Music 666 Winter 2022 outline

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FIELD METHODS IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY: An introduction to ethnographic fieldwork for music studies

COURSE OUTLINE WITH ASSIGNMENTS

Short URL for this website: http://bit.ly/fmeth22o

General course website including science and equipment links: http://bit.ly/fmeth22

Library reserve shelf: via https://library.ualberta.ca/reading-lists

Instructor

Professor Michael Frishkopf
Meetings: Winter 2022, Tuesdays, 9am - noon Office: 347 Old Arts Building
Office hours: by appointment
Tel: 780-492-0225, email: michaelf@ualberta.ca

Overview

Ethnomusicology is "the meaningful social practice of studying music as a meaningful social practice" (Frishkopf 2011) Within music studies, ethnomusicology's distinguishing practical feature is fieldwork, a principal component of the ethnographic enterprise upon which most ethnomusicological (and anthropological) research is based. This course aims to provide you with strategies for the acquisition of field methods (procedural, declarative, and critical knowledge) enabling you to perform critical ethnographic fieldwork, to gather ethnomusicological data, and develop ethnographies.

For the first few weeks, we take up theoretical and critical overviews of fieldwork and ethnography (along with a heavy reading load), including – most importantly – issues of truth, power, and ethics. Subsequently, that load will be reduced as we begin to focus on acquisition of perspectives, knowledge, and methods—technical and social—pertinent to critical ethnomusicological data collection via participant observation, interviewing, field notes, audio and video recording, and still photography. Here the course shifts gears, from reading about fieldwork to actually doing it. You will learn to transcribe and edit field materials, and to analyze and code fieldwork data in preparation for ethnographic writing. We will discuss techniques and strategies for molding multimedia materials into presentable formats, including documentary film, and development of multimedia websites, blogs, wikis, and podcasts.

You will also learn to develop effective ethnographic research proposals centered on fieldwork (including preparation of budgets and timelines), suitable for funding and guiding your research project. Most students should consider this course as an initial step towards their MA or PhD thesis.

Ethnomusicology is a diverse set of practices, and complete training in its field methods is not possible in the span of 13 sessions. In particular, we will not have time to study the technical subjects (audio recording/editing, photography, video recording/editing) in depth. Mastery of any one of these subjects requires an enormous investment in study and practice. Nor will there be time to transform fieldwork products into ethnography. Rather the focus here is on a broad spectrum of introductions—methods for acquiring methods, learning how to learn—in the hopes that you will thereby be enabled and motivated to explore further on your own.

Course objectives

  • To develop a critical, theoretical understanding of ethnographic fieldwork—its nature, uses, aims, methods, and (ethical or epistemological) limitations—as a social practice.
  • To become familiar with various modalities of ethnographic fieldwork, their strengths and weaknesses.
  • To develop some practical fieldwork skills, particularly participant observation, interviewing, and fieldnotes, and the development of rapport.
  • To understand the principles of multimedia recording and editing (audio, video, and image), and develop basic competencies in their technologies.
  • To learn how to organize and analyze fieldwork data, in preparation for ethnographic writing, including transcribing and coding.
  • To develop an ethnographic research proposal centered on a fieldwork project, and to carry out a portion of the latter.

Course requirements

  • Regular, punctual attendance.
  • Reading (or skimming, as appropriate) each week's reading assignments prior to the class in which it will be discussed, and preparation of presentations. Note: it is very important to learn to locate and absorb the gist of a reading without actually reading every word! Otherwise you may find the quantity of reading to be overwhelming. (We'll talk about this skill in class.) For each reading, I suggest you prepare a brief report (a few sentences), comprising a synopsis and a critique, for your own use, and keep these for future reference. (They'll come in especially handy for the 4-page critical synthesis.) Naturally this task is even more important when you will be leading the discussion.
  • Submission of a 4-page critical synthesis ("b") on fieldwork and ethnography, referencing assigned readings due for classes meeting in weeks 1-5 (i.e. up to and including those assigned for discussion in week 5)
  • Submission of a preliminary research proposal ("a" and "i" below) defining an ethnographic project focusing on music (in the most general possible sense of this word). Note: your proposal should be related to your MA or PhD thesis plans, but must center upon fieldwork to be performed locally. See me if you're not sure how to do this.
  • Submission of 6 fieldwork/analysis practica ("c,d,e,f,g,h"; see below) applying techniques presented and demonstrated in the previous week's class. As far as possible, these practica must all be directed towards execution of the research proposal, in a shared field setting.
  • Presentation of final research proposal and project ("j") on the last day of class, when you will receive critical feedback.
  • Submission of a final web-based research proposal and report (including an ethics board application), containing edited excerpts of collected field data (fieldnotes, audio-recordings, photographs, video-recordings), and synthesized in a short descriptive ethnography incorporating critical feedback from your presentation (j). Due: April 26.

