Knowing your Place: Gender and Reflexivity in two Ethnographies

2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Gill ◽  
Catherine Maclean
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Community Studies ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
The North ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Combination Of Methods ◽  
Gender Specific

Female ethnographers often appear to be more aware of their sexual status and its impact on fieldwork and relationships than their male colleagues (Okely 1992: 19, Coffey 1999: 79). Similarly, the behaviour of female fieldworkers is often more closely scrutinised than that of male fieldworkers (Mascarenhas-Keyes 1987: 187), and many female ethnographers’ accounts detail gender-specific issues and challenges that arose during their research (e.g. Moreno 1995: 220, Whitehead 1976, Middleton 1986). This paper draws on the authors’ experiences in two different rural British communities, conducting research using a combination of methods including participant observation and tape-recorded interviews. Catherine Maclean's research examined migration and social change in ‘Beulach’, a remote rural parish in the north of Scotland, while Fiona Gill's research focused on issues of identity in ‘Bordertown’, a small town near the border between Scotland and England. In both cases, while gender was not initially a focus of the research, it became increasingly salient during the fieldwork period. The paper discusses the similarities and differences between the authors’ research experiences, and the factors that account for these. The authors’ research is set in the wider context of ethnographic community studies. The paper explores the emotional impact of the fieldwork on the authors, and the consequences of this for the research. It concludes that although female researchers have to consider and deal with gender-related research problems not faced by their male colleagues, this also has positive consequences as the experiences of female ethnographers encourage a reflexive and self-aware approach.

scholarly journals International business research challenges in Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 188-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdoulkadre Ado ◽  
Roseline Wanjiru
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Culturally Sensitive ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Business Research ◽  
Global Knowledge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Challenges ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Observation Method

Purpose This paper aims to explore the challenges researchers in/on Africa face when conducting research on the continent. It examines the reasons behind Africans’ relatively limited contribution to the business literature in the global sphere and why not culturally sensitive and nuanced research on Africa is spreading unchallenged. Design/methodology/approach The study combines knowledge creation and institutional theories to explain why African business scholars struggle in researching the continent and in contributing significantly to global knowledge creation. It also explores the debate about why Africa’s narratives in business seem dominated by not culturally sensitive and nuanced voices and approaches. It uses a participant observation method. Findings The study found that African scholars have not yet contributed significantly to global knowledge creation because of Africa’s institutional weaknesses and lack of government support for research, coupled with challenges at the interviewing, organizational and scholars’ levels. The study points to the specificities of the continent as well as to African interviewees’ particularities and the type of interactions with the researchers. The paper proposes new avenues to address those multilevel challenges and offers key lessons for future studies. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to systematically investigate the fundamental reasons behind business research challenges in/on Africa from knowledge creation and institutional standpoints. This study also contributes to the growing debate on Africans’ meager contribution to business literature as well as the controversy regarding culturally sensitive vs not culturally sensitive knowledge creation on Africa. Finally, it proposes avenues to understanding and overcoming those challenges.

scholarly journals “Through the Looking Glass”: The Emotional Journey of the Volunteer Ethnographer when Researching Sensitive Topics with Vulnerable Populations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fábio Augusto ◽  
Ana Hilário
Keyword(s):  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Dual Role ◽  
Observation Study ◽  
Emotional Challenges ◽  
Sensitive Topics ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Reflective Strategies ◽  
Looking Glass

This paper extends further research on being both a volunteer and ethnographic researcher and intends to offer some insights on the emotional challenges of adopting this dual role when conducting research on sensitive topics and with vulnerable populations. The discussion presented here draws upon an ethnographic participant observation study of a food redistribution organization (Re-food) held in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. The paper builds awareness on the emotional challenges in the field and discusses potential self-reflective strategies for researchers to cope with the extraordinary demands posed on them by specific circumstances and subjects. The volunteer ethnographer, when developing their work, is subject to a wide range of emotional challenges that are related to the functions that they had to develop in the research context itself due to their dual role, as well as to the vulnerability of participants and the sensitivity of the topic addressed.

scholarly journals Conducting Research in Developing Countries: Experiences of the Informed Consent Process from Community Studies in Peru

2005 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
pp. 925-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Creed-Kanashiro ◽  
Beatriz Oré ◽  
María Scurrah ◽  
Ana Gil ◽  
Mary Penny
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Informed Consent Process ◽  
Consent Process ◽  
Community Studies ◽  
Conducting Research

Inclusivity in the Archives

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Amy J. Lueck ◽  
Beverlyn Law ◽  
Isabella Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Hidden Curriculum ◽  
Public Memory ◽  
Writing Studies ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
University Archives ◽  
Conducting Research

This chapter uses the experience of two undergraduate students conducting research in their university archives to consider the “hidden curriculum” entailed in archival research at some institutions. When diverse identities and experiences are not represented in our archives, we run the risk of communicating a lack of value for those identities, producing a feeling of marginalization and exclusion for some students and foreclosing an opportunity to build solidarity across difference for others. In light of the limited holdings at many university archives and the increased prevalence of archival research in the undergraduate classroom, the authors draw on research from writing studies, anthropology, archival research, and public memory to produce recommendations for students, faculty, and institutions working to compose inclusive archives and research experiences.

