...Ethnographic Case Study Interview The interviewee is from Mexico City, Mexico. This particular city is known to be the most populous city within Mexico, as well as the country’s capital. He attended Eton School, a private elementary through high school, which was about a ten minute drive from his house. After finishing the fourth grade, his family moved to San Antonio, Texas. They spent six years in Texas before moving to Starkville, Mississippi to be closer to his grandparents. He spent the last two years of schooling at Starkville High School, home of the yellowjackets. There, he played varsity in soccer and was named captain of the varsity soccer team during his senior year. After feeling like he was called into ministry, he came upon...
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...Title: An Ethnographic Study about the Homeless Youth in the Philippines Target Group: Street Children ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY A requirement in Society and Culture GAMALIEL VALENCIA Submitted by: Belarmino, Mary Grace S. INTRODUCTION: I chose to study the life and behaviors of the street children on the busy road of Balibago Complex at Sta. Rosa Laguna, to gain a better understanding of their conditions. The main purpose of this study is to discover how they manage to live in a very dangerous condition, as well as the perception of trust, hostility, and aggression among peers and the authority. It also aims to find out their lives regarding their families, if they have one and why they decided to run away from them. Why do they usually choose to stay on the street and run away from the local authorities that will give them shelter, food and everything they need? How can they manage to find a place for sleeping every cold evening, and mostly with an empty stomach? Seeing street children is very common for us that we can say that it is already part of everyone’s day, especially if you’re living around the urban places. It is heartbreaking to see them and think that, these kids should be in school studying, not struggling to work under the scorching heat. In Balibago; one of the busiest town in our place, you can see a lot of these kids roaming around nudging people, mostly around the mall asking for money or food. Some of them are always on the run catching jeepneys...
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...Mini-Ethnographic Study: African-American women’s hair salon Introduction: The present study aims to provide an ethnographic description of the population of an African-American women’s hair salon located in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The study was carried out through a 3-hour field interaction that occurred in the afternoon of May 22, 2013. The field observation comprised the following techniques: picture, drawing, spontaneous conversation, interview and note-taking. The first part of the study introduces the environment where the interaction took place and the population studied. The second part presents the observation itself and a detailed description of the population’s cultural traits. And finally, the third part of the study summarizes the key findings of the observation under a socioeconomic perspective. Subject: The subject of this study is the African-American women’s hair salon Foxy Diva’s, located in Germantown. I chose this subject of study for three main reasons. First, I currently live in Germantown and I wished to get a better understanding of the neighborhood and its population. Second, I wanted to learn more about the socioeconomic environment of the African-American population. And finally, making a parallel with Brazil, I expected hair salons in American poor neighborhoods to be relevant social spaces and, consequently, to be interesting environments for an ethnographic observation. Germantown is a neighborhood located in the northwestern suburbs of...
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...studied, on its own terms. Ethnography should not be confused with ethnology, which is the comparative study of cultures. Although ethnographic studies inevitably involve some comparisons with other cultures, their primary purpose is not comparison. The roots of ethnographic studies are found in the reports of travelers and historians dating back to the Greek writer Herodotus, and more recently, of traders and colonial administrators. The inherent difficulty of ethnographic studies is immediately apparent in these reports, as the writers often misinterpreted for various reasons the activities they witnessed in foreign cultures. Ethnography relies primarily on detailed descriptions of the social life and cultural phenomena of a particular group of people. I choose ethnography because even thought I have not been in Hurricane Katrina myself and my family have been in a hurricane while station on the Gulf Coast, and for those that have suffered in Hurricane Hugo ,we have an ideal of what happens during these trying time The good part about Ethnography is that it closes the gap between cultures, enabling people to better understand the true meaning and value of different customs and practices in once distant (Ethnographic Research, 2008)cultures. In ethnographic research one must put aside one's own cultural views in order to enter into the mindset of the people under study. Only by putting ourselves into the "shoes" of others, can we understand the meaning of their thoughts...
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...strongly believe that there are multiple perspectives to be uncovered. Qualitative researchers focus on the study of social phenomena and on giving voice to the feelings and perceptions of the participants under study. This is based on the belief that knowledge is derived from the social setting and that understanding social knowledge is a legitimate scientific process. The following are the key characteristics of qualitative research: • Studies are carried out in a naturalistic setting. • Researchers ask broad research questions designed to explore, interpret, or understand the social context. • Participants are selected through nonrandom methods based on whether the individuals have information vital to the questions being asked. • Data collection techniques involve observation and interviewing that bring the researcher in close contact with the participants. • The researcher is likely to take an interactive role where she or he gets to know the participants and the social context in which they live. • Hypotheses are formed afterthe researcher begins data collection and are modified throughout the study as new data are collected and analyzed. • The study reports data in narrative form. How does Rayna’s study fit into the description provided for qualitative research? At this point, you might want to reflect on why Rayna would want to choose a qualitative study to examine her questions. Steps in Conducting Qualitative Research Qualitative researchers use scientific...
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...It is human instinct that it tries to know and explore the natural occurring in the environment. In order to understand something unknown, we have to go through reasoning and research. Qualitative research in a complex analysis and is characterized by mathematical calculations but no experimentally. Quantitative research however is carried out experimentally and relies and builds on mathematical techniques such as quality, frequency and amount etc. Qualitative analysis provides more details and is more focused and deep process. Qualitative analysis put emphasis on how and what meaning is given to a certain situation. Qualitative approach is subjective and has understanding nature. In this type of research, the researcher has to engage more with the subject under consideration. This type of research is also referred to as interpretative research, understanding and gathering information and interpreting it with respect to daily life. Quantitative research method involves the mathematical parameters such as height, weight and other parameters which have numerical value. The emphasis of this type of research is on the comparison between different variable of the system. So it depends on mathematical techniques and procedures such as mean, median, frequency and other statistical procedures. According to Kotler et al “Marketing research is a process that identifies and defines marketing opportunities and problems, monitors and evaluates marketing actions and performance,...
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...1 WHAT IS A FIELD STUDY? The field study is an integral part of the HDSR Program, and is the basis for much of the upper level course work required by our majors. The field study allows students to: • gain experience in integrating the theoretical perspectives learned in the classroom with experiences gained in the field; • achieve insight into the workings of an organization; • become more conscious of the relationship of social roles, institutional dynamics, and larger cultural systems. When students return to campus, Field Study Seminar assists students in analyzing and interpreting their experiences, culminating in a major academic paper. An HDSR field study differs from a conventional internship or practicum in important ways. The main difference lies in the purpose. The primary purpose of a conventional internship or practicum is for the student to perform a job and learn skills that will be useful in a future career. In contrast, the HDSR Field Study is an ethnographic research project. Its main purpose is for the student to hone his or her analytical skills and gain insight into the dynamics of the organization in larger societal context. That is not to say that the job, in and of itself, is not important. HDSR students are expected to work diligently, and make every effort to contribute to the organization in positive ways, along with the added dimension of observing and analyzing the organization. An HDSR field study might be thought of as a conventional internship/practicum...
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...with dates on the first day of class). Attendance and Participation As a general policy, I do not accept latecomers in this class. People who are more than 5 minutes late for the class will not be allowed to participate in the course. 3. Recommended Readings Several copies of “Organizational Behaviour and Management” by D. Knights and H. Willmott are available in the library. This book is an excellent companion to this course and should be also helpful in preparing your final assignment (Essay). It may also be a useful supplementary resource in preparing presentations. Besides, books (study guides) as these mentioned below provide advice for assignment writing. I would strongly suggest that if you are not confident in your report writing or feel you would benefit from further help in this regard to look to these. The study skills handbook / Stella Cottrell The good study guide / Andrew Northedge The...
