Abstract
This paper reviews the history of ethnographic field research methodology used by anthropologists, from interviewing travelers to modern immersion into the culture.. The paper points out that B. Mallinowski and E. E. Evans-Pritchard felt that role of the anthropologist is not as a passive observer, detached from the culture which is being studied. Rather, they believed that the field anthropologist should be an active participant whose sole task is to understand the group by becoming part of it. Modern anthropologists, the paper relates, need to engage with the culture they are studying, sometimes even to immerse themselves within it at the temporary cost of their own identity in order to fully experience and understand the culture of the 'other'.

From the Paper
"However Oakley's, and in fact any anthropologist's, observation and participation within any culture carries the risk of influencing the behavior of the people are studying, resulting in an artificial vision of their world. In "Anthropology Today", Paul (1953) wrote that the researcher's social role in the field was a determining factor in the information that would be gathered. This is where contemporary researchers seemed to have learned from Malinowski and early anthropologists."

Tags:travelers, expeditions, role, demeanor, other

Abstract
Examines some of the guiding principles of studying a culture in a holistic and analytic fashion. Discusses the work and thought of anthropologists Malinowski and Levi-Strauss. Uses their concepts.

From the Paper
"For the anthropologist, everything in the end comes back to a single question: What is culture? And how are we ever to understand the culture of another people, how are we to grasp both the complex whole that defines the symbolic and behavior..."

Tags:cult, korea

Abstract
Discusses the emphasis on symbolism and the importance of the signs and symbols of a culture. Examines the meaning of traditions and rituals, Bronislaw Malinowski's holistic approach, and his theory of Functionalism.

From the Paper
"Clifford Geertz studied the Javanese, Balinese, and Moroccan cultures (Coe, 2002). His work focused on a cultures words, images, institutions, and behaviors, and he believes these to be symbolic forms. The most important part of his work is his emphasis..."

Abstract
This paper addresses the importance of studying human remains, which are arguably the most important evidence that the anthropologist can consider. Inferring the living conditions of the subjects requires anthropologists to compare human remains found in the field with standards established by the enormous body of data from other studies of human remains. The anthropology of human remains reflects social dynamics in an informative fashion, both medical and cultural. The paper addresses evidence found in bones, teeth, and mummified soft tissues, and links it to current findings in medical and cultural anthropology.

Abstract
The paper refers to a tendency of theory and feminist anthropology to place too much attention on patriarchy and misogyny as general themes that can ignore other important phenomena. The paper moves on to stronger scholarship by Nancy Scheper-Hughes who insists on writing on topics involving women from a neutral, often economic position. The paper offers various examples of how women tend to be studied in feminist anthropology towards answers that do not bring suggestions for change. The paper shows how an article by Crasnow is helpful in seeing what has occurred and what must change in how anthropologists approach women's reality.

From the Paper
"This paper refers to various readings to do with what social scientists see as patriarchy as leading to misogyny. This is often said to be a `Western' pattern that has been taken to other societies. Actually, it seems to be rather universal, in practices that once had to do with different environments and economics, in contrast with conditions of the present, in developed countries. In sillier forms, one sees that some scholars have come to hold up matrilineal societies as automatically better, a habit seen of referring..."

Tags:anthro fem, theory, criticisms

Abstract
The perception of race today (specifically, in Academia) has certainly been molded by the Victorian evolutionary scientists, anthropologists and social theorists of the rough Victorian period (turn of the century), according to George W. Stocking's article, "The Dark-Skinned Savage: The image of Primitive Man in Evolutionary Anthropology. This article discusses the viewpoints of the quintessential Victorian thinkers, in terms of ethnography: Charles Darwin, Edward B. Taylor, Louis Spencer and Henry Morgan. Discussing how these people set up modern hierarchical (and decidedly western) ethnic ideals, this article also applies their works to how we are (or could be) racist today: within the Academic Community.

From the Paper
Abstract The perception of race today (specifically, in Academia) has certainly been molded by the Victorian evolutionary scientists, anthropologists and social theorists of the rough Victorian period (turn of the century), according to George W. Stocking's article, "The Dark-Skinned Savage: The image of Primitive Man in Evolutionary Anthropology. This article discusses the viewpoints of the quintessential Victorian thinkers, in terms of ethnography: Charles Darwin, Edward B. Taylor, Louis Spencer and Henry Morgan. Discussing how these people set up modern hierarchical (and decidedly western) ethnic ideals, this article also applies their works to

Tags:victoriana, ethnography, race

Abstract
This paper compares the degree of objectivity/subjectivity utilized by two anthropologists to both avoid and maintain friendships with the subjects of their study in Amitav Ghosh's 'In An Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tal'e and Lila Abu-Lughod's 'Dramas of Nationhood: The Politics of Television in Egypt'.