Please submit all text assignments by depositing them in your named Google Drive folder I have shared with you (and you alone!) in a suitably named subfolder. Label subfolders with their letter (a, b, c, d...etc.) where available. Other assignments due in a particular week can be included, suitably named, in a folder named with the week number ("Week 2"). Please name all files appropriately, and include your name in the filename. I will also provide any feedback or comments in that same folder.


Note: I strongly advise that you make use of reference management software for all your assignments. In particular, I recommend Zotero, which is free, powerful, and collaborative. You can use it to compile a bibliographic database, share it, cite it in your writing, and generate and format citations and bibliographies automatically.

Evaluation

Assignments and weights

  • Preliminary research proposal (with preliminary ethics proposal) (a) and budget (i): 5%
  • Four-page critical synthesis on fieldwork and ethnography (b): 5%
  • Six ethnographic practica @ 6% each: 36% (fieldnotes (c); audiography (d); interviews (e); photography (f); videography (g); coding (h))
  • Final project proposal, and website-based presentation (j): 34%
  • Participation & assigned presentations: 20%

NB:

  • There will be no exams.
  • Unexcused late assignments will be downgraded one quarter point per day.
  • When page counts are given they refer to 1" margins, single-spaced, Times New Roman font, or equivalent. "References cited" or "bibliography" does not count towards the page total.
  • Be sure to cite all references using the (author year:pages) format, and list all references cited at the end of your paper.

Grading scale

Evaluations of each assignment are on a scale from 0-4.3 points. These scores are combined according to the percentages indicated below in order to produce a final numeric grade. This grade is rounded to the nearest numeric value in the table below, in order to determine the final letter grade.

  • A+: 4.3
  • A: 4.0
  • A-: 3.7
  • B+: 3.3
  • B: 3.0
  • B-: 2.7
  • C+: 2.3
  • C: 2.0
  • C-: 1.7
  • D+: 1.3

Resources

  • Readings. Most readings are available via the Library, many free online. Others can be purchased in online editions, via Kindle, Google Books, or another e-book service. Many are available for purchase at the University Bookstore. It is not necessary to purchase all the books. However you may wish to invest in your fieldwork future by purchasing some of them, particularly the practical manuals. See bibliography below for many links.
  • Online films and videos.
  • Class lectures, discussions, and presentations. Take notes on your colleagues' presentations!
  • Multimedia equipment in the Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology, including a still camera, a digital video camera, and an audio recorder. We will establish hours of use. Note: use of this equipment depends on public health measures in force.
  • Your own multimedia equipment (audio, video, photo, laptop) (optional but good to assemble your "kit" - and often a simple smartphone can suffice for many purposes.)
  • Other software for qualitative data analysis (HyperRESEARCH), scorewriting, audio/video editing, etc. (see below for a listing)
  • The CCE wiki: http://cce.ualberta.ca
  • The Field.

Schedule

  • Each week (beginning with a 3-hour seminar session) lists in-class activities (for the collective Tuesday session, including discussions), and assignments (to be carried out individually during the remainder of the week, and to be completed before the following class). Note: Anything to be discussed in a given week also constitutes an implicit assignment for the previous week!
  • Assignments are to be filed in your Google Drive folders (you should have received a link). Please store files related to a particular assignment in a subfolder.
  • Full citations for all readings are listed in the bibliography below.

week 1 (Jan 11 - 17): introduction to fieldwork and the ethnographic project in ethnomusicology

In class

  • Welcome and overview of course.
  • Introductions: who are we?
    • Three videos illustrating my fieldwork trajectories over the years
  • The weekly Saturday hadra at the saha of Sidi Ali Zayn al-Abidin (Sufism in Cairo) (2011)
  • Five Sufi hadras: Sufi chanting in Egypt 1996-1998. The final hadra, performed by Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami, is presented in full here.
    • Shadow and Music in Buduburam(longer version). Collaborative documentary video on and with Liberian refugee music producer. Produced with support from the President’s Fund for the Performing and Creative Arts, in collaboration with musicians of the Buduburam refugee camp.
    • Let's share your fieldwork stories, plans, motivations...
  • Basic questions, purposes, goals.
  • What is ethnomusicology (EM)? (3 extensions: global scope, context, discipline). Its methods? Its aims and outputs? (academic knowledge? social critique? transformation of culture & society?)
  • What is fieldwork? Ethnography? What is their relationship? What do they entail? What is their position within EM (Ethnomusicology)? Music studies generally?
  • Why is fieldwork central to the discipline of EM? Differentiate: EM, CM (comparative musicology), HM (historical musicology), PM (popular music studies), MT (music theory)....FS (folklore studies).
  • Let's watch a bit of this film. What does it represent? (a culture? a set of relationships? a cultural moment? a disciplinary moment? )
  • Does EM have to deploy fieldwork? (cf: historical ethnomusicology)
  • Can other areas of music studies also deploy fieldwork?
  • How might we critique fieldwork? From a post-colonial, feminist, Indigenous, or other point of view? What is the relation of the fieldworker (and fieldwork society) to field?
  • Theory and method: how do they relate? Does theory imply method? Or the reverse?
  • This course: introduction to fieldwork
  • Some operating concepts/contrasts (we won't get through the entire list - more next time!)
  • Review course structure and mechanics - submission via Google Drive

