Assignment 5: Ethnography Readings

   The first article was very interesting because I only thought that anthropologists only wrote reports about their fieldwork. I learned that there were many different tools they can learn such as interviewing, critical analysis, and video to aid their reports. They also have to establish rapports in the community in order to gain useful information. In addition to some of the many things I learned that anthropologists do, I wanted to talk about my previous experience with this subject to clarify my background and hopefully indicate that it will prep me for my future assignment.
   I've done an ethnography study once before and I remember only barely interacting with the community there. I went to an orchestra and listened to the music while taking notes and recording some audio. These notes helped me revisit the thoughts I had that night and evaluate what the community really thought of the orchestra and why they valued it so much. I had the amazing opportunity of talking to a patron there who frequented these events and I gained valuable insight in that regard too. The second article about the origins of ethnography resonated with me in this regard because I remember doing research on the topic before hand in order to be prepared to interact with the community that I was going to witness. Not only did I observe the performance, but I also witnessed the habitat that I was present in, the manner that people acted while the orchestra was playing, and how they reacted after the performance. The reason I mention this is that I believe it gives me valuable insight and experience in the anthropology field and that it will aid me and my group on our future assignment.
   Another point that I thought was very interesting was biases. The observer must try to incorporate as little bias as possible in their report. Today however, that is a hard rule to abide as most writings cannot be free from bias. We as anthropologists must find a non-biased informant who is a part of the community and screen them with questions. Ethnography also used to be different and not so ethos based. Ethos means its based more on the intangible values and morals that permeate the community rather than just the physical aspects such as language and tools. The five criteria for ethnography are: Substantive contribution, Aesthetic merit, Reflexivity, Impact, and Expresses a Reality.
   The last thing I wanted to talk about was "Coming of Age and Samoa". This wikipedia article gave me the summary of what this book was about but I found what I read very interesting. From what I understand, it set some of the earliest precedents for anthropological research. What was truly fascinating was that she contrasted the Samoan values with that of American values at the time. She concluded that most of the anxiety of aging girls was not from growing up, but from the cultural facets surrounding them. In conclusion, I learned much more about Ethnography than I know before, and I can say I'm ready to perform another experiment of my own.