Assignment #1 DUE 9/17 Monday

Assignment #1: Starting Field Notes: DUE 9/17 MONDAY VIA BLACKBOARD

Summary of assignment:
12 font- New Times Roman- normal double spacing.......
(number components within the assignment)
1. Site background (1-2 paragraphs) 
2. Field notes (see minimum requirements example below)
3. Reflection on your data.  What do you think is important, thoughts, culture?, Questions for the next visit.....

(This is what will be turned into me digitally via blackboard.  I highly recommend doing field notes beyond the minimum requirements of the assignments so that you will have plenty of material to discuss and cover in your final paper.)

Hint: Reading the materials for this week will help TREMENDOUSLY if you are having difficulties with this assignment.

"Make the familiar strange, and the strange familiar." -somebody

  

Introduction:  Over the course of this semester you will be conducting a mini-ethnographic project.   The assignments over the semester are essential steps for a quality final paper.  The first step for any ethnography is field notes, the more you have the better since you will have more to talk about, compare, and contrast.

EX.  If you are talking about the train station you can say a lot more if you have notes to compare/ contrast station activity over a couple different times/ days…. Monday morning vs a Sunday….

What are Field notes? (see class readings)  They are notes recorded by anthropologists, and other researchers, of observations related to what they are studying.  Field notes focus on description of phenomenon. In anthropology they typically involve three steps. 

Step One: Choose a Location/ Place.  Ideally it will be one that is not familiar to you, so that you can step out of your comfort zone a bit.  Priority #1 is safety, DO NOT DO ANYTHING THAT WILL PUT YOU IN HARMS WAY.  You should choose a location that is manageable and accessible to you.  For this assignment smaller is better… so if you want to do the Library, do one of the study rooms….. The CTA Lake station… do the platform…. Entrance…. 11^th floor… do the lounge…. Consult with me!.... Do some background research... what is the history of the place... mission... ect... include these findings with your field notes... Since you will be spending some time in and around your location it would be advisable that it be of some interest to you....

Step Two:  Go to your location.  This is your first time there as a researcher, so take a step back and observe for at least 30 minutes and take lots of notes about what is going on around you. These are called jottings, or short notes, and will help remind you of what you saw later.  These are typically recorded in notebooks, paper, note cards…ect … At a bare minimum they should include…..

-Date and Time

-Who and Where

-Note where people are placed in relation to each other/ main objects (houses, trash cans, store, tables ect)

-Listen.... what are the topics of discussion
- Talk.... talk to someone about the space... why are they there... how often do they go... ect...

-Record verbatim any key quotes

-Record any questions the situation raises for you that require later clarification or follow up.

- Record any ideas/ creative zaps/ insights you have while on location (memory fades quickly).

See here for another field note template.  http://anthropod.net/2013/08/14/a-template-for-writing-fieldnotes/

Step Three: This is done shortly after step two has been completed.  The jottings are elaborated upon into a more descriptive narrative.  DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR JOTTINGS>>>>  What do I mean by a narrative?  Tell the story of what happened in detail, this is best done away from the field, in a place where you can reflect on your experience.  End with a paragraph or two of reflections on the events/ situation relating to your notes.  Often times this process creates new questions, pose these questions… And look into them next time.  DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR JOTTINGS.

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