The Informant as Resolute Overseer

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 231-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Kaufmann
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Host Family ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Access Channel ◽  
Wide Line ◽  
Participant Observer

In this paper I take into account informants who oversee fieldworkers in local arenas. My intention is not to question the importance of participant-observation as the hallmark of field research but to elevate the recognition of informants in fieldwork. The argument centers on local overseers who are integral to participant-observation by controlling more of what the researcher observes, and with whom one participates, than they are usually given credit for in the literature. I intentionally use “overseer” rather than the usual “gatekeeper” label to convey a strong sense of informant involvement in ethnographic research (cf. Ellen 1984 where “gatekeeper” is used to describe a range of actors who control access, channel activities, and so on). The case study is drawn from my experiences with a host family in southwest Madagascar with whom I lived for 10 months in 1997.There are different ways of representing informants in the literature. One way is to draw a wide line between informant and participant-observer. Informants are defined as local people who willingly provide information to participant-observers. Participant-observers are non-locals involved in intense interaction with members of a community over a long period such as a year. The two are not to overlap. Evans-Pritchard found informants vital to his Azande research, participant-observation central to his Nuer fieldwork. “Azande would not allow me to live as one of themselves; Nuer would not allow me to live otherwise. Among Azande I was compelled to live outside the community; among Nuer I was compelled to be a member of it” (Evans-Pritchard 1940:15). This tradition, of treating each as a separate method, is widespread (see, for example, Bernard 1995:136-79; Casagrande 1960; Ellen 1984; Freilich 1970:541; Herskovits 1955:376; Jackson 1997:188; Malinowski 1961:1-25; Pelto and Pelto 1973:242-43; Spradley 1980:177).

scholarly journals RITUAL MAGI DALAM BUDAYA MASYARAKAT MUSLIM BANTEN

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-52
Author(s):  
Humaeni Ayatullah
Keyword(s):  
Life Style ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
Important Condition ◽  
Anthropological Perspective ◽  
Muslim Society ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Depth Interview

This article discusses various magical rituals and their meaningsfor Muslim society of Banten. How the meanings and functions of rituals; what kinds of magical rituals used and practiced by Muslim society of Banten become two main focuses of this article; besides, it also tries to analyze how Muslim society of Banten understand the various magical rituals. This article is the result of a field research using ethnographical method based on anthropological perspective. To analyze the data, the researcher uses structural-functional approach. Library research, participant-observation, and depth-interview are the methods used to collectthe data. Performing various magical rituals for the practicians of magic in Banten is a very important action that must be conducted by the magicians or someone who learns magical sciences. Magical ritual becomes an important condition for the successfulness of magic. If they do not this, there is a belief that they will fail in obtaining the magical effects. Magical ritual should be also conducted in certain places and certain time withvarious magical formula and magical actions under the supervision of magicians. The use of these magical rituals becomes a portrait of the pragmatical life style of Bantenese society who still believes in magical powers.

Participant-Observation as a Method for Analyzing Avatar Design in User-Generated Virtual Worlds

2011 ◽  
pp. 469-481
Author(s):  
Jeremy O. Turner ◽  
Janet McCracken ◽  
Jim Bizzocchi
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Participant Observer

This chapter explores the epistemological, and ethical boundaries of the application of a participant-observer methodology for analyzing avatar design in user-generated virtual worlds. We describe why Second Life was selected as the preferred platform for studying the fundamental design properties of avatars in a situated manner. We will situate the specific case study within the broader context of ethnographic qualitative research methodologies, particularly focusing on what it means to live – and role-play - within the context that one is studying, or to facilitate prolonged engagement in order to have the research results accepted as trustworthy or credible (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). This chapter describes a case study where researchers can extract methods and techniques for studying “in-world” workshops and focus groups. Our speculations and research questions drawn from a close analysis of this case study will illuminate the possible limitations of applying similar hybrid iterations of participation-observation tactics and translations of disciplinary frameworks into the study of user-generated content for future virtual world communities. Finally, we will review the broader epistemological and ethical issues related to the role of the participant-observation researcher in the study of virtual worlds.

scholarly journals Animal Welfare and Social Innovation: Evidence from a Case Study in Southern Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (99) ◽  
pp. 757-785
Author(s):  
Alexandre Zawaki Pazetto ◽  
Nei Antonio Nunes ◽  
André Luis da Silva Leite
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
The Government

