anth

 

As you will see in this class, ethnographies are different compared to standard research papers. They tend to be more reflexive – they include the ethnographer’s experiences, biases, and interests – and they often have a narrative structure. They incorporate anecdotes and tell stories, and interpret them with support from anthropological and social theory. The arguments presented in ethnographies are supported by evidence from the author’s fieldwork experience and/or from scholarly literature. Unsubstantiated opinions should not be included. I highly encourage you to use your creativity in constructing your ethnography—multi-media projects may also be accepted at the discretion of the instructor and your TA.

*Due to Covid-19, you should choose a fieldsite in which you can safely conduct your research: this can be done in a digital space, among members of your household, or with non-humans. Check with your instructor or TA if you’re unsure.

While you should feel free to creatively explore the ethnographic genre, you should include the following in the paper:

• An explanation/description of your fieldsite
• An explanation/description of the study population
• An explanation of the original research question. If the research question changed during the course of the study (it happens often!) explain how it changed, why, and what the final research question was.
• An explanation of the methods used and a brief justification for each of them.
• There must be a minimum of 3 scholarly citations drawn from the class reading, films, and other media (at least 2 must be text-based)
• Discuss the findings of your anthropological fieldwork.

The final paper should be 5-7 pages, double-spaced, 1” margins, 12 pt. standard font. Citations should be done according to the AAA style guide (Chicago: Author, Date).

Running head:
RIMITIVE PEOPLE

PRIMITIVE PEOPLE

3

Xutong Huang

Regardless of the civilization that has taken place in the World, some communities have remained primitive up to date. Such communities are marked by a small population, minimal sociocultural changes, and little or no technological advancements. These communities hold to their cultural practices and fail to blend in with the current changes. Thus, the study population in this project will be on the Jarawa community, who are situated in the Andaman Islands in India. The project will be aiming at identifying how this community lives focusing on their various adaptations to communication and gathering.

The main research question will be: “Why does the Jarawa community remain primitive even after the civilization has taken place?” This question will help in answering questions like whether this community is prone to development. It will also help in identifying understanding their way of life, communication, and reproduction.

The most suitable methodology for this project would be a systematic literature review. Many articles and books are highlighting important elements of the Jarawa community. The literature review will cover the history of this community, information on the present culture. The literature review will help in comparing the present and past life of the Jarawa community, and conclusive results to answer the research question will be derived.

The study of the Jarawa community is anthropologically interesting because it covers an indigenous community with different practices and cultures (Pandya, 2009). It is interesting to understand how people continue to live in primitiveness, despite the World evolving into greater levels of civilization. Also, out of this research, a new development about the community might come up.

References

Pandya, V. (2009). In the Forest. University Press of America.

2

Xutong Huang

Anth 2

The research topic is a business negotiation, specializing in language-centered activities. This project will be done to help reduce language problems that are experienced in international or intercultural business negotiations. According to my research, many business negotiations are likely to be unsuccessful due to language barriers. From the questionnaires I viewed online, members of most negotiation teams have challenges handling different languages and cultures, thus the negotiation failing (East, 2018). The research was done online, and this project will be carried out based on information collected online. Some companies have posted about negotiation challenges they experience, and they are mostly as a result of language barriers. In this research, the study population are employees or busines owners who have taken part in business negotiations, and especially those who have experienced negotiation challenges or failures due to language barriers.

This project meets the IRB exception requirements because it has zero risks to the participants and the companies involved in the research. The project’s research question is how the language barrier has affected business negotiation. The methodology includes collecting information online (TEAM, 2020). The information was collected from various negotiation articles and business webpages. In contrast, some were collected through interviews. I went through various questionnaires posted online and went through some collected from employees individually members of different negotiation teams and business owners and managers. I then compared the information collected from the articles and questionnaires. I later analyzed the collected information and decided to do this project and help people overcome such challenges. This project is anthropologically exciting because it will help solve challenges related to an individual’s language and culture that affect the negotiation. This project will help negotiators understand different people with different languages and cultures, and learn how to deal with them and carry out a successful negotiation.

References

East, C. (2018). Institutional Review Board (IRB). In Developing a Successful Clinical Research Program (pp. 69-76). Springer, Cham.

TEAM, S. (2020). Project Proposal. Nature, 458(7237), 438.