This week

Consider the ethnographic project, as carried out through fieldwork, and how its products (books, films...) represent culture, by considering several instances:

As you read or watch, take a few notes, both descriptive and critical. Ask questions of value and try to classify the samples.

Assignment (due before our next class)

Add these writing assignments to your Google Drive folder, in a subfolder called "Due Week 2".

  • Write 1-2 pages about these ethnographic examples (books and films). How is music and music culture represented? What contrasting approaches do ethnographers take? How can you evaluate and classify their research approaches and products? What are their assumptions? What sorts of representations do they produce, and what are the consequences for the work as a whole? Which of these approaches do you like, and why? Conversely, which ones do you dislike, and why? In sum, what is ethnographic fieldwork for ethnomusicology? How does it differ from other kinds of ethnographic fieldwork, or fieldwork generally? You don't have to write about every example - be selective.
  • In another 1-2 pages, outline your ethnographic research proposal by filling in a few sentences using my proposal template, Research Proposals in Ethnomusicology, parts I, II, III, IV, as a guide (memorable link: http://bit.ly/rpe-ua). Focus on I and II primarily for now. (We'll discuss this in class when we meet.) Note that you will not complete this research during the semester, but you will direct your assignments towards advancing your proposal whenever possible. Ideally the proposal should outline research you actually intend to carry out for your thesis, though it is also possible to propose other (e.g. narrower, or even completely different) projects.
  • Complete readings on theory of fieldwork and ethnography (as listed for discussion in week 2's seminar), for individual presentations and discussion next week.

Note that all references to readings are fully explicated in the list below, with links wherever possible. (Otherwise the book should be available on Library reserve shelf.)

Remember that you will upload all assignments to your Google Drive folder, suitably named and filed.

week 2 (Jan 18 - 24): a critical examination of fieldwork and ethnography. Defining your own ethnographic project, planning your fieldwork

How does one frame an ethnographic fieldwork-based research project (book, article, or film) in ethnomusicology? We'll review Research Proposals in Ethnomusicology We'll discuss the research proposal format, and your incipient ethnographic fieldwork project ideas.

Note: it's very important for you to "do" all the readings. BUT "do" doesn't mean read every word; you may skim some more than others, concentrating primarily on the one you (or others) will present, and those marked "all". It's like a buffet in which your aim may not be to consume so much as taste. On the other hand, it is not enough to focus on your own reading presentation, otherwise discussion will be limited. So if someone has signed up to present a reading, please at least have a look at it.

If you'd like to share reading notes, or engage in on-line discussions centered on individual readings, please use this page.

In class

  • Project proposals. Feedback loops: (a) between goals and methods; (b) between proposal and fieldwork.
  • Presentation of fieldwork project proposal ideas, for class feedback (continued in week 3).
  • Reading presentations as assigned (be prepared to lead a critical discussion of your reading) and discussion of other readings.

Readings for today's class discussion

(Everyone read whatever is marked 'all' and be prepared to discuss them; read/skim readings to be presented by others; read with care those you will present for discussion, highlighting the main ideas, critiquing the work, and noting issues for collective debate, discussion, and analysis.) See bibliographic list below for full references and links where available. Note that any reading marked for class discussion in a given week must be read in advance! Take notes or mark up a copy (or PDF).

Please limit your presentation to 3-5 minutes max, plus a few minutes for questions and discussion. Your presentation should be divided into two parts: (a) Treat as reference: what is this about? main points? (b) Treat as source: critique. What are the limits of what is being stated? How should it be contextualized?


All: Gilman and Fenn, chapters 1-4 and conclusion, Faubion 2001, p. 39 (ch. 3 - skim for mentions of fieldwork - how is the word used?); Lassiter ch. 1 & 2.

