Anth319.L90 & L91 LAB

Hi Everyone:

As discussed, we will be having an open lab on Monday.  I have compiled a list of notes from our one-on-one meetings to help everyone prepare and make the most of the time. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at vanarnhemj@cofc.edu.

See you Monday:)
Joey

Notes from One-on-One Meetings about Fieldwork Projects

• Anahita/Shannon

  • Equipment Needs: Video Camcorder, tripod and transcriber- Camcorder/Tripod currently checked out until Monday, October 27th.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: iMovie (video and audio files – from cassette)
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Your video (tapes and camera), your cassette recorder and audio cassette(s). Please bring any cables you have that came with your cassette recorder.
  • During the Lab: Help import cassette tape audio into iMovie. Import existing video. Show how to extract audio from video.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: Video Camcorder and Tripod- Due back Monday, October 27.

• Ben

  • Equipment Needs: None
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: Live/interactive use of the smart classroom equipment. PowerPoint, delicious (or some other program) to organize presentation URLs.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Make an outline of the major points that you want to present so we can discuss this at the open lab.
  • During the Lab: Information to collect and ways to organize presentation URLs.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: None

• Candace

  • Equipment Needs: iPod and Recorder – currently checked out until Monday, October 27th.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: PowerPoint with audio and images.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Any pictures you have | Audio files
  • During the Lab: Work on Blog and Survey Monkey to post images and have a survey link that viewers can use to answer questions about them. Import existing voice memos from iPod.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: iPod and Audio Recorder – Due back Monday, October 27.

• Chastine

  • Equipment Needs: None| Has Video/Audio equipment – needs to be tested to make sure images and audio can be downloaded and used in the lab.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: iMovie, possibly PowerPoint: Using photos.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Your Equipment | Any cables required by your equipment | Any pictures you have | Existing video so we can try to import it.
  • During the Lab: Import existing video, pictures and audio.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: None

• Chris

  • Equipment Needs: May need to checkout iPod and Recorder | Has Olympus digital recorder (same as Jacks, no cable). Needs to be tested to make sure audio can be downloaded and used in the lab.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: PowerPoint, audio editing (kitchen interaction and lingo): Make an outline/sketch of what information you want to present so we can discuss this at the open lab.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Any pictures you have, your recording device.
  • During the Lab: Download existing audio files, see notes for Jack
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: None

• Jack

  • Equipment Needs: None | Has camera and digital audio recorder.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: TBD: Make an outline of what information you want to present so we can discuss this at the open lab.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Any pictures you have, the cord to your audio recorder to test downloading audio files on the teacher’s station PC. Software if you can locate it. (Thanks:)
  • During the Lab: Download existing audio files from digital audio recorder
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: None

• Jared

  • Please see me during the open lab to cover what you missed from last Monday. Thanks:)

• John

  • Equipment Needs: Video Camcorder/Small Tripod – Scheduled to Check out camcorder/tripod October 27-Novemer 3.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: iMovie (slam poetry/coffee house culture) Make an outline of what information you want to present so we can discuss this at the open lab.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Any files you have.
  • During the Lab: Checkout camcorder. Storyboard ideas for video recording.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: None.

• Kourtney

  • Equipment Needs: Cardreader to download pictures from digital camera.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: iMovie (preference) & PowerPoint (store pictures)
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Card from your digital camera.
  • During the Lab: Use cardreader to download images from digital camera.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: None.

• Lauren

  • Equipment Needs: None| Has Video/Audio equipment – needs to be tested to make sure images and audio can be downloaded and used in the lab.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: PowerPoint, Podcast. Make an outline of what information you want to present so we can discuss this at the open lab.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Your Equipment | Any cables required by your equipment | Any pictures you have | Existing video so we can try to extract the audio | Anything you may want to scan (brochures/flyers)
  • During the Lab: Import existing video and try to extract audio files.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: None

• Lindsay

  • Equipment Needs: None, has video camcorder – needs to be tested to make sure images and audio can be downloaded and used in the lab.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: iMovie (short movie of a dance performance)
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Any pictures you have | Any video you have (please bring your camera, tape and any cables you may have).
  • During the Lab: Import existing pictures and video files.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: None

• Lucas

  • Equipment Needs: iPod and Recorder – currently checked out until Monday, October 27th.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: Video/Audio. Make an outline of what information you want to present so we can discuss this at the open lab.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Any audio you have.
  • During the Lab: Import existing voice memos from iPod.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: iPod and Audio Recorder – Due back Monday, October 27.

• Sammi

  • Equipment Needs: iPod and Recorder – Scheduled to Check out iPod/Recorder for October 27-Novemer 3. | Has Digital Camera.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: Video/Audio Podcast/PowerPoint: Using audio files and still pictures. How do people define “Regulars”. Make an outline of what information you want to present so we can discuss this at the open lab.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Any pictures you have.
  • During the Lab: Import existing picture and audio files.
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: None.

• Sarah

  • Equipment Needs: Video Camcorder & Tripod| Video Camcorder/Small Tripod – Scheduled to Check out camcorder/tripod October 27-Novemer 3.
  • Presentation Applications Discussed: iMovie (short movie of a performance with audio quotes and still photos)Other Notes: You can adjust the speed slider in iMovie for a “fast forward effect” and if you are using photos you can adjust the time that they are displayed to create the same effect. We can look at this in the lab.
  • What you need to bring to class on Monday: Any pictures you have | Quotes
  • During the Lab: Import existing picture and audio files. Look at “fast forward effect”
  • Equipment you Currently Have Checked Out: iPod Recorder – Replacement on order

by M. David Stone

Hi Everyone:

Someone left a red, 1 subject, college ruled, spiral bound notebook in class today.  If you need to pick it up email me at vanarnhemj@cofc.edu.  If I don’t hear back from anyone I will bring it to class with me on Wednesday.