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...2010). The information should make sense and contain reputable or honest data. Another consideration is the data should be validated (Christensen, Johnson, & Turner, 2010). This can be done through peer-reviews to see if the data makes sense and has been known in other cases. This can also be done through other resources that have stated and proven similar facts. A third consideration is that the data is non-numerical and exploratory (Christensen, Johnson, & Turner, 2010). Many times there is some confusion between qualitative and quantitative research as qualitative research focuses on narrative or pictures while I would prefer more numerical data. 2. What factors should go into determining the sample size used in a qualitative study? When conducting research, quality sampling may be characterized by the number and selection of subjects or observations. Obtaining a sample size that is appropriate in both regards is critical for many reasons (Patel, Doku, and Tennakoon, 2003. A large sample size is more representative of the population, limiting the influence of outliers or extreme observations. A sufficiently large sample size is also necessary to produce results among variables that are significantly different (Patel, Doku, and Tennakoon, 2003). Sample size is also important for economic and ethical reasons. 3. Given that the researcher is considered an instrument in qualitative research, what are the implications for potential bias with this researcher role? How...
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...Social Construction of Whiteness The concept of whiteness, or white privilege, for centuries has been ignored as a potential area of study because it has been widely accepted as the societal norm. Many whites have benefited socially, economically and politically without understanding that most of the privileges they have historically received are solely due to their race and/or gender. The purpose of this review is to analyze the social construction of whiteness from a theoretical perspective, whites understanding themselves and their social status, in addition to the evolution of whiteness. Many studies have been undertaken on the social construction of whiteness. These studies shed a lot of light on the different perceptions on whiteness, gaps in research, areas of highest research interest, strengths and weaknesses of the various methodologies, and direction for future studies. In the study done by Hartmann, Gerteis, and Croll, the focus was on the theoretical aspects of whiteness studies. The findings led the researchers to estimate that in the United States, 15% of the population exhibit what may be called ‘categorical whiteness’ (404). The study by Hartmann, et.al, was carried out using data obtained during a recent national survey, which helped provide an empirical assessment of the theoretical underpinnings of whiteness studies (Hartmann, et.al 404). Three propositions regarding the awareness and conception of whites about their own racial status were analyzed. The...
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...What does anthropology have to offer us in understanding forced displacement? The study of refugees and other forced migrants is now a major area within anthropology, population displacement has become more prevalent and more visible worldwide. Examines the lived experience of forced migration and articulates anthropology’s unique contributions to the field of refugee and forced migration studies in documenting the impact of displacement and dispossession on refugees and exiles, their culture, and society. Anthropologists have shown over the last half century that in forced migration, people lose not only resources and property but also employment and livelihoods, social networks, kin, political power, and a sense of meaning and cultural identity. International humanitarian assistance continues to gradually expand in scope to provide assistance to all populations affected by displacement. Anthropologists have both studied and tried to do something about the situation through the creation of agencies that give a voice to the displaced, such as the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford, Cultural Survival, and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. Displacement is now seen as an endemic phenomenon that affects those uprooted, the communities that feel the impact of their arrival, governments, and the international agencies which increasingly play a major role in dealing with displacement. (Laguerre 1998, 8) argues that diaspora means both displacement and reattachment...
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...Media Consumers Team report, IMMAA 2007 © Media Management Center Media Team Members • John Lavine John Lavine • Mary Alice Shaver • Phil Napoli Phil Napoli • Ed Malthouse Ed Malthouse • Bob Calder • Limor Peer • Rich Gordon • Sora Park © Media Management Center Media Recent Studies in U.S. • PEW, Biennial Media Consumption PEW, Survey, 2006 Survey, • Ball State, Middletown Studies, 2006 • State of the Media, 2006 • Center for Digital Future, USC, 2005 • Carnegie Corporation, “Abandoning the Carnegie News,” 2005 News,” © Media Management Center Media Main Conclusions • Use increases for all media – media day Use • News online growing, though slowed, News supplementing other news sources supplementing • Young people moving away from Young traditional sources of news traditional • Young people - 20 media hours in 7 Young 20 clock hours daily clock © Media Management Center Media Team Approach • Beyond descriptive studies – what are Beyond what the important questions to ask? the • Focusing on three main areas: – Defining audience – Audience measurement – Historical & critical perspectives © Media Management Center Media Defining media audience • What do we need to know about What audience? audience? • Who benefits from certain definitions of Who audience? audience? © Media Management Center Media Defining media audience • Napoli: Different ways audiences are Different perceived and...
