Participant Observation Project (POP)
ANT H205 – Cultural Anthropology – Fall 2022
As we have discussed in class, participant observation is the hallmark of cultural anthropology. It is the way in which anthropologist gather the majority of their data. In order to get you to think like an anthropologist, your assignment will be to conduct your own participant observation. This research can be on ANY subject, as long as it relates to humans. For example, if you are a gamer, you can study the gaming culture. If you work, you can study your work environment. You can write about the history of a material and how it is used. The key is to think like an anthropologist. Some important things to think about are:
How does this group or activity enculturate its participants?
How does this activity re-inforce or go against cultural norms and values?
Does this activity use a specific set of symbols to convey information?
Is there social stratification within this group?
How does this activity or group address things like identity, race, gender, or ethnicity?
How does this group or activity address power?
Topic:
In order to narrow down your topic, I will be looking for you to choose a theme for your observation. Say you’re watching activity at Starbucks, you want to have a specific aspect of culture you’re looking at. For example, gender, what gender buys what? Or ethnicity, how does ethnicity play a role in Starbuck’s consumer base/advertising?
This narrowing down to a topic we discuss in class will help your observations have some focus.
Paper:
After compiling your notes, you will write an ethnographic paper on your observations. This paper must include three (3) sources that back up your thesis or main idea of your paper. So when coming up with a topic, you may want to look at research that has already been done on this subject.
While this project may seem difficult, the goal is to get you to think like an anthropologist.
Have fun with this, think about all the normal everyday things you do and how they play a role in your own culture.
How you will be graded:
You will graded based on the following criteria:
Did you use three sources and were they legitimate, research based writing (not Wikipedia)?
Did you write and cite in APA format? (This includes headers, abstract, and in text citations)
Did you have a thesis? Did both your observations and paper back this thesis up?
Did you meet the length requirements? (5-7 pages not including references, abstract, or title page. Also does not include notes, if they are attached)
Does your paper contain the proper structure? (An introduction, body, and conclusion)