Cheers,

Joey

Hi everyone,

On Monday, there will be a very short follow-up lecture at the beginning of class so that we can complete the handout that I gave in last week’s class on interviewing. We will complete the section on in-depth fieldnotes.

Monday will be an open lab forum in which you will be able to work with Joey one-on-one. If you have fieldnote pictures, video data, etc., now is the time to start working with it.

I am also looking forward to meeting with each of you individually to discuss your 1. fieldnotes, 2. interviews, and 3. future directions and any questions or issues you may have.

Also, please remember that IRB test scores are due on Monday. Thanks to those who have sent me their scores and their printout forms. I have sent those to the IRB office and will continue to do so as I receive them. If you can print and bring “hard copies” to me on Monday, that will be great. I will then keep them all on file in case there is ever any future discrepancy between the College of Charleston’s IRB’s files and mine.

Thanks and see you all at 6PM on Monday,

Moore Quinn

Hello Everyone:

For those of you that have posted your Research Proposals on your blog, thanks:)  For those of you who have not — please post your proposal by Friday, October 17th.

If anyone is having trouble cutting and pasting their post text from Microsoft Word (for example, a large amount of gobbly-gook pops up and your formatting is out of whack) please use the following instructions for posting.

Cleaning Up Word Files

• The character codes used in your word documents are not necessarily the same as those used on the web. If you want to use the contents of a word document use the Paste from Word button rather than cutting and pasting directly.

• To the left of the Flash icon (white circle with the letter “F” on it) in the post toolbar is a button that looks like paint sample cards (similar to the type you would get from a hardware store) turned sideways.  This button is called “the kitchen sink”
• When you hover over the “kitchen sink button” you will see the message “Open Kitchen Sink.” Click the button until you see a second row on your formatting toolbar.
• Click the button of a clipboard with a Word icon superimposed on it (from the second row).  It is called the “Paste from Word” button.  Click the “Paste from Word” button to paste your content in from your Word document.
• This method should clean up any gobbly gook or weird formatting you may have.

Cheers,

Joey

Hi everyone,

I have sent you all an e-mail message with the link for CITI certification with the IRB at the College of Charleston. It seems as if they have changed the procedure. Here’s the link one more time:

http://www.orga.cofc.edu/pub/compliance_IRB_RESEARCHER_TRAINING.shtml

The deadline is still on Monday, October 20, 2008

Moore Quinn

Doing Ethnography: Some Preliminary Steps

Doing ethnography is important in terms of acquiring an anthropological perspective and a deeper understanding of the cultural experience within which we will live and work. The primary purpose of this experience abroad is to gain an anthropological perspective on Irish culture. A key outcome of this experience in a foreign country is to enable the student to participate in a cultural experience by doing some general ethnographic fieldwork.

The Ethnographic Essay
When doing an ethnographic essay or ethnography, two definitions are important.
1.    Ethnography is the task of discovering and describing a society’s culture.
2.    Culture consists of the beliefs and behaviors that people learn and demonstrate as members of their own society.

An ethnography is not merely an objective description of people and their behavior from the observer’s viewpoint.
It is a systematic and careful attempt to discover what kinds of knowledge a group of people have learned and how they are using that knowledge to organize their behavior.
Instead of asking, “What do I see these people doing?” it is essential that we ask, “What do these people see themselves doing?”

There are at four (4) steps or learning tasks that are involved with our project.
1.    Acquiring conceptual tools
The student should become more familiar with the concept of culture and learn some preliminary fieldwork methods.
2.    Entering the field
The student will select a cultural scene and make contact with informants.
3.    Doing Fieldwork
The student will gather and record cultural data
4.    Describing the Culture
The student will analyze the collected data (through the organizational process of assembling a photographic essay, a postcard essay, or a cultural description.

The beginning fieldworker can develop basic skills and learn a great deal about their own society by looking a various aspects of culture close to home with subjects similar to their own age and background.

The Process of Doing Ethnography Involves the Following:
Choosing a cultural scene
Once you have chosen a cultural scene, the best approach is to use it to participate in it, observe it, and interview members about it.
Finding an informant
Probably the best way to find an informant is to find a “middleman” (middleperson) who can provide a human link between you and your informant.  S/he can help you create a bond of trust and rapport between you and your informant.
Interviewing informants is very important in understanding and gaining insights into the cultural scene.
A good informant is one who:
1.    knows the culture well
2.    is willing to talk
3.    can communicate about her or his culture in a non-analytic manner. In other words, s/he accepts it as the way things are, and is hardly conscious that other people might see things differently. The informant wants to translate her information into concepts s/he thinks are more familiar to the investigator does not make for the best informant.
Be sure to explain to your informant what you are doing in terms comprehensible to the informant. Be honest in your approach by making a simple statement that you are from a college and you are in an excellent position to learn from an informant.  Most people are flattered to think that someone would ask them to give a college student information about the “real world” and thus assist in the process of college education. A statement such as “I am doing fieldwork and would like to do an ethnographic study of your culture” will probably turn off a possible informant.
Asking Careful Questions
As you talk to your informant and take careful notes (using a tape recorder if appropriate) be sure you are careful in asking questions.  There are several approaches to questioning. One of the best ways is to think about categories between two, three, or even more things or people or whatever it is we want to learn about.

Hi everyone,

Just to remind you that the test results for IRB approval are due in lab on Monday, October 20, 2008.

Thanks for taking care of this — the sooner, the better!

Moore Quinn