Digital Commons Network^™

Sailing Through Ethnographic Data Collection On A Hospital Ship, Sonja Dawson, Debra Jackson, Doug Elliott

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

This is a reflection on the experiences of data collection by the researcher positioned as a participant observer whilst conducting an ethnographic study of nurses volunteering in an international humanitarian context on a hospital ship.

Social Context: A Review Of Autobiography Of A Disease, Sean N. Halpin

The Qualitative Report

Autobiography of Disease by Patrick Anderson thoroughly examines the author’s life threatening experience with Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) osteomyelitis. Through notes kept by the author and caregiver/mother Anderson tells an evocative ethnography as told from the perspective of MRSA itself. This complex weaving of narratives highlights how multiple social and environmental considerations interact to impact Anderson's experience with illness. This book may be of interest to anyone seeking to learn more about the social context of illness.

Burning Community Integration And Disability, Christopher Shane Brace

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with anxiety and depression have always been marginalized and stigmatized. Individuals with “hidden” disabilities are encouraged by society to keep them hidden, or face ridicule and persecution. Society decreases their sense of self-worth, and self-efficacy by destroying any perception of normalcy. Social support resources are vital for individuals with anxiety and depression’s continued mental health. As time goes on the individuals experience a decrease in the amount of available resources, at the same time the need for them increases. These individuals need a way to quickly replenish their social resources and the Burning Man regional network creates a unique …

Vulnerability And Power: Exploring The Confluence Of Politics And Climate Change In Cortez, Florida, Justin P. Winn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes how politics shape vulnerability to climate change at the local level, based on an ethnography in Cortez, Florida. Focusing on a “traditional” commercial fishing village on the Florida Gulf Coast, my research indicates that such vulnerabilities are created at multiple scales of the nexus between governance and commerce. Moreover, a key finding is that, as a community closely linked to the health of local environments, the village in Cortez is largely organized to protect their commercial industry from regional economic overdevelopment; not in recognition of its role in contributing to global climate change, but because such overdevelopment …

Rounsevelle Wildman: The Lone Ethnographer, Wen Li Teng

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Rounsevelle Wildman (1864 – 1901), the United States Consul at Singapore, published a series of magazine articles documenting his experiences in the Malay Archipelago from 1893 to 1897. These articles, published in several travel-related magazines, feature Wildman’s observations of the Malay Archipelago and its varied peoples. The ethnographic perspective in these writings may be analyzed using Renato Rosaldo’s Lone Ethnographer concept, as presented in Culture & Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. This tripartite model concerns the ethnographic process, the role of ethnography in imperialism, and the relationship between the ethnographer and natives. Evaluating Wildman’s articles with this model, one …

Spatial Humanities, Katherine M. Jarriel, Megha Anwer, Elizabeth Brite, Matthew Hannah, Amber N. Nickell

Purdue GIS Day

This roundtable introduces spatial humanities researches at Purdue. Projects include "Mapping Victorian women's habitation and violence encounter" by Dr. Megha Anwer; "Animating material agencies with GIS data: an example from the archealogy of the Soviet Union" by Dr. Elizabeth Brite; "Modeling community interaction in Bronze Age Greece" by Dr. Katherine Jarriel; "Mapping 'no place': Eastern and Central Europe's nineteenth and twentieth century phantom, indifferent, and alternative geographies by Amber Nickell.

Un-Naming Collaboration: An Unexpected Catalyst For Understanding Participation In Critical Ethnography, Allison Anders, Joshua Diem

The Qualitative Report

In this article, we trace interactions with participants in two different research projects. Although the research settings were different, we focus on what the projects had in common: a commitment to collaboration, methodological training from the same faculty, and our respective decisions to turn away from labeling our work collaborative deep into each project’s development. In a narrative as chronicle, we represent ways each project unfolded and then why each of us abandoned claims of collaboration. Specifically, we share the critical positions we staked early in our research designs and the communication with participants that taught us to un-name what …

Ethnographic Research In The U.S. Intelligence Community: Opportunities And Challenges, Bridget Nolan