From the Paper
"In Amitav Ghosh's 'In an Antique Land History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale' and Lila Abu-Lughod's 'Dramas of Nationhood The Politics of Television in Egypt' the authors work with objectivity and subjectivity to various degrees as they try to avoid and or maintain friendships with the subjects of their study. In many of his relationships for example those with Jabir or Nadeel. Ghosh attains a level of relating that might arguably be labeled extended kinship while his fascination and ..."

Tags:Egypt, Islam, Arabs, Hindu, Indian, customs, practices, beliefs, family, interaction, communication, professionalism

Abstract
The paper shows that though it is impossible to determine why exactly Indonesia, at least for the past two generations, has seemingly laid an irresistible spell on the anthropological world, it is possible to suggest some of the reasons. This paper examines the corner of the state of anthropological practice and theory as they pertain to Indonesia and how these have created intimate links between symbolic anthropology and Indonesian ethnography. The paper discusses how many fine ethnographies have been produced as a direct result of anthropologists' theoretical and paradigmatic interest in Indonesia, of the fact both that anthropological discourse can be seen as a subset of human imaginings and as a result of the fact that some places seem to be better to dream in. The paper examines Tania Murray Li's article "Compromising Power: Development, Culture and Rule in Indonesia" in Volume 13, No. 3 of Cultural Anthropology, on the subject.

From the Paper
"Indonesia " with its own contentious colonial history " was an ideal setting if one wished to make sense of the role and evolution of cultures in a world in which colonial structures were falling away. Indonesia had at least three other additional inducements for at least American and British anthropologists: Their own countries had not been involved in the colonization of Indonesia so they did not have to feel any guilt over what they found; unlike many "primitive" cultures, Indonesia societies (for of course this island nation is home to a number of very different cultural groups) are home to not only sophisticated performing and visual arts but also nuanced and complex literary traditions and a history of beautifully proportioned and ingeniously constructed architecture."

Tags:post-colonial, colonization, Natives

Abstract
Two anthropologists present their ethnographic studies in their books, "Amazon Journey", by Dennis Werner, and "To the Mountain and Back", by Jody Glittenberg. The paper explains how the two show different interests, have different methods, and come to different conclusions about the subjects they study. The paper discusses how Werner describes the Amazonian Indians, while Glittenberg presents her study on the native tribes of Guatemala, especially the Ladino and the Cakchiquel Mayan Indian.

From the Paper
"Both ethnologists enter the society and observe, but Glittenberg makes herself more of a participant than does Werner, raising the question of how much her participation affected the subjects and so how much her own involvement in the culture changed what she was observing even as she observed it. Werner was also in the culture he observed, but he observed more than participated, observing to such an extent that he did not even want to hear stories directly from the source. Glittenberg is open about this, even asking certain questions at the outset about how much one can learn by observing. She says that fieldworkers give a general description of a culture, while what she wants to know is answers to questions about family formation."

Tags:myth, society, observation, FUNAI

Abstract
This paper related that Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Harmless People" (1989), and Tim O'Meara, author of "Samoan Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990), used simple anthropological research methodology to study the influence of external forces like globalization and development on primitive civilizations, such as the Kalahari Desert Bushmen and the Samoan planters. The author points out that both anthropologists situated themselves in the community being studied. O'Meara mixed with the local Samoan farmers to learn how they behave and interact, whereas, Thomas relied only on her observations of the Bushmen. The paper relates that O'Meara's method, limited by his research question, focused on developmental stages rather than on how people evolved; on the other hand, Thomas concentrated on the outcome of her subjects' ways of living.

From the Paper
"Taking each day at a time, he had been able to relate with the locals at a personal level. He encountered their personal life by mixing with the male members of society. For example, he learned why the male considered it illicit to meet with their sisters. The Samoan men were proud of their ability to deflower virgins but it was injurious to their family pride if their females were subjected to such conduct. O'Meara hence depended on mixing with the locals to learn how they behave and how they interact."

Tags:interaction, observation, simple, external, developmental