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Dangers and Risks in Ethnographic Research

Dangers and Risks in Ethnographic Research. “ Seriously, fieldwork is dangerous stuff. Between cars and criminals, diseases and disasters, you can get yourself maimed or murdered ” ( Surviving Fieldwork, 2004). Why were dangerous situations in the field not reported in the past?.

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Dangers and Risks in Ethnographic Research

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  1. Dangers and Risks in Ethnographic Research “Seriously, fieldwork is dangerous stuff. Between cars and criminals, diseases and disasters, you can get yourself maimed or murdered” (Surviving Fieldwork, 2004)

  2. Why were dangerous situations in the field not reported in the past?

  3. Raymond Lee’s types of dangers: • Ambient: connected to the topic and site of research (violence, marginality, war, etc.) Linda Green (2003), Zulaika (1995) • How can researchers gain access and also mediate personal safety in the midst of violent social conflicts? • Situational: itarises due to the presence of the researcher (wrong place at the wrong time) Lancaster (1991),

  4. Anthropologist Myrna Mack Killed in 1990 in Guatemala

  5. Violating a cultural norm sometimes carries serious consequences.

  6. Why do you think it is important to understand the risks ethnographers face in the field?

  7. Personal safety and academic concerns. • First. practical reasons: to inform future ethnographers, thinking about strategies (health issues, sexual harassment). • Second. Academic reasons: methodological and theoretical implications of danger on the research process and its product.

  8. How could dangerous situations affect research?

  9. consequences • Danger can shape research agendas • Danger of loosing perspective, becoming too involved

  10. Other dangers • Not accepted in the community • Manipulated for a particular end • Family disintegration

  11. Why do you think a great number of anthropologists are divorced?

  12. Discussion questions • What kinds of ethical and methodological issues emerge from the practice of a researcher collecting fieldwork data in a dangerous and chaotic situation, which are, nonetheless, relevant to a major research question? • Can there be any risks (dangers) in your own ethnographic projects?

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