Secrecy and Society

This article considers lessons learned from conducting research inside the intelligence community. Drawing on a year of ethnographic field work and interviews at the National Counterterrorism Center, I show that “boundary personnel”- people who navigate between the worlds of academia and national security - provide value added in the form of tacit knowledge that outside researchers would not be able to deliver. At the same time, these people face delays, challenges to freedom of information, and ethical considerations that are unique to their positions. Despite setbacks, social scientists must continue their engagement with national security organizations to further our understanding …

Finding Their Place: An Ethnographic Study Of The Culture Of Students Attending A Rural, Self-Paced, Alternative Evening High School, Teena Atkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to provide a cultural portrait as well as identify methods of success of nontraditional students attending a self-paced, alternative evening high school in the southeast region of the United States in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. An ethnographic research design was utilized employing data triangulation through observations, interviews, focus group, and journals as methods of data collection. Participants included nontraditional students who were currently attending or recently graduated from an alternative evening high school in the southeast region of the United States. This study sought to better understand what factors contributed to …

A Narrative And Performative Methodology For Understanding Adolescent Cancer Stories, Patrick Mcelearney

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The field of health communication places considerable attention on coping with cancer, typically using social scientific approaches to investigate uncertainty, information, and/or social networks. Social scientific models of coping with adolescent cancer often measure how behaviors seek to manage cancer’s uncontrollability and/or uncertainty; however, how adolescents cope with cancer has been unclear. Short-term studies show adolescents typically and atypically cope. Long-term studies show a significant portion of survivors exhibit post-traumatic stress. The narrative and performative turns expose the role narratives and performatives play in shaping human subjects as meaning makers rather than merely information sharers. A narrative subject reframes cancer’s …

Forgive, Forget Or Feign: Everyday Diplomacy In Local Communities Of Polish Subcarpathia, Iuliia Buyskykh

Journal of Global Catholicism

The paper is based on my ethnographic fieldwork in Przemyśl, Poland and several surrounding villages in 2015-2017. While conducting my research on a set of religious practices and pilgrimages in confessionally and ethnically mixed localities, I faced many challenges that changed the main course of my initial research plan. During my interaction with people here themes came to light that seemed little related to religiousness. My status as a researcher from Ukraine and even more so, my being a young single woman from Ukraine, gave rise to a number of other topics that my interlocutors, both of Polish and Ukrainian …

Authors' Introduction, Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska, Magdalena Lubanska

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Santería In A Globalized World: A Study In Afro-Cuban Folkloric Music, Nathan Montgomery

Lawrence University Honors Projects

The Yoruban people of modern-day Nigeria worship many deities called orichas by means of singing, drumming, and dancing. Their aurally preserved artistic traditions are intrinsically connected to both religious ceremony and everyday life. These forms of worship traveled to the Americas during the colonial era through the brutal transatlantic slave trade and continued to evolve beneath racist societal hierarchies implemented by western European nations. Despite severe oppression, Yoruban slaves in Cuba were able to disguise orichas behind Catholic saints so that they could still actively worship in public. This initial guise led to a synthesis of religious practice, language, and …

Another Space: Gleaning The Urban Littoral, Les Roberts

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice

Another Space is a short ethnographic film about artist Antony Gormley‟s installation „Another Place‟ at Crosby Beach north of Liverpool. The visuals, shot on a visit to the beach in Easter 2009, are cut to a mosaic of voices drawn from interviews conducted with visitors to the beach. Respondents are asked what the artwork means to them and what feelings and emotions it evokes. This article, written as an accompaniment to the film, as well as to Hazel Andrew‟s study published in the edited volume Liminal Landscapes: Travel, Experience, and Spaces In-between (2012), provides an auto-ethnographic reflection on the installation …

Identity, Discourse, And Rehabilitation In Parole Hearings In The United States, Danielle Lavin-Loucks, Kristine M. Levan

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Research on parole in the United States has primarily followed a deterministic approach, favoring an examination of variables contributing to release. However, a great deal of prior research neglects a central aspect of the parole process: mainly the hearing. Adopting an ethnographically informed conversation analytic approach, this article addresses one tactic offenders utilize to appeal to a state parole board for release– claiming rehabilitated status. Offenders appealing for parole attempt to establish, in a performative space, their identity as rehabilitated. More globally, this article addresses how individual manage, assert, and negotiate identity in the course of interaction. The achievement of …

