Assignment Code: BANC-110/ASST/TMA/2021-2022

Course Code: BANC-110

Assignment Name: Research Methods

Year: 2021-2022 (July 2021- January 2022 sessions)

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

There are three Sections in the Assignment. You have to answer all questions in all the Sections.

Assignment – I

Answer the following in about 500 words each. 20X2= 40

Q a. Discuss how scientific thinking differs from common sense.

Ans) Although it is acknowledged that much of what we now name science arose from everyday activities, it is also acknowledged that much of what we call science today arose from common-sense actions used to solve everyday difficulties. In truth, many pre-literate tribes, such as the Australian Aborigines, possessed a sophisticated understanding of, say, aerodynamics, allowing them to create a tool like the returning boomerang. However, science differs from what we today refer to as indigenous knowledge in that it extends beyond achieving a practical aim to seek explanations for the phenomena. The goal of establishing a causal relationship between the variables is to find reasons why things happen rather than just making them happen. As a result, science will strive to explain how and why the boomerang returns, just as it will try to determine the exact chemical component of a plant and its relationship to the sickness.

With the power of reasoning and intuitive understanding, science strives to build regularities that become generalised principles or laws by comparing and classifying many processes and factual facts. For example, if the Australian Aborigines had known about the aerodynamic principles used to manufacture boomerangs, they could have used them to make other tools and even aircraft. For example, the laws of gravitation can be used to describe a wide range of occurrences and behaviours, from the falling of apples to the movement of planets.

Another significant distinction between common sense and science is that the former is derived from experience and observation, and thus works fine if the conditions of application remain constant; however, they are unable to deal with changing circumstances and diversify the range of application of their knowledge because they are unaware of the basic principle or causal relationship underlying a particular application.

Furthermore, common-sense observations do not use specific language. People may state that when water is heated, it boils after a certain amount of time, but they are unsure of the actual temperature at which it boils. In fact, outside of scientific jargon, ideas like exact temperature and exact time are unknown.

Ordinary people utilise a language of approximation when discussing such topics, but science uses a language of precision, even to a very high degree. As a result, scientific language and common sense are distinguished by accuracy and exactness.

Another aspect of science is its predictability, which is based on knowledge of the exact causal relationship that causes a phenomenon; for example, science knows exactly how water can be made in the laboratory, but common-sense knowledge, which lacks this knowledge, may have to rely on a hit-or-miss approach. Scientific observations are more abstract and offer a higher level of generalisation than common sense observations, which are also intimately tied to human needs. Much of research is carried out for essentially esoteric purposes, such as the abstracted quest of knowledge, notwithstanding its possible relevance in real life. Those who were preoccupied with determining the structure of the atom, for example, were not contemplating the development of an atom bomb! Science has moved so far away from the repercussions of the information it generates, but common sense knowledge is rooted in human civilization and daily life.

Q b. Discuss the research methods which were used by anthropologists during Colonial period.

Ans) Research involved comparing vast amounts of secondary data to classify and explain. A psychological oneness of people was the basis for evolutionists' explanations, while diffusionists favoured restricted creativity and increased communication.

Field research was pioneered by Lewis Henry Morgan and A.C. Haddon. Morgan became the father of kinship studies and a recognised evolutionist by presenting his hypothesis of ethnic periods. By comparing kinship terminology, Morgan discovered consistent patterns of kinship terminologies that he termed "kinship systems." Rivers established his famed Genealogical Method on this second mission in 1898. He began making family trees to trace psychological types in a family but soon realised this method could be used to collect data on any subject.

However, he had a native perspective on the situation of the tribals and did not adhere to the concept that they were primitive or backward. The Torres Strait voyage and afterwards the famous ethnographic survey by Malinowski were both results of historical circumstance and not a well thought out plan. Those who spent a lot of time with ‘their people' became experts on those groups, so that people like Evans-Pritchard and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown were intellectual owners of the people they studied. The colonial regime viewed stability and social unity as ideal conditions.

In America, a new school of thought called historical particularism emerged, led by Franz Boas. This institution was a by-product of the American style of colonisation, in which entire Native American cultures were either devastated or the inhabitants were forced to live on reservations. In contrast to the functional school, Boas placed a strong emphasis on history, psychology, and the environment while studying cultures. Folklore and material culture, which were considered as cultural components that survived human groups in the absence of the people themselves, were also a source of concern. Alfred Kroeber, a well-known student of Boas, proposed a 'super-organic' and 'superhuman' description of culture. Boas was fascinated by psychology and inspired his students Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, Alfred Irving Hallowell, Ralph Linton, and others to establish the culture and personality school. Unlike British social anthropology, which focused solely on social and cultural elements in its explanations, American cultural tradition included psychology, biology, and environmental factors in its theory and explanation. Different fields of anthropology, such as folklore studies, ecological anthropology, psychological anthropology, and medical anthropology, arose from this tradition and were later acknowledged as distinct branches of anthropology around the world. During these early years of study, the search for techniques, answers to issues, and pushing the boundaries of the discipline to seek new horizons were all priorities.

These studies, however, had serious problems in that they painted an ideal picture of static, ahistorical communities that were always in a condition of concord. Later studies questioned the premise that stability is a natural state for any civilization. However, functionalism persisted for a long time, as even conflict scientists sought to understand the functions of conflict or projected conflict as a natural state of society. New and critical perspectives in anthropological research emerged only in the post-colonial period, when anthropological research began to be conducted from those regions and by those who had previously provided 'objects' for study, such as the natives of the colonies who had previously formed the anthropologist's 'field.'

Assignment – II

Answer the following in about 250 words each. (Write Short Notes) 10X2=20

Qa. Participant observation and non-participant observation

Ans) Participant Observation: It is thanks to Malinowski's research among the Trobriand Islanders of Papua New Guinea that participant observation came to be. His study established the gold standard for fieldwork in anthropology. Malinowski's fieldwork is notable for the fact that it involved a prolonged period of time in the field, spanning around thirty-nine months between 1914 and 1918. Malinowksi's fieldwork became legendary because he communicated with his subjects in their original language, creating a precedent for future anthropologists. Participant observation is defined as the researcher participating in the activities of the community under study in which the researcher immediately involves herself or himself in order to be a part of the group or activity under investigation. Essentially, one attempts to get insight into the situation from the perspective of a 'insider.' Previously, there was a strong emphasis on remaining in the community; but, with the study of corporate, market, and business, as well as media, performing arts, and other fields, the trends have shifted.

Non-Participant Observation: Non-participant observation is a technique in which the researcher observes the activities of the community under investigation from a distance, without becoming personally involved in them. In this case, the researcher remains separated from the subjects' lives and does not directly observe their activities. As a 'outsider,' the researcher records observations and data in a purely objective manner, whereas if the observer participates and becomes emotionally involved, the observation becomes subjective in nature, where the observer not only records data on the basis of observation but also on the basis of their own personal experiences.

Qb. Arm-chair anthropologists and field anthropologists.

Ans) Armchair anthropologists are scholars who arrive at conclusions without going through the traditional anthropology motions of fieldwork or lab work in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Great examples include people like James Frazer and E.B. Tylor. They would dig through items left by colonists and missionaries, then draw inferences based on their observations and, in some cases, their imagination. Unfortunately, this led to some incorrect conclusions regarding race and racism in early anthropology. In a more modern sense, "armchair" anthropology could refer to anyone who conducts anthropological research without performing the labour.

Individuals returned with tales of their journeys and encounters with people from cultures and societies that were vastly different from their own. During anthropology's formative period, these stories formed the data for anthropologists. Because the data source was never verified, the anthropologist had to use their imagination to recreate the people's lives as they saw fit. Later generations of anthropologists who commenced first-hand data collecting dubbed such anthropologists who never went to the field or came into direct touch with the people under study "armchair anthropologists."

Anthropological fieldwork now encompasses not just the study of the 'other,' but also the study of the ‘self,' with anthropologists authoring auto-ethnographic narratives about their own lived experiences. As a result, today's anthropologists labour among their own people. Anthropologists have been interested in the virtual environment because humans are increasingly doing a lot of their work online. As a result, anthropologists are now working in the virtual world. Fieldwork used to refer to conducting research at a specific location. Fieldwork can now take place across multiple locations. Multi-sited fieldwork entails the researcher conducting study at multiple locations where the same types of subjects can be located. As a result, any environment with human activities—whether virtual or physical—can be a viable focus for anthropologists today.

Answer the following questions in about 75 words each. 2X5=10

Qa. Ethics in research

Ans) Research ethics are the moral principles that govern how researchers should carry out their work. These principles are used to shape research regulations agreed by groups such as university governing bodies, communities or governments. All researchers should follow any regulations that apply to their work. Research often involves a great deal of cooperation and coordination among many different people in different disciplines and institutions, ethical standards promote the values that are essential to collaborative work, such as trust, accountability, mutual respect, and fairness.

Qb. Literature Review

Ans) It is impossible to review all writings on a topic because there may be many. Snow-balling should be done, that is, picking up literatures that are given room in well-known academics and publishers' publications should be studied and then reviewed. The literature review should also include background information on the subject. The review should also try to highlight key shifts in theoretical understanding of the topic. It also helps identify research gaps and build your own study as a way to fill them.

Qc. Interview Guide

Ans) The Interview Guide is a collection of questions linked to the study subject that are created at random and in no particular order to aid the main interview. There isn't a defined structure to it. It assists the researcher in maintaining a conversational flow with the respondent and assists the respondent in remaining focused in the event that he or she becomes carried away while sharing personal experiences. While collecting case studies and life histories, the interview guide is extremely useful.

Qd. SPSS

Ans) In the past, SPSS was known only for its social science applications. It runs on Windows and has all the same features. It's a sophisticated integrated statistical data analysis system. Large data sets and complex multivariate analyses are no problem for SPSS. Modern research analysis requires working understanding of statistical tools like SPSS. Use the help features of SPSS to learn about various statistical tools. In MS-Word or MS-Excel, the SPSS output is conveniently organised as tables.

Qe. End Notes

Ans) An endnote is source citation that refers the readers to a specific place at the end of the paper where they can find out the source of the information or words quoted or mentioned in the paper. When using endnotes, your quoted or paraphrased sentence or summarized material is followed by a superscript number.

While a study design serves as a foundation for the main investigation, it also has inherent characteristics that are equally significant in the research process. These are bibliographies and references. Smaller parts like footnotes, endnotes, glossary, etc. can also be considered. First, let us define bibliography and references.

Assignment – III

Q a. Find out about the kinds of marriages each and every member of your family (include immediate relatives if you belong to a nuclear family) has had. What will be your research technique here? Draw an outline of the questions you will frame based on the technique you choose. 20

Ans) In order to actually carry out the research discussed above, we will have to employ tools and techniques to get the results. The most commonly used techniques in anthropological research are questionnaire and interview. There are a variety of tools which are used under these techniques. In this scenario, we will use the interview technique to research about the kinds of marriages in the family.

Interview Technique

Just like observation is watching something with an objective, similarly, interview is having a conversation with a purpose. Interview is one of the most rational techniques to collect data. It allows face to face interaction with the researcher and the respondent. Unlike questionnaire, here the researcher has the opportunity to mould questions, add new ones to take the conversation ahead in context of the investigation conducted. Interview is considered as a direct method of data collection. It is used as a technique when questionnaires do not give the expected data or when a sample is specifically selected from the answers received from filling up a questionnaire. This is to collect more in-depth data. What we cannot observe, we will have to ask. Hence interview works as a beneficial alternative to collect data.

However to actually conduct successful interviews, the researcher has to build a strong rapport with all respondents, for them to trust enough and answer personal and sensitive queries. Interviews can be individual interviews or group interviews. Group interviews are popularly known as Focus Group Interviews. Individual interviews have open ended questions and ask questions to find out social and cultural experiences of the respondent. Here the respondents recount their life occurrences in a logical and intelligible manner.

These kinds of interviews are semi-structured to allow more questions to be added or reframed as the interview is conducted. In a group interview there is a group of people interviewed together who have similar characteristics or experiences which allows them to clubbed together to get certain answers. Characteristics may include belonging to the same caste, or gender or economic status etc. Experiences may include rape victims, or alcoholism, or some illness etc. Depending on the category or selected group, it will bring better or not so responsive results. For example youngsters may like to share their experiences about a certain situation better in the presence of their peers, for example their aspirations. However the same group may respond cautiously if asked about habits like drug abuse.

Interview Guide contains a set of questions related to the research problem which are prepared randomly without a sequence to assist during the main interview. It does not have a set framework. It helps the researcher to maintain a flow with the respondent while conversing and helps the respondent stay focused in case s/he gets carried away while sharing incidents from her/his life. The interview guide is immensely helpful while collecting case studies and life histories.

Interview Schedule is a format made by the researcher before conducting an interview. The schedule too can be structured or unstructured. Though similar to a guide, it is created to collect quantitative data. Hence it contains a fixed format of questions that the researcher makes use of while conducting interviews, mostly while conducting surveys. Census data too is collected with the help of an interview schedule and is mostly structured.

Set of Questions that will need to be framed:

1. When did you get married?

2. What kind of wedding was it?

3. How many people were invited?

4. Was there only veg or non-veg food?

5. Were there any kind of activities arranged for the guests?

6. What were the differences in the tradition based on your background as compared to your spouse?

7. Were there any religious differences? If so, how were they handled?

8. What were the major complications you faced during the wedding planning?

9. How many children came off of your marriage?

10. Do you live separately or with your parents?

11. How often do you stay in touch with the relatives?

12. How do you solve marital problems?

13. What according to you is the secret of a happy marriage?

Q b. Draw the genealogy of your paternal family tracing till you grandparents making yourself the ego. 5

Ans) Below is the genealogy o my parental family:

Q c. Provide the life history of a family member to show medical pluralism in handling an ailment or health condition throughout the person’s lifetime. 5

Ans) Life History is a popular method of collecting a case study. It is a qualitative method of collecting data where individuals are asked to talk about their life events starting from their childhood to the present informing about certain particular and important incidents or occurrences from their lives. It has been found to be very effective in studying one’s health status and medical choices through the person’s medical history.

My father was diagnosed as a pre-diabetic 3 years ago. Since then, he went to an “ayurvedic” doctor to get his treatment. Everything seemed fine, but after 2 years, he suddenly lost eyesight in the left eye. He also lost his eyelid function. This was because of prolonged usage of the ayurvedic medicines which were not able to control the blood sugar levels. Hence, he switched to regular alopethic medicine which then helped him recover. Gladly, his eyesight and eyelid function returned back in 4 months and now he regularly takes his medicines and checks his blood sugar.