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...perceived by children. This essay is to provide the likenesses and differences between two studies which investigated this subject. The first study which will be discussed was accomplished by Brian Bigelow and John La Gaipa in which they used the content analysis approach. The second study to be considered was completed by William Corsaro in which the ethnographic method was used. The research by Bigelow and La Gaipa was similar to that of Corsaro’s as not much research had been done prior to their investigations within the study of friendship in children. However these investigations differentiated in the method of how data was obtained and portrayed. In 1975 Bigelow and La Gaipa requested 480 children, with an equal range of girls and boys, aged between six and fourteen years to write essays on friendship. They requested 60 students each from eight difference schools, 30 boys and 30 girls, from eight different areas in America. The specific information targeted was what they sought in a best friend and how this differed to other relationships they had. (Brownlow, 2012, p.242). The approach they took to their findings was content analysis, they had exchanged the qualitative data they held into quantitative data. Bigelow and La Gaipa collated the data from these essays and converted them into a numerical format so that a frequency count could identify any consistencies within the study. They had a determined list of twenty one friendship expectancies and tallied these when found...
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...Decoding Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding model Stuart Hall is a prominent sociologist and cultural theorist and author of the significantly influential essay Encoding/Decoding; published in 1973 during the time of his position as director of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham University (Chandler 2001). Encoding/Decoding is a theoretical framework devised to critically examine how society or the hegemonic institutions in society, disseminate messages implanted or ‘encoded’ (Hall 2001, p.167) with meaning ‘through the operation of codes within the syntagmatic chain of a discourse’ (Hall 2001, p.166). Hall’s model examines the processes in which television texts are constructed with dominant codes or ‘preferred readings’ (Hall 2011, p.172), whilst signifying theoretical strategies from which audiences can deconstruct and consume such readings existing within texts in correspondence to cultural and social conditions. Hall’s model laid the foundations for much ethnographic research; it is upon this premise and its comprehensive influence, that in this essay the advantages and limitations of his model will be evaluated with focus on how effectively it functions within the indicated parameters of specific texts and discourses. Hall’s model which is fundamentally a mode of communication and audience reception theory, stems from early models of which proposed to analyse how audiences interpreted texts through the visual and aural discourse of television...
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...Music in Different Cultures Popular Music and Contemporary U.S. Culture Popular Music in its Many Facets In its broadest sense, popular music is an umbrella term referring to a vast range of commercially mass-marketed musical genres contrasting with classical or art music and intended for mass consumption (e.g., rock, rock and roll, hip-hop, grunge, heavy metal, rhythm and blues, punk, soul, techno, funk, rap, house). This wide-ranging term encompasses a plethora of musical styles involving various rhythms, vocal styles, instruments, and technologies. Characteristically, popular music is a global cultural phenomenon and an accessible form of commercial music aimed at a worldwide audience. Traditionally, British and American forms of popular music have tended to dominate the industry. Corresponding to social, economic, and technological change, popular music is intimately linked to the identity of musicians, performers, or artists, as well as audiences and fans. Popular music is ubiquitous; from shopping malls and advertising to gymnasiums/fitness classes and political campaigns, popular music is a common feature of people's everyday lives and a significant aspect of consumer culture. For fans and enthusiasts, popular music can be a leisure-time pursuit occurring on evenings or weekends; alternatively, it can constitute a lifestyle, or way of life (e.g., Deadheads—a group of fans of the American band Grateful Dead who saw the band at...
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