Research Project

 

200 points

California, and especially the Bay Area, offers a wide variety of religious, philosophic and spiritual movements.  Choose a classmate, family member, someone you know, friend, or even make a new friend, to be your primary or “key” informant, and become an anthropologist!  Firstly, look to yourself.  How has your worldview been colored by culture?  Identify your morals, values, (i.e. “rights and wrongs”) and any biases that might reflect on the religion/spirituality you will study. 

Make sure that your key informant has a religious or spiritual outlook that is different than yours!  What religion/philosophy/spiritual movement do they belong to?  What were your thoughts on this movement before you began this study?  Did your study help you to a better understanding of the movement?  Did you use “etic” or “emic” analysis (or both) and how effective did you find these methods?  Where and by whom is this movement practiced?  What are its rituals, credos, myths, symbols, taboos, deities/higher powers?  What are its origins?  How does it tie into/affect/is affected by the politics, law, economy, ethics, history, literature, art, music, funerary practices, diet, sex and gender of the encompassing society?  Conduct interviews, become a participant, if only for a day.  Be aware of ethnocentrism; describe and understand but do not judge.  Study what people believe, not whether or not what they believe is true. 

For your Ethnography, you will most likely be focusing on a very specific aspect of a big issue (i.e. why do so many believe in a god/higher power)? While you may not come up with "the" answer, try and reach toward new questions and new perspectives on a problem. Support your ideas by well-chosen evidence; ideas are linked with other ideas, sources with other sources. An "A" Ethnography has a richly developed central idea; shows a detailed understanding of the subject; has sound organization; has few if any grammatical or mechanical errors. A lively, original voice speaks; it has something special to say, says it well, and supports it fully.

Due Date: Thursday, December 2nd 

Requirements:

• 8 pages, double spaced, 12 pt. font, one-inch margins.

• Clear structure

o Introduction, Guiding Question, Thesis Statement, Body Paragraphs, Conclusion

 Underlined Thesis Statement

• Anthropological Theory (Functional, Psychological, Interpretive, Structural)

• Interviews

• Fieldnotes

• Documents

• Footnotes

• Bibliography (at least 5 non-internet sources, i.e. books, periodicals, magazines, pamphlets, journals).

Ethnography Grading Rubric

• Introduction 30 pts

o Reflexivity: 10 pts.

 A discussion on your own background: Recognizing your own cultural position and how it may affect your research. 

o Guiding Question: 10 pts

 What questions about your subject’s religion/spirituality do you want to answer?

o Thesis Statement: 10 pts

 After conducting your Ethnographic research, what is your answer?  What will your paper be trying to say?

• Body Paragraphs 40 pts

o Background Research: 10 pts

 BRIEF!  This section is only meant to place your fieldwork in context.  Here is where you discuss most of your 5 book/journal/magazine (non-internet!) sources.  Please do not plagiarize!  Read your sources and then put them away, summarizing them via your own memory.  Insert quotations or passages where and when necessary (creating proper in-text citations).

o Fieldwork: 30 pts

 How your fieldwork helped to create your thesis.  I am specifically looking for:

• Questioning:  Asking important questions and raising debatable issues.

• Fairness of Presentation:  VERY IMPORTANT!!! Acknowledging/clarifying relevant contrary opinions, competing interpretations, or alternative points of view and, where appropriate, accepting multiplicity (rather than black and white thinking).  Your readers must be provided with enough counter-evidence and data to draw their own conclusions without simply relying on your interpretations.

• Arguments:  for your thesis are coherent.  Your stance/position is supported with relevant reasons and ample evidence. 

• Ideas:  are organized into appropriate and coherent patterns (titles, sub-headings).

• Evidence:  Interviews!!!, excerpts from fieldnotes, quotes, information from documents, pictures, diagrams, etc are included and interpreted in fair and accurate ways. Validity and credibility of sources and material used for support or evidence (i.e. YouTube, 2nd/3rd hand sources, etc.) is evaluated.

• Data:  How many people you interviewed, how many times you visited, how much material you have is organized either in charts or clearly within the paper. 

• Conclusion 30 pts

o General:  10 pts

 Implications and Consequences of your Thesis are addressed.  Did your Thesis prove correct?  Why or why not?  

 Ideas, opinions and information from both your written sources and your personal (Interview) sources are synthesized and reconciled. 

o Placing your individual study in a wider context:  10 pts

 A potential problem within the realm of Anthropology that you may have uncovered during this assignment is assessed or solved. What other research can be done to help solve this problem?

 Human Universals: What did you uncover?

o Social Awareness and Self Perception:  10 pts

 Demonstrating how this assignment, and the concepts learned in class have helped to orient yourself, your values, your knowledge and your beliefs within worldwide human culture.

• General 50 pts

o Includes In-Text Sources: 15 pts

 Texts and resources are documented appropriately (avoiding plagiarism).  Uses a uniform style for all in-text references.

o Terms/Ideas from class synthesized: 15 pts

 Demonstrates an understanding of the terms, concepts and principles brought up in class and the text.

o Writing (grammar/punctuation/style):  College-level: 10 pts

o Exhibits insight and independent thinking/original ideas:  10 pts.

• Appendices 50 pts.

o Bibliography (at least 5 non-internet sources): 30 pts.

o Fieldnotes: 20 pts

Grand Total: 200 pts