”I Thought You Were One Of Those Modern Girls From Mumbai”: Gender, Reflexivity, And Encounters Of Indian-Ness In The Field, Pamila Gupta

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice

This paper is a reflection on my experiences of doing fieldwork in Goa, India (1999-2000) from my position as a „halfie‟ anthropologist, born in India, and raised and educated in the United States. I discuss three „significant fieldwork events‟ that shaped how I was perceived by „others‟(locals and tourists) in the field in order to both illuminate and complicate the gendered, racialized, and diasporic postcolonial politics of conducting anthropological research on the topics of tourism and religion. Further, I pose these encounters as dilemmas, not to be resolved but rather to be explored as impacting and complicating the fieldwork process …

A 3-Level Model Of Insider Ethnography, Andreas Giazitzoglu, Geoff Payne

The Qualitative Report

This article discusses ethnographic insiderness. After juxtaposing insider and outsider ethnography, we suggest insider-ethnography requires a more nuanced and complete discussion for it to be better understood, theoretically and practically. Accordingly, we propose a model of insider-ethnography that suggests three relative levels of ethnographic insiderness exist. We use examples from extant ethnography to substantiate our model theoretically and empirically. Our analysis occurs at a time when calls for a more reflexive understanding of ethnography exist, but reflexive analysis of insider ethnography is sparse.

Fair Chase: A Cinematic Essay On Hunting In The Northeast U.S., Rahul Chadha

Theses and Dissertations

FAIR CHASE is an experimental ethnographic film examining hunting in the Northeast United States. It documents various aspects of hunting—the ritualistic preparation that precedes the hunt, the actual hunt itself, and the post-kill butchering of animals—using an observational style influenced by the direct cinema movement.

The Market, Claudia Zamora Valencia

Theses and Dissertations

The Market is a short science fiction essay film that explores ideas and values attached to the “local food” movement, and how they manifest themselves in the act of consumption at a farmers’ market in a gentrified neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.

An Ethnographic Study On A Select Group Of Student Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Traumatic Brain Injury As They Transition Into Higher Learning, Brandy Desiree Humphrey

Student Theses and Dissertations

Returning veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom are an emerging student population at Arkansas State University. Many of these student-veterans are diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder coupled with traumatic brain injury, are therefore, considered to be a culture-sharing group. A better understanding of these signature war wounds may allow for a smoother transition to a higher learning environment. The characteristics and manifestations of PTSD and TBI and that the pressures of attending college or re-enrolling after a deployment can impact the veteran-student’s life in a significant manner. The result of PTSD and TBI can prove to have …

Misinterpretations​ ​Of​ ​Hmong​ ​Culture: Complementary​ ​Medical​ ​Frameworks, Telisha Tausinga, Madison Harmer

Student Works

Current social science literature outside of anthropology has attributed Hmong difficulties adapting to Western health care to their traditional healing practices, claiming that successful integration only occurs as the younger generation discards traditional beliefs (Franzen-Castle & Smith 2013). Ethnographic research conducted in France and Thailand refutes these claims; Hmong of younger and older generations utilize both the state medical system and traditional healing, integrating these systems instead of treating them as ontologically distinct (and thus in competition with each other). Many researchers and medical personnel studying or working with Hmong populations have ignored models of ontological holism because of the …

The What, Where, How And Why: A Review Of Being Ethnographic: A Guide To The Theory And Practice Of Ethnography, Jetlexis Carlos

The Qualitative Report

In Being Ethnographic: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Ethnography, Raymond Madden presents ethnography in a way that is easily understood by describing real life experiences from both his own work and others working in the field. This book is a great resource to guide those who wish to conduct ethnographic research or need a learning tool to understand the underlying nature of ethnographic research. Madden links the way ethnographic research is done to how ethnographic research is thought about. It is a great introduction to the “what,” “where,” “how,” and “why” of practicing of ethnography.