Early and Late Examples: A New Look at Olynthos and Pompeii

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora P. Crouch
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
The North ◽  
Pressure Pipe ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Karst Waters ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Church ◽  
Greek World ◽  
Of Greece

The arrangements made in ancient cities for the management and use of water varied over the extent of the Greek world, depending on local topography and geology. They also varied by time period. In the absence of detailed whole-site studies, we can no more than suggest some of those differences. Our method will be to examine one early city and one late, looking for similarities and differences. The chosen examples share the useful (for us) feature of having been destroyed, so that their ruins preserve a set of arrangements not diluted by later habitation. The examples chosen are Olynthos in northeast Greece, destroyed at the end of the fourth century B.C., and Pompeii near Naples in southern Italy, destroyed in A.D. 79. A description of each will point out features that are typical for that time period, and we will conclude with a direct comparison of the two water management systems. Olynthos (Fig. 13.1) is located in northeastern Greece, at the base of the left peninsula of the set of three which also includes Mount Athos. Geological maps of the area (Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, “Geology of Greece” series (1:50,000), Athens, Greece, ca. 1984) show that a large limestone massif terminates just to the north of the site, and could be tapped for its karst waters. Indeed, a pipeline was found coming southward for five miles (D.M. Robinson, 1935, 219 ff and fig. 12; Robinson and Clement, 1938), from the springs near Polygyros and from northeast of the church of Hagios Nicolas. More traces of the line were observed in the plain. In Volume II of the Olynthos excavation reports (Robinson, 1930, 12), the line is thought to be sixth century because of some fragments of black-figure vases found with it in the dig, yet in Volume XII this aqueduct was declared fifth or fourth century because of its beautifully cemented joints with mortar of pure lime with a little silica (Robinson, 1946, 107). The line is described as having pipes about 3 inches thick (.45 centimeters), and therefore is probably a pressure pipe.

Engaging Paleontology Undergraduates in Collaborative Research Experiences

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 221-230
Author(s):  
Michael Savarese ◽  
Diane Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Senior Year ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Scientific Meetings ◽  
Faculty Time ◽  
Do So

Undergraduate research is rightfully viewed as a valuable educational endeavor, yet few students have the time or incentive to avail themselves of the opportunity. Those students who do obtain research experience typically do so during their senior year, at a time too late to best benefit from the experience. Finally, requiring students to conduct independent research can be unsustainable, drawing on limited resources and faculty time. We have developed a collaborative undergraduate research model that unites students as a research team in their standard courses. The method is applicable to all course levels, from introductory science courses to upper-division, discipline-specific courses. At the introductory level, students work on longer-term research problems that require regular monitoring, with each successive class adding to an iterative database. Students in upper-division classes design group projects that are completed in the course of the semester. The benefits of the model are numerous. Students develop a sense of ownership and stewardship; they obtain a thorough experience practicing science while their curriculum is applied to real problems; and students learn to work cooperatively. Results from many of these experiences are of a high enough quality to be presented at scientific meetings and eventually published. Projects often help students focus their discipline-based interests and spawn senior theses, and faculty members have a vehicle to vicariously increase their research productivity. Examples from an upper division paleobiology course are presented. Overall, this model has been highly successful, especially when employed at the upper-division levels.

scholarly journals Repressive Experiences among China Scholars: New Evidence from Survey Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 242 ◽  
pp. 349-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheena Chestnut Greitens ◽  
Rory Truex
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Research Report ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
The Past ◽  
Descriptive Information ◽  
Research Climate ◽  
Real Phenomenon ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
New Evidence

AbstractThis paper examines the nature of China's current research climate and its effects on foreign scholarship. Drawing on an original survey of over 500 China scholars, we find that repressive research experiences are a rare but real phenomenon and collectively present a barrier to the conduct of research in China. Roughly 9 per cent of China scholars report that they have been “invited to tea” by authorities within the past ten years; 26 per cent of scholars who conduct archival research report being denied access; and 5 per cent of researchers report some difficulty obtaining a visa. The paper provides descriptive information on the nature of these experiences and their determinants. It concludes with a discussion of self-censorship and strategies for conducting research on China.

Political Research

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Halperin ◽  
Oliver Heath
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Independent Study ◽  
Bivariate Analysis ◽  
Practical Skills ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Political Research ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Conducting Research

Political Research: Methods and Practical Skills provides a practical and relevant guide to their to this area of studies. It equips readers with the knowledge and skills needed to evaluate research findings and successfully carry out independent study and research. Taking a helpful step-by-step approach, the chapters guide the reader through the process of asking and answering research questions and the different methods used in political research, providing practical advice on how to be critical and rigorous in both evaluating and conducting research. Topics include research design, surveys, interviewing and focus groups, ethnography and participant observation, textual analysis, quantitative analysis, bivariate analysis, and multivariate analysis. With an emphasis throughout on how research can impact important political questions and policy issues, the book equips readers with the skills to formulate significant questions and develop meaningful and persuasive answers.

scholarly journals Islamic Friday Sermon in Italy: Leaders, Adaptations, and Perspectives

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 312
Author(s):  
Youssef Sbai
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
Friday Prayer

The focus of this article is to spotlight the ritual frame of the canonical Friday prayer that is organized weekly around midday in places of Islamic worship in Italy. I verify how the Muslim communities in Italy, as a “cognitive minority”, use different strategies related to the performance of the Friday prayer ritual, and I analyze its continuous reframing. During the preliminary investigation I selected seventeen places of worship located in major cities and provincial towns located in the North, Central and South of Italy including Sicily. I have only considered spaces run by Sunni Arabs because they are the majority of Muslims in Italy. In these places I performed the participant observation from October 2016 to July 2017 collecting empirical data and more than a hundred sermons that I analyzed later. I also relied on interviews with preachers and people in charge of these places.

scholarly journals Fundamentalist and Evangelical Perspectives in Education

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-148
Author(s):  
Ken Badley
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Independent Schools ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
The North ◽  
State Education ◽  
Similarities And Differences

THIS PAPER LOOKS historically at the beliefs of fundamentalists and evangelicals, noting some similarities and differences. It then examines how they have expressed those beliefs in four specific areas of education: posture toward state education, creation and support of independent schools, production of theory, and production of instructional materials. The study is set in the North American theological and educational contexts.

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