ANTH 112 & ANTH 326: Assignment #1 – Interviewing

INTERVIEWING

To understand a culture, one not only observes and participates but one also learns by asking. In some senses, you are like the inquisitive child with the one hundred questions to everything you see and hear. Who does the anthropologist interview? Any individual who provides information in the field is an informant, or consultant. Even after a lengthy stay in the field, few anthropologists will have managed to speak to every resident in the village, or town, or city. Who you ultimately seek out to interview is in part dependent on the questions you bring to the field. You might ask any individual to learn more about the community, but you might also seek those who have specialized knowledge.

Remember, as well, your informants provide an introduction to other members of the community and to the community itself. That initial informant may open doors that might not have been available to you otherwise; s/he may also establish the perception of others towards you. Obviously, you talk with everyone who is willing to speak to you, but those who you come to know as sensitive and insightful regarding their society are individuals who you are likely to seek for in depth interviewing. Even so, there is no way to know who will be a “good” or “poor” informant. Good communication is easy to recognise, but lack of communication is equally significant. Negative evidence is still evidence!

An interview is an intense conversation with a purpose—to obtain information on a specific topic. It can be structured with a set of questions, and/or unstructured (open ended). The former is good for collecting general quantifiable data, e.g., genealogies or demographics, while the latter is used to explore a topic in depth, e.g., life history. It is open ended because the questions are likely those that you had not even considered for lack of sufficient information. Generally, the best questions require an elaboration, rather than a “yes” or “no” response—the standard “who, what, when, why, and how.”

Interviews can also be formal and informal. The latter is just that, unplanned, a chance encounter in which conversation develops and is exchanged. Quite often, the anthropologist comes to learn something without seeking it specifically in a casual conversation.

THE ASSIGNMENT

The topic for your first assignment is to learn about a family tradition or holiday celebrated by your partner.  You initially need to interview one another to learn which traditions or holidays are celebrated in order to decide on the one to focus for this assignment.

PARTNERS:  Ideally there will be an equal ratio of ANTH 326 and ANTH 112 students.  If not, please choose someone that you do NOT know, and if possible, someone who has a different ethno-cultural background. Choose your partners according to these criteria!

Discuss the types of questions, you might ask one another. Establish your basic “need to know” queries about the tradition or holiday. Once you agree upon these, proceed with the interview. Remember that your partner’s response may trigger another line of enquiry. Keep your interview focused (on target), though also be aware that tangential commentary in the field may lead you in directions that can be useful.

If your partner does not want to answer a question, you cannot make them do so. Keep in mind the code of ethics employed by anthropologists. The three main ethical principles that must guide fieldwork are:

1. acquiring informed consent,
2. respecting one’s informant’s privacy and dignity, and
3. doing no harm (protecting them from risk).

Since this assignment is between class members you do NOT need to get signed consent forms from each other.  You already know the purpose of this exercise and by partnering (as well as being in the class) you informally consent to undertake this interview assignment.

This assignment is to practice interviewing, therefore do NOT write up notes on your tradition to give to your partner. This is an exercise in discovery; by ASKING questions, you become informed. Traditions can vary from family, region, country, etc. You will likely have to meet more than once to complete this assignment; generally, an anthropologist will interview an individual several times over a period of weeks or months.

Write your interview as a draft and have your partner review what you have written. S/he may want you to change a few things that are viewed inappropriate or unintended. After this stage, complete your assignment in its final form. Your ethnography is a narrative of your partner’s family tradition or holiday.

All interviews should be typed, double-spaced, 11- or 12-size font, with 2.5cm (1 in) margins. Provide a copy of your questions on a separate piece of paper with your ethnography based on your interview.

ANTH 112 students should aim to write 2-3 pages, while ANTH 326 students should write 3-5 pages (not including the question page!).  Please review my comments (expectations) “On Writing.”

NOTE:
For ANTH 112 students, I will grade on the overall presentation and will be more lenient about spelling and grammar. As academic programme students you need to improve your English to be successful, therefore proper spelling and grammar are essential.

For ANTH 326 students to receive a perfect grade, the paper has to be grammatically correct, including spelling. I will be looking for details and how this information is presented.

DUE by 5:00pm:  Thursday, February 11

Last updated 2016-01-02