Examining Alumni Perceptions Of Social And Cultural Capital Accumulation Through Ursinus’S Summer Fellows Program, Sydney Dickson

Anthropology Honors Papers

A common offering among undergraduate institutions is an intensive summer research program, which allows students to complete a project independently without any other academic obligations. These programs are designed to foster useful skills, valuable relationships, and scholarly work. Ursinus College, a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, has such a program: Summer Fellows. With colleges attempting to appeal to a decreasing number of high-achieving applicants, student desire to pursue intellectual interests, and employers looking for skilled job candidates, it is worthwhile to examine the perceived efficacy of this program. This paper utilizes the perspectives of alumni reflecting on what they …

Ethnolinguistic Convergence And Divergence Within Dyadic Communication, Anna E. Pitman

Honors College Research

This study investigated just one dependent variable within communication: ethnicity. Ethnicity often influences language. The study examined interethnic communication behaviors through the lens of the Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), as influenced by one of its offshoots, Ethnolinguistic Identity Theory (ELIT). Communication within CAT is given one of three labels—convergence, divergence, and maintenance. The study included four students at Harding University: two African American females, one Hispanic American female, and one Caucasian American female. The primary participant, an African American woman, had a recorded 20 minute conversation with each of the other three participants. Discussion questions provided were formulated to create …

On Being Trans: Narrative, Identity, Performance, And Community, Chloe Jo Brown

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis focuses on various topics related to transgender identity and culture. Through a combination of ethnographic and secondary research, I studied transgender coming out narratives, trans media representation, transgender performance and identity, and conceptualizations of group and chosen family in a community of trans students, the WKU Transgender and Non-Binary Student Group.

The three chapters of my thesis address some of the traditional milestones of a trans person’s acculturation: coming out, constructing one’s newly discovered trans identity, and finding community. Chapter 1 explores coming out as transgender, and the way in in which coming out is valued and discussed …

A Visible Geography Of Invisible Journeys: Central American Migration And The Politics Of Survival, Noelle K. Brigden

Political Science Faculty Research and Publications

Human rights groups have called undocumented Central American migrants the ‘invisible victims’ of criminal violence in Mexico. However, the geography of the unauthorised migration route through Mexico is highly visible; its location, protocols and violent practices constitute common knowledge in the communities through which it cuts its path. This paper examines the visual cues of the route. Images of places, such as the trailhead, the river at the borders, the migrant shelter and the train yard, provide focal points that orient migrants to the physical terrain. These images also orient activists, providing potent symbols for political contestation in favour of …

Europe And The Pacific: Introduction By The Guest Editor, Toon Van Meijl

Pacific Studies

Introduction article to the special issue, "Europe and The Pacific" by the guest editor, Toon van Meijl.

Being And Naughtiness: An Account Of Being An Ethnographic-Insider Studying White, Working Class Gym-Users, Andreas Giazitzoglu

The Qualitative Report

In this work, I reflexively outline my experiences of researching white, working class British male gym-users as an ethnographer. During my research process, I adhered to the definition of a level three ethnographic insider, articulated by Giazitzoglu and Payne (2018, forthcoming). Two broad questions guide this article. First, how did I managed to create a third-level insider position in the field, especially through my own embodiment and gym practices? Second, what can others learn from my experiences; particularly in relation to the practicalities of research ethics, data analysis and the emotional consequences of leaving a research-field where one has belonged?

Breaking The “Fourth Wall” In Qualitative Research: Participant-Led Digital Data Construction, Nettie Boivin, Anna Cohenmiller

The Qualitative Report

This article reconstructs the typical researcher-participant focus - where the participants are doing for us - instead we followed the participants’ lead in the construction of research. Using a qualitative literacy event case study as an example, we describe how participants unexpectedly co-constructed knowledge through a participant-led digital data collection. In this theoretical article, we provide an explanation of the original study, which used observations, semi-structured interviews, and home visits as a collective qualitative case study on parental participation in social literacy practices. The original investigation led to the important shift that occurred in participant-researcher roles. In this article, using …

Race, Sexuality, And Masculinity On The Down Low, Stephen Kochenash

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In a so-called post-racial America, a new gay identity has flourished and come into the limelight. However, in recent years, researchers have concluded that not all men who have sex with other men (MSM) self-identify as gay, most noticeably a large population of Black men. It is possible that a tainted history of Black enslavement in this country that is inextricably linked with ideas of space, surveillance, subversion, and survival inform a Black male’s self-identification as being “on the down low” (DL). This begs the question: What does mainstream society view as gay-ness and how is the DL constructed …