods in Applied Anthropology	691	(46)
Robert T. Trotter, II
Jean J. Schensul
Presenting Anthropology to Diverse Audiences	737	(26)
Conrad Phillip Kottak
About the Authors	763	(12)
Author Index	775	(20)
Subject Index	795