AN486 Half Unit
Research Methods in Anthropology
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Mathijs Pelkmans
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Anthropology and Development, MSc in China in Comparative Perspective, MSc in Culture, Justice, and Environment, MSc in Social Anthropology and MSc in Social Anthropology (Religion in the Contemporary World). This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes.
Course content
The aim of this course is to provide students with insight into the process by which anthropological knowledge is produced, and to train them in the collection, analysis, and presentation of qualitative data. The course is centred on the ‘participant observation’ approach, and uses this as a starting point for discussing various aspects of the research cycle, including project design, ethical research, observational techniques, fieldnote taking, ethnographic interviewing, sensory ethnography and narrative analysis. Throughout the course, students will test their grasp of methodological issues by carrying out fieldwork exercises, about which they will report in seminars, and which will form the basis for assessment alongside knowledge of the literature.
Teaching
10 hours of lectures, 15 hours of seminars and 10 hours of help sessions in the Winter Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.
The lectures will be offered asynchronically online, in the format of mini-lectures, interviews, debates, demonstrations, and task descriptions. Help sessions are optional, offering students to informally discuss aspects of their project.
Formative assessment
Essay (1500 words)
Students will have the opportunity to submit one formative essay of up to 1500 words during the course.
Indicative reading
- Amit, Vered. 2003. Constructing the Field: Ethnographic Fieldwork in the Contemporary World;
- Atkinson, Paul. 2015. For Ethnography;
- Cerwonka, Allaine, and Liisa H. Malkki. 2008. Improvising theory: Process and Temporality in Ethnographic Fieldwork;
- DeWalt, Kathleen, and Billie DeWalt. 2010. Participant observation: A guide for fieldworkers;
- Faubion, J., and G. E. Marcus (eds.). 2009. Fieldwork Is Not What It Used To Be: Transition in Anthropology's Culture of Method;
- Ghodsee, Kirsten. 2016. From notes to narrative: Writing ethnographies that everyone can read;
- Konopinski, Natali (ed.) 2014. Doing Anthropological Research: A practical guide;
- Robben, Antonius and A. Sluka (eds.). 2007. Ethnographic Fieldwork: An anthropological reader;
- Spradley, James. 1980. Participant observation.
Assessment
Essay (50%, 2000 words) in Spring Term Week 4
Essay (50%, 2000 words) in Spring Term Week 4
Students will write two 2000-word essays (each worth 50%).
The first essay draws on the course literature to address a broad methodological question in anthropology. Titles for this essay will be provided by the course convener.
The second essay will consist of a descriptive analysis of the phenomenon that the student focused on in carrying out their fieldwork exercises.
Key facts
Department: Anthropology
Course Study Period: Winter Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 23
Average class size 2024/25: 12
Controlled access 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Specialist skills