Seeking insiders’ perspective: The goal is to get an insider’s point of view. But I withheld judgment and later found out that this was a very kind gesture and perfectly normal for heterosexual men.ģ. Based on my expectations and previous cultural experience, this made me uncomfortable. Tran wanted to walk hand in hand through the market with me. I thought he merely wanted my attention and motioned for the translator. Then, while walking in the local market with the students, Pastor Tran took my hand. On this trip the training seemed to be going especially well. I had made many trips to Southeast Asia to train pastors. The Ethnographic Research Cycle (below) involves observing, describing, hypothesizing, evaluating, applying and observing again toward an ever deepening understanding of the culture. Without sufficient information, those new to a culture will draw conclusions based on their previous culture. Withholding judgement: The common tendency is to interpret and evaluate behaviors too quickly. But in doing participant observation, we will be disciplining ourselves to pay attention and to record our observations in order to think about what it means.Ģ. Intentionality: Human nature may tend to be passive and even inattentive in a new situation. It involves learning from people, finding out what makes them tick, expressing interest in the things that are important to them, and inviting them to teach you to see the world from their point of view. But probably the best way to understand a new culture is through what is called “participant observation.” This is a technique used in anthropology and sociology, by which someone from outside the culture (a participant observer) studies the life of a group by sharing in its activities. This may be done through reading academic research on the culture (literature review), or by asking questions about culture (interviews). How can Mike and Michelle make sense out of the confusion?Īn ethnography is an in-depth, descriptive study of a culture, based on observation of and interaction with people. They can’t figure out the public transportation system, they don’t know what the social cues mean, and even the simple greetings they have learned have led to embarrassing offenses. However, lately things have become so confusing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |