QN.
How ethnographers interprete the remains of fish skeleton, remains of blocken
pots, the remains of mats, the remains of alloy of copper and tin, and lastly,
the remains of painting of arrows, spears, and animal in caves?
BACKGROUND OF ETHNOGRAPHY
Ethnography (from Greek ἔθνος ethnos = folk/people and
γράφω grapho = to write) is a qualitative research method aimed to learn
and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of
meanings guiding the life of a cultural group. It was pioneered in the field of
socio-cultural anthropology but has also become a popular method in various
other fields of social sciences—particularly in sociology,
communication studies, and history —that study people, ethnic groups and
other ethnic formations, their ethnogenesis,
composition, resettlement, social welfare characteristics, as well as their
material and spiritual culture. It is often employed for gathering empirical
data on human societies
and cultures.
Data collection is often done through participant observation, interviews,
questionnaires, and so forth. Ethnography aims to describe the nature of those
who are studied (for example to describe a people, an ethnos) through
writing. In the biological sciences, this type of study might be called a
"field study" or a "case report", both of which are used as
common synonyms for "ethnography". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnography/10-05-2012/6.23Am).
Also
the word Ethnography Etymology as a French Word ethnographie, from ethno-
+ -graphie –graphy, Date: 1834 :
the study and systematic recording of human cultures ; also : a
descriptive work produced from such research, (http://www.americanethnography.com/ethnography.php/10-05-2012/7.39AM).
The term ethnography has come to be equated with virtually any qualitative
research project (Research Gateway)
where the intent is to provide a detailed, in-depth description of everyday
life and practice. This is sometimes referred to as "thick description"
-- a term attributed to the anthropologist Clifford Geertz writing on the idea
of an interpretive theory of culture in the early 1970s (The Interpretation
of Cultures, first published as a collection in 1973). The use of the
term "qualitative" is meant to distinguish this kind of social
science research from more "quantitative" or statistically oriented
research. The two approaches, i.e., quantitative and qualitative, while often
complimentary, ultimately have different aims, (http://www.brianhoey.com/General%20Site/general_defn-ethnography.htm/10-05-2012/2012/7.46AM).
Anthropologists,
ethnographers, and other social scientists may engage in something called
ethnography. Ethnography, simply stated, is the study of people in their own
environment through the use of methods such as participant observation and
face-to-face interviewing. As anthropologist H. Sidky suggests, ethnography
documents cultural similarities and differences through empirical
fieldwork and can help with scientific generalizations about human behavior and
the operation of social and cultural systems (2004:9). Because anthropology as
a discipline is holistic (meaning it looks at the past, present and future of a
community across time and space), ethnography as a first hand, detailed account
of a given community or society attempts to get a comprehensive understanding
of the circumstances of the people being studied. Ethnographers, then, look at
and record a people’s way of life as seen by both the people and the
anthropologist; they take an emic (folk or inside) and etic
(analytic or outside) approach to describing communities and cultures, (http://www.nps.gov/history/ethnography/aah/AAheritage/ERCb.htm/10-05-2012/11.10AM).
Ethnography
provides an account of a particular community, society, or culture. During
ethnography field work the ethnographer gathers data, which he or she
organizes, describes, analyzes, and interprets, to build and present that
account, which may be in form of a book, article, or film. Ethnography use the
following methods; participant observation, rapport, buildings, interviewing,
genealogies, work with key consultants, life histories, and longitudinal
research, (Kottak, 2005). Most anthropologists today point to Bronislaw
Malinowski, author of such landmark ethnographies as Argonauts of the
Western Pacific (first published in 1922), as a kind of founding father to
ethnographic fieldwork, the practice of “participant-observation.”
DEFINITION OF THE KEY CONCEPT
Bronislaw
Malinowski (1884-1942), defined ethnography
is the study and record cultural diversity threatened by westernization.
Ethnography consists of the observation and analysis of human groups considered
as individual entities (the groups are often selected, for practical and
theoretical reasons unrelated to the nature of the research involved, from
those societies that differ most from our own). Ethnography thus aims at
recording as accurately as possible the perspective modes of life of various
groups (In the book “Classic Argonaunts of western passific, 1922/1961).
Ethnography is the field of anthropological
research based on direct observation of and reporting on people’s way of life.
Within this ethnography consists the process of observing, and recording data,
usually description and analysis of the subject under study, (Kottak, 2005).
Ethnography refers to scientific description of
people and cultures with reference to their particular customs and
characteristics, (Nelson H. Graburn, 1982).
Therefore, Ethnography defined as the scientific study of
human social phenomena and communities, through means such as fieldwork. It is
considered a branch of cultural anthropology,
the branch of anthropology which focuses on the study of human societies. Some
people use “ethnography” and “cultural anthropology” interchangeably, although
cultural anthropology includes more research techniques than just ethnography.
An
ethnographer is a person who gathers and records data about human culture and
societies. There are various research methods that can be applied to the
different sub-categories of this social study, such as field, design or visual ethnography. An
ethnographer often needs to be able to find patterns in and understand issues
faced by a wide sample of people with diverse backgrounds, (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-an-ethnographer-do.htm/28-05-2012/6.45PM
).
Ethnographic data is a research logic used to collect
data, develop analysis, and organize the presentation of research findings. Its
formal objective is causal explanation, a specification of the individually
necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for the emergence of some part of
social life. Calls for the progressive redefinition of the phenomenon to be
explained (the explanandum) and of explanatory factors (the explanans), such that
a perfect (sometimes called "universal") relationship is maintained.
Initial cases are inspected to locate common factors and provisional
explanations. As new cases are examined and initial hypotheses are
contradicted, the explanation is reworked in one or both of two ways, (Smelser
and Baltes, eds., 2001).
Ethnographic data means a method of research in the
social sciences, involves a researcher's direct, personal observation of a
group of people. A qualitative approach for studying human societies in terms
of their distinctive cultures which defining the defining aspect of this
approach involves the in-depth study of all aspects of a given human society.(http://www.ehow.com/facts5801143Ethnographic-analysis.htm/10-05-2012AM).
Archaeological interpretation is an attempt to reconstruct
historical often very ancient, people and try to discover their belief systems,
their rituals, their habits, and their interaction with their environment by
analysis of the archaeological record. Archaeologists are literally stuck
between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the interpretation of
archaeological data. The reason it is so difficult harks back to the purpose of
archaeological research,
Society is a group of people related to each other through persistent
relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual
territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural
expectations. Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations)
between individuals who share a distinctive culture
and institutions;
a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among
its constituent members. In the social sciences,
a larger society often evinces stratification and/or dominance patterns in subgroups. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society/27-05-2012/8.43AM).
Michael
Hughes and Kloehler (2005), define
society as a group who live a some territory and share a common culture.
Macionis
J. J. and Plummer K. (2008), defined society
as the people who interrupt and defined space and share culture.
Hess
(1991) defined society is the group
of people living together in a territory under the leader and involving on
economic activities.
Therefore, society means a group of people living
together in a certain territory whereby culture and economic activities are
practicing.
The following are interpretation of
the following:-
(A). The remain of fish skeleton.
The
remain of fish skeleton as ethnographers interprets in three ways such as;
within that areas had practiced Fishing activities, an areas whereby had dams
during previous year ago and later dried, and it is trading center based on
selling fishing. These societies around those areas the main activities had
fishing activities only as a major economic and most of these societies living
around coastal areas or around greater river like River Nile, Mississippi
River, Zambezi River and Niger River and lakes. The remain of fish skeleton
like Maxillae of the great sculpin, and vertabral salmon represents and being
interpreted that area had either fishing activities, dried dams, and trading
center whereby fish were sold.
(B). Remain of broken pots.
The
remain of broken pots anthropology interprets in two ways such as; that area
had activities of making pots and also had trading center whereby pots were
sold. When ethnographer gather data and see broken pots, an area we consider as
an important center for making pots and trading center whereby various people
met their and involving on either buying or sold their pots made by them during
their life time.
(C). Remain of Mats. The remain of mats in a certain area as ethnographer interpreters we consider that area into two main categories such as; people living that period either involved on making mats or that area were an area whereby there are graves of people who died many years ago because most of African graves including Islamic prefers to use mats during burial.
(C). Remain of Mats. The remain of mats in a certain area as ethnographer interpreters we consider that area into two main categories such as; people living that period either involved on making mats or that area were an area whereby there are graves of people who died many years ago because most of African graves including Islamic prefers to use mats during burial.
(D). Remain of copper and Tin. As ethnographer, the remain of
copper and tin in a certain area we consider that areas previous time their
main activities had mining activities. They participated on digging minerals as
their major activities. Therefore when ethnographers during his/her observation
look the remain of that kind of minerals; copper and tin he/she can interpret
that within these area people dealing with minerals. Also, Onwuejeogwe, M. A.
(1975:33) said that, within the area as the place where smelting, trading,
mining, and division of labour activities were concentrated.
(E)Remain of painting of arrow,
spear and animal in caves.
The remain of arrows and spear in a certain environment as ethnographer
interprets that, within an areas people living their, their main activities had
hunting and gathering which helped them to find food. And the remain of animal
in caves interpreting that, within an area people involved either on hunting
and gathering or involved on grazing animals within that caves.
CRICISM
Onwuejeogwe,
M. A. (1975:34) introduced the criticism of the use of archaeological data in
anthropological interpretation as follows; Anthropologists, and ethnographers
facing with the problem of interpreting or explaining cultural and social
facts.
They
do this in various ways, such as by description, reference to antecedents’
events, reference to the mediating factor, reference to an end or purpose, and
reference to a general law, class, or principle. In order to interpret extent
cultures and social system with
reference to the past, an anthropologist has to rely mostly on oral tradition
scientifically cross-checked and processed; and/ or on written documents describing
the cultures or social systems of hundreds or thousands of years ago if they
are available; and/ or on information obtained from scientific archaeology.
Written
documents do not occur in all cultures and they do not contain all the facts.
Some of the facts have been recorded incorrectly, or have undergone changes as
the result of continuous modifications and alterations of writers, reporters
and reviewers.
CONCLSION
Ethnography
interpretation, anthropological interpretation, and archaeological data have a
lot of advantages to our society as follows; provide detail, descriptive,
portrait of other culture, group and institution. Provide a basic for future
studies including comparative work, it provide a solution for existed problem,
it provides a new knowledge to different cultures, and it is distinguishing one
culture and another.
REFERENCES
Kottak,
C. P, (2005), “A Concise Introdction to Cultural Anthropology; Mirror for
Humanity”, 4 Edition, Michigan
University, McGraw Hill.
Onwuejeogwu,
M. A, (1975), “The Social Anthropology of Africa: An Introduction”,
University of Benin, Cox and
Wyman Ltd.
POWERED
BY CHIWAMBO AUSI R (TEOFILO KISANJI UNIVERSITY (TEKU), MAY 2012
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