Field Study Seminar - Syllabus - Dr. Neda Bezerra

Class # 1
The Concept of Culture. Read: Ferraro, Chap. 2
Culture and Meaning. Read: Robbins, Chap. 1; Bohannan, Chap. 2
Ethnocentrism. Read: Bohannan, Chap. 4

Class # 2
What is Ethnography? Read: Murchinson, Chap. 1
Contextualization. Read: Fetterman, Chap. 2
Holistic Perspective. Read: Fetterman, Chap. 2
Emic and Etic Perspectives. Read: Fetterman, Chap. 2
Choosing and Ethnographic Topic. Read: Murchinson, Chap. 2

Class # 3
Ethical Concerns in Social Research. Read: Tavish and Loether, Chap. 1 (pages 13
14); Fetterman, Chapt 7.
Research Design. Read: Murchinson, Chap. 3.
Where do Research Ideas Come From? Read: White, Chap. 1.
What Makes a Research Question? Read: White, Chap. 2.
What Makes a Question 'Researchable'? Read: White, Chap. 3
Questions, Methods and Indicators. Read: White, Chap. 4
Answering Research Questions. Read: White, Chap. 5

Class # 4
Facts and Hypotheses. Read: Tavish and Loether, Chap. 2
Theory and Its Value for Research. Read: Tavish and Loether, Chap. 2
Methods: Collecting Data. Read: Murchinson, Chap. 5, 6, 7, 8, and Ferraro, Chap. 5.

Class # 5
Interpretation of Field Data. Read: Murchinson, Chap. 12 and 13.
Write-Up of Field Data. Read: Murchinson, Chap. 12 and 13.

Required Readings:
Bohannan, Paul. Asking and Listening: Ethnography as Personal Adaptation. Waveland Press: Prospect Heights, IL: 1998.

Ferraro, Gary. Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective. International Thomson Publishing: London, 1998.

Fetterman, David M. Ethnography: Step-by-Step. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA, 2009.

McTavish, Don G. and Herman J. Loether. Social Research: An Evolving Process. Allyn and Bacon: Boston, 2002.

Murchison, Julian. Ethnography Essentials: Designing, Conducting, and Presenting Your Research. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 2010.

Robbins, Richard H. Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach. F. E. Peacock Publishers: Itasca, Ill., 2001.

White, Patrick. Developing Research Questions: A Guide For Social Scientists. Palgrave Macmillan: New Hampshire, 2009.