Abstract This study examined the Cão Terapia (Dog Therapy) project, developed by a civil society organization, in order to verify how it generates social innovation based on practices focused on animal welfare. It is a qualitative case study, with an exploratory and descriptive approach. It consists of literature review, documentary research, participant observation, and interviews with volunteers and managers of the Bem-Animal organization. Bem-Animal seeks to promote the welfare of animals rescued by the government after complaints of abuse, being run over, and other serious situations. We found that the initiatives of this organization result in social innovation, above all, by providing social actions contrary to the speciesist, instrumental, and consumerist mentalities. They contribute to an experience of ethical precepts and to the consolidation of rights for non-human animals within the society.

scholarly journals "Sister Akua, they say you should dance": negotiating roles in participant observation

1970 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Graveling
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The Core ◽  
Participant Observer ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Southern Ghana

Relationships, and specifically the relationship between the fieldworker and the research subjects, are at the core of the process of all anthropological and ethnographic research and to a very large extent determine the outcomes of the research. In addressing the question of how far a participant observer should attempt to "become" a member of the group she is studying, we must also recognise the complexity of individual and social identities assumed or attributed to her. When the distinction between aspects of "self" and "other" is blurred, the fieldworker can be simultaneously (but not fully) "insider" and "outsider" in different facets of her identity and in different relationships. Drawing on experiences of recent ethnographic fieldwork among members of churches in a village in southern Ghana, this paper explores aspects of identity that contribute to this ambivalent status of the fieldworker. It considers the extent to which the researcher has control over her research roles and the implications of this in terms of access, acceptance, data collection, and obligations and responsibilities of the researcher to her informants.

Designing Ethnographic Research in Technical Communication: Case Study Theory into Application

1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice E. Moorhead
Keyword(s):  
Field Study ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Additional Constraints

Field study, using an ethnographic approach, offers a potentially powerful methodology for the technical communication researcher, a methodology that provides a useful balance to the strengths and weaknesses of experiments and surveys. Technical communication studies, however, exhibit not only the typical constraints of field research but several additional constraints inherent to research conducted on-the-job in business, industry, and government, which deserve consideration when designing research.

scholarly journals Moral Values in Religious Myths of Bantenese Society

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ayatullah Humaeni
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Anthropological Perspective ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
And Function

Abstract This article discusses moral values in various religious myths spread on several areas of Banten. How Bantenese society undertands and believes in  religious myths that spread out and are still maintained from generations to generations becomes one of the main focuses of this article; besides, it also tries to analyze the meaning and functions of religious myths for Bantenese society; and the moral values contained in religious myths of Bantenese society. This article is a field research using ethnographical method based on anthropological perspective. Library research, participant-observation, and depth-interview are methodes used to collect the data. Religious myths are one of Islamic literatures that still survive in Banten up to now. For Bantenese society, religious myths are considered having moral message and moral values. Religious myths, in some cases, also play significant roles and function for Bantenese society because they frequently contain moral values. Hence, many Bantenese people still maintain and transmit these religious myths to the youg generation.  

scholarly journals Bem-estar Animal e Inovação Social: Evidências a partir de um Estudo de Caso no Sul do Brasil

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (99) ◽  
pp. 757-785
Author(s):  
Alexandre Zawaki Pazetto ◽  
Nei Antonio Nunes ◽  
André Luis da Silva Leite
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Civil Society Organization ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
The Government

Abstract This study examined the Cão Terapia (Dog Therapy) project, developed by a civil society organization, in order to verify how it generates social innovation based on practices focused on animal welfare. It is a qualitative case study, with an exploratory and descriptive approach. It consists of literature review, documentary research, participant observation, and interviews with volunteers and managers of the Bem-Animal organization. Bem-Animal seeks to promote the welfare of animals rescued by the government after complaints of abuse, being run over, and other serious situations. We found that the initiatives of this organization result in social innovation, above all, by providing social actions contrary to the speciesist, instrumental, and consumerist mentalities. They contribute to an experience of ethical precepts and to the consolidation of rights for non-human animals within the society.

scholarly journals FORMATION OF THE MUGHAM SINGING SCHOOL IN AZERBAIJAN (LATE 19TH – FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURIES)

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 222-235
Author(s):  
Aneta Strzemżalska
Keyword(s):  
Classical Music ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Vocal Performance ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Concert Halls ◽  
National Music

