Chapter 3 Student Activities

A Field Observation Activity

Go to a campus venue where you can sit and observe people without attracting any special attention, such as the food court, a Starbucks, the library, or perhaps an athletic event. Do not interview anyone, but rather observe what people are doing and saying in a public voice. Watch people for an hour. What patterns of behavior do you see? What gestures do you observe? Are they different depending on the gender or age of the person? What differences do you see among people of varying ages? How do people move through the space? Are they there together or in groups? Take notes about what you see.

A Thought Activity: Want to Be an Ethnographer?

In the textbook, we have written that “establishing rapport requires a lot of discipline, as well as acceptance of local customs and practices, however peculiar, unfamiliar, or uncomfortable.” Even with long anthropological training, acceptance is easier for some people than for others. What kinds of personality traits and skills might help? Considering all of this, would you choose to conduct fieldwork in a radically different cultural context?