Doing Ethnographic Research. Kimberly Kirner
strategy for the development of poor communities. It further investigates how specific cultural contexts––in this case, that of rural Mpondoland, South Africa––can contribute to positive community-based tourism development outcomes. In this sense, the local culture is not seen as a tourist attraction but as a resource on which community-based tourism development can be built. The article locates community-based tourism within a more general strategy of diversifying rural livelihoods. Poor households in rural areas meet their needs through a combination of livelihood strategies and community-based tourism is seen as an additional means to meet household needs. In addition, local culture becomes a tourism resource using indigenous foods, arts, and crafts as tourism attractions. Food is one example of a local cultural resource that has the potential to facilitate a number of community benefits.
Purpose/main point of the study: The purpose of this study was to investigate what kinds of cultural contexts in development lead to community benefits resulting from tourism.
Unclear: “General strategy of diversifying rural livelihoods”: The article says it “locates community-based tourism within” this variable, but it is unclear what the relationship is between the two.
Non-example
Tourism is often seen as a tool for poverty alleviation and community development. This article highlights community-based tourism as a possible strategy for the development of poor communities. It further investigates how specific cultural contexts––in this case, that of rural Mpondoland, South Africa––can contribute to positive community-based tourism development outcomes. In this sense, the local culture is not seen as a tourist attraction but as a resource on which community-based tourism development can be built. The article locates community-based tourism within a more general strategy of diversifying rural livelihoods. Poor households in rural areas meet their needs through a combination of livelihood strategies and community-based tourism is seen as an additional means to meet household needs. In addition, local culture becomes a tourism resource using indigenous foods, arts, and crafts as tourism attractions. Food is one example of a local cultural resource that has the potential to facilitate a number of community benefits.
Purpose/main point of the study: The researcher found that art, music, and food enhance tourism.
Problem 1
Hoffman, Susanna M. 2016. “The Question of Culture Continuity and Change after Disaster: Further Thoughts.” Annals of Anthropological Practice 40 (1): 39–51.
Anthropologists often struggle with interpreting the extent to which human behavior during and after disasters constitute departures from pre-existing culture, as the issue is both theoretically poignant but also pragmatically critical. When I first wrote about the concern, I offered that the extent to which disasters cause consequential cultural change is largely determined by size or magnitude of the disaster, whether the manifestations of change are scrutinized in short or long term, and whether the change occurs within the deep structures of a culture or merely surface regalia. I also touched on resistance to change. In the plenary on the issue addressed here, several anthropologists well familiar with the problematics of disaster spoke to the concern anew, and in light of seriously changing global conditions, I, too, had expanded observations to add. They pertain both to general theories of culture continuity and change and to today’s altered global situation.
(Use the worksheet at the end of the chapter to complete this problem.)
Problem 2
Skoczen, Kathleen N. 2008. “Almost Paradise: The Cultural Politics of Identity and Tourism in Samaná, Dominican Republic.” Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 13 (1): 141–67.
In the Dominican Republic, tourism is the dominant development strategy transforming not only the social and cultural landscape, but also individual reflections of self, community and nation. In the northeast region of Samaná, as tourism has grown and become an important source of employment and profit, the struggles to control the industry are politicized. This case study examines the attempts of a foreign company to control local tourist assets, and the ensuing struggle on the local level to resist. The conflict, although grounded in material assets, was often articulated through the complex discourse of identity. Cultural politics became a primary vehicle through which the control of material and symbolic assets was fought. These struggles bring to light a changing cultural field, exposing the instability of categories long taken for granted.
(Use the worksheet at the end of the chapter to complete this problem.)
Activity 1.4: Variables, Indicators, and Values
Background: Indicators are ways in which you plan to measure the variable. They are the general aspects of the variable you think are important. Indicators are defined by values, which are the options that a participant can choose for answering a question about an indicator.
This activity will help you look for relationships between variables, indicators, and values.
Key Terms and Concepts
Variables
Indicators
Values
Instructions
Using a concept map, construct and justify at least two indicators and their corresponding values for the variables provided.
Common Mistakes
Common mistakes students make when constructing indicators and values:
Indicators are vague, so students include a variety of values that do not form a comprehensive set.
Values do not provide sufficient options to accurately capture reality in detail.
Ask Yourself
How did I consider approaching this task?
Am I monitoring my understanding? Have I backed up to reread a section to better understand content?
Sample Problem
Variable: Current relationship status
Example
Figure 1.1 Example of Concept Map for “Current Relationship Status”
Note to students: These values are clear-cut and directly aligned with indicators; indicators are informative toward the variable “current relationship status.”
Non-example
Figure 1.2 Non-example of Concept Map for “Current Relationship Status”
Note to students: The values to measure the indicator “strength of relationship” are problematic because they are based on researcher bias, which assumes that legal commitment indicates