Sister Akua, they say you should dance
Negotiating roles in participant observation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12930771 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elizabeth Graveling (University of Bath, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1970 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 1970-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropology Matters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1758-6453 • E-ISSN: 1758-6453 |
| Publisher | NomadIT (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.22582/am.v11i1.27 |
| OpenAlex | W1557666750 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 14 |
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
Aesthetics · Ambivalence · Art · Dance · Embeddedness · Ethnography · Identity (music · Identity negotiation · Insider · Negotiation · Participant observation · Political science · Reflexivity · Sister · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Social Psychology · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies
Body and Soul
The Participant-Observer as a Human Being
Roles in Sociological Field Observations
Criminological Research
Questions of Cultural Identity
The atheist anthropologist
Roles in Sociological Field Observations
Membership Roles in Field Research
Into the Dark Heart of Ethnography
Simians, Cyborgs, and Women
Neither Here nor There
The Primacy of the Ethical
Moral Models in Anthropology
| Citations per year | 0.1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2016 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |