B. Malinowski (1884-1942)
Fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands during World War I
Wrote Argonauts of the Western Pacific in 1922
Emic perspective is an insider view of culture. Etic perspective is an outsider perspective.
Participant-Observation is a process of fieldwork in which observer learns the language and customs of group that is being represented in published study. The observer lives full-time with group and writes extensive field notes.
Three ideas promoted by British School and adopted by some into academia:
- Can’t study a cultural item in isolation or out of context.
- Can’t rely on formal informant’s version of worldview. Cultural phenomena must be experienced by studied observer.
- The indigenous are not to be labeled savage. All humans react rationally to their physical and social environment. There is an underlying logic behind cultural group phenomena.