1. Home
  2. NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities
  3. PhD in Anthropology
  4. Religion, Ritual and Performance
  5. Methodology for Anthropology

Methodology for Anthropology

Objectives

1. Promote the discussion of ethnographic methodology, taking into account its history and the contemporary dilemmas;
2. Foster understanding of the relationship between theory and methodology and effectiveness of different methodological procedures according to the research problems;
3. Promote mastery of the technical aspects relating to the methodological procedures in Anthropology;
4. Develop the ability to conduct research with specific methodologies according to different areas of specialization.

General characterization

Code

73200100

Credits

10.0

Responsible teacher

Amélia Maria de Melo Frazão Moreira

Hours

Weekly - 2

Total - 280

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

N/A

Bibliography

  • BERNARD, H. R. 1995. Research M ethods in Anthropology. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches., Walnut Creek: Altamira Press.
  • BURGESS, Robert, 1982, Field Research: A Sourcebook and Field M anual, Londres: Allen & Unwin (trad. portuguesa, Celta.
  • CARIA, Telmo (org.), 2002, Experiência Etnográfica em Ciências Sociais, Porto: Afrontamento.
  • YAÑES CASAL, A. 1996. Para uma epistemologia do discurso e da prática antropológica. Lisboa: Cosmos.
  • CLIFFORD, J. & MARCUS, G. (eds.). 1986. Writing Culture:The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press.
  • MADDEN, R. 2010. Being Ethnographic: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Ethnography. London: Sage.
  • MALINOWSKI, B. 1983 [1922], The Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London:, Routledge.

Teaching method

The course has two types of seminars:
a) general framework seminars based on the presentation and discussion of reference texts;
b) guest speakers seminars - presentation of methodological implications for research on specific themes.

Evaluation method

Continuous Assessment - Active participation in the discussions in the seminars (15%), Final essay in which an in-depth reflection on the epistemology and methods of anthropology is crossed with the thesis project (60%), Presentation of critical readings of previously selected texts (25%)

Subject matter

1. Epistemological issues arising from the emergence of anthropology as a social science.
1. Epistemological issues arising from the emergence of anthropology as a social science.
2. Ethnography: genesis, canonical formulations and contemporary challenges.
3. Practical aspects of the procedures in the ethnographic method: participant observation, interviews, life histories, genealogies, visual methodologies. From field notes to the final text. Data analysis and ethnographic writing.
4. Other ways of doing. The anthropological methods at the intersection with History, Semiology, Geography or Biology.
5. Challenges of Ethnography: research in progress.