ANT 285 - Ethnographic Research (Honors)

3 Credit Hours

Honors courses involve more in-depth study than non-honors courses and often involve exploratory learning, essay writing, collaborative activities and individualized research. The course focuses on supervised qualitative field research in particular social situations. Students will learn the steps to accomplishing an ethnographic research project, including ways to do various kinds of observations, fieldnotes, interviews, and analysis and interpretation of field data.

Prerequisite(s): COM 121 or COM 122, eligibility for the Honors Program

Semesters Offered: Summer

RATIONALE OF COURSE

The purpose for this course is to teach students a powerful research tool for approaching an understanding of the world from the perspectives of people with different cultural backgrounds. In addition, the course provides honors students with an opportunity to conduct original research under a professor’s close supervision.

COURSE COMPETENCIES

Explain what ethnography is and its potential uses.
Outline the fundamental aspects of ‘culture’.
Discuss issues of language use in field research.
Discuss the two levels of cultural knowledge: explicit and tacit.
Discuss the ethical principles that should be considered in ethnographic field work.
Explain advantages of an ethnographic research cycle over a linear approach in social science research.
Delineate the steps in doing participant observation research and distinguish among descriptive, selective, and focused observations.
Describe techniques for conducting non-directive, informal interviews and ethno semantic interviews.
Explain the methods and purposes for domain analyses, taxonomic analyses, and cultural theme analyses