Mugham plays a significant role in the national culture of modern Azerbaijan. Considering this fact, this article describes the initial period of the formation of the Azerbaijani mugham singing school, that is, the end of the 19th – the first half of the 20th centuries. Based on the results of field research (participant observation, and also interviews in Russian and Azerbaijani languages ​​with representatives of the musical community of the capital of Azerbaijan: performers and listeners of mugham, scientists, publicists, employees of concert halls where mugham performances take place, employees of state institutions who are responsible for development programs culture in the country), and available sources, the author of the article focuses on those socio-historical circumstances and characters that testify to the specifics of the modern singing school of mugham. Therefore, special attention is paid to two soloists and connoisseurs of Azerbaijani music: Jabbar Garyagdioglu and Bulbul. The first of them, although he grew up in the traditional environment of folklore singers, performed mughams in a new, theatrical form on the stages of concert halls. The change in the place and form of mugham performance laid the foundation for the emergence of the main genre of modern national music in Azerbaijan - mugham opera. Bulbul's merit for the formation of the mugham singing school, in turn, is that he developed an original singing technique, the specificity of which is the synthesis of modified norms of vocal performance of classical music of the Western type and folklore art, primarily mugham. Due to technical innovations, the national music of Azerbaijan, colored with a purely folk style, is not only interesting, but also understandable to a foreign listener.

Evangelism Through Happiness? A Case Study in Innovative “Pre-Evangelism” with Contemporary uk “Post-Christians”

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-123
Author(s):  
Nigel Rooms
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Secular Theory ◽  
The Subject

Abstract The nature of evangelism in “post-Christian” societies, especially in the secularizing west is a problematized and contested area. A field research case study is presented by the author who was also the facilitator of an innovative pre-evangelism resource entitled The Happiness Lab which was the subject of the research. A small group of “post-Christians” in the United Kingdom was gathered to pilot the course which taught practices associated with increasing happiness from the positive psychology movement. Survey data, participant observation and semi-structured interviews create triangulated data which is analyzed to show the effectiveness of the course in increasing in small ways the happiness levels of the participants. The question of how the course is defined and offered ethically as pre-evangelism is examined. Critical reflection on the data is presented utilizing secularization and post-secular theory alongside theological categories such as imago Dei, incarnation and conversion. “Anticipatory evangelism” is suggested as an alternative nomenclature.1

Ambidextrous supply chain managers in a slow clockspeed industry: evidence from a Brazilian adhesive manufacturer

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
Aruana Rosa Souza-Luz ◽  
Iuri Gavronski
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Personnel Selection ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Organizational Ambidexterity ◽  
Exploration And Exploitation ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Conventional wisdom posits that firms in slow clockspeed industries usually favor exploitation over exploration, prioritizing the need to increase efficiency, reduce costs and invest in process improvements. However, what happens when such firms face structural changes in the long run? The authors claim that even firms in slow clockspeed industries should be ambidextrous, that is, they should develop both exploration and exploitation capabilities. Supply chain (SC) managers are key players in enabling organizational ambidexterity. This paper aims to identify the abilities that characterize the ambidextrous SC managers. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data from an in-depth case study through ethnographic research, non-participant observation and interviews with SC managers at a Brazilian chemical firm embedded in a slow clockspeed network of clients. These longitudinal data were used to demonstrate the process of implementing new projects in an SC department. Findings The authors propose a set of key abilities that enable ambidexterity in SC managers for them to contribute effectively to the SC exploration and exploitation practices: a holistic yet focused view; prior experience in multiple functional areas; technical knowledge; openness towards network connectivity; openness to sharing ideas with other managers; empathy; and entrepreneurial capabilities. Research limitations/implications This paper contributes to the SCM ambidexterity literature by bringing to light the abilities of successful ambidextrous SC managers. The seven abilities identified are discussed. The authors formulate theoretical propositions on how these abilities enable SC managers’ ambidexterity. Practical implications This study provides SC managers with the knowledge of a set of individual abilities they should develop among their SC personnel to offer a more suitable environment in their departments for ambidexterity to take place. In addition, these abilities can be used as screening criteria in personnel selection processes to increase the proportion of ambidextrous employees within the firm. The identified characteristics could also be used as recruitment criteria for managerial positions in SCM. Originality/value This research advances SC literature by studying SC managers through the lens of the organizational ambidexterity literature. Using a combination of case study, non-participant observation and ethnographic research, the authors derive a set of propositions for the characteristics of ambidextrous SC managers.

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