Title: Why Ethnography Is Important - Owlcation
Headings: Why Ethnography Is Important
Why Ethnography Is Important
What is Ethnography?
Understanding Cultural Differences
Missionary Work & The Development of Ethnography
Ethnography & Changing Perspectives
Franz Boas: Cultural Relativism
Bronisław Malinowski: Participant Observation
Margaret Mead: Reflexivity
Ruth Benedict: The Essence of Culture
E.E. Evans-Pritchard: Judging Premises, Not Beliefs
© 2013 Melanie Shebel
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Content: From his fieldwork, he published Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among the Azande. With this book, he illustrated the very idea that Boas had stressed: cultural relativism. With Evans-Pritchard's description of the Azande people, he was able to show that the people's strongly held belief in witchcraft made total sense... within their premises. Evans-Pritchard showed that “if you are going to attack Azande beliefs, you will have to attack their premises, not their logic or rationality.” There are various ways in which ethnography can be used in personal success (or in the success of foreign relations) and in understanding other cultures. Anthropologists like Franz Boas, who gave us the idea of cultural relativism; Bronisław Malinowski, who formalized participant observation; Margaret Mead, whose angered colleagues brought us the idea of reflexivity in the study of anthropology; Ruth Benedict, who brought forth the idea that culture, over biology, has an incredible impact on how a person “turns out”;