Optional: Fetterman ch. 1-2 ; Jackson: chapters 1-4 (skim);

Assigned for presentation: Sign up for a reading you'd like to present in class using this page (add your name after the reading)... Everyone will present at least once this term.

See bibliography below for full listings of these works, some of which are online, otherwise on reserve or at bookstore.

Assignment

(due next time): readings on ethics, for presentation and discussion next week. Also browse the Research Ethics Office ARISE site, get a sense of its purpose and range of guidance provided, and try logging in as if you were creating an ethics proposal (if you can...).

week 3 (Jan 25 - Jan 31): ethical issues in fieldwork and ethnography

In class

Announcements:

1) Catchup: Ideas that are "good to think" (cf "good to eat", from Levi-Strauss's Totemism, p. 89)

2) Ethics and Ethnomusicology

The following may overlap but are not the same (what happens when they diverge is key!): Ethics vs. pragmatics, ethics vs. law/code, ethics vs. ethics (values may clash?). Ethics in practice vs in theory. Philosophical ethics (what are the various positions...Deontological vs. consequentialist. Give examples.), and organizational codes of ethics.

Consider pages about research ethics at the UofA, ethics proposals for this class and some of my fieldwork projects (examples, formats, issues). What principles inform these documents? What are the underlying motivations here? How do institutions define "ethics procedures" - on what bases? (And why the biomedical tilt, which may not always be appropriate for ethnographic fieldwork?) Do these constraints ensure ethical research in practice? Or protect the institution? What about funding organizations? Ethics statements for professional societies? How and why do they differ?

What special ethical considerations arise in:

  • Interviews
  • Participant-observation
  • Media recording ("documentation" in Gilman & Fenn)
  • Collaborative work (including participatory action research, and much applied community engaged ethnomusicology, particularly M4GHD

We can also reference the African ethnographies or ethnographic films (of last week) with an eye towards their ethical dimensions if you'd like.

4) Reading presentations (be prepared to introduce your reading in 2 parts (summary/critique) in 5 minutes, then lead a critical discussion of your reading for 5 more).

5) Remaining proposals:

  • Review the Research Proposals in Ethnomusicology structure.
  • Everyone (other than Behrang, Shawn, and Ziyad) present their proposals (aim/significance) in 3 min each. Everyone should add another minute to consider:

What are the ethical dimension of your projects? Think about your methods. What sorts of ethical problems could crop up in the course of your research? (interviews, participant-observation, media recording...at the time or afterwards) What aspects of your method might prove problematic? Informed consent? What will you do with your results, and materials? What is an ethical relation to the people you work with? What happens after you leave the field? With what principles will you address these issues? Generally speaking, how will you engage with people in an ethical manner? What are your principles? Consider ethical issues of Research Proposals in Ethnomusicology, particularly in methods and output objectives sections.

6) Positionings and modes of research, preliminary for next week.

Readings and pages for today's class discussion

All read: Gilman and Fenn, chapter 14. Murphy and Dingwall 2001, ch. 23 (The Ethics of Ethnography; online and p. 339 ff); Kvale 2007 chapter 3; DeWalt chapter 10 (= chapter 11 in the 2nd edition); Lassiter chapter 5; browse materials at pages about research ethics at the UofA. Sample ethnographies (review for ethical concerns).

Optional: Jackson: chapter 16; Fetterman chapter 7


Week 3 assigned readings (indicate which reading you'd like to present; everyone read all that have been selected)

Please also browse the following:

Philosophy resources:

Professional organizational statements & codes of ethics (focus on ethnographic research disciplines):

Assignment

For next time: readings on positionings & modes of research (see next week for list and signup). Review, once again, the African ethnographies and think about what sorts of positionings and modes their authors have adopted. Also: work on your research proposals, thinking about (a) how to introduce comparative and multisited perspectives, collaborative/participatory approaches; and action-oriented or research-creation frameworks; (b) ethical dimensions of your methodologies (we'll discuss these aspects next time). Finally: think about whether or not ethnographic research (anthropological, sociological, ethnomusicological, ethnochoreological) is moving towards applied work? How can we know?

Note: You may like to enroll in one of the scheduled Research Ethics training sessions.

week 4 (Feb 1 - 7): positioning yourself in the field; modes of research

Preliminaries

1) Detailed review of research proposal format.

2) Remaining students present their research proposals in brief (2-3 min) for feedback and discussion.

3) Individual presentations of Week 3 assigned readings (on ethics). Everyone at least skim readings that have been assigned.

Today's topic: positioning and modalities, & personal safety

  • Positioning and modality of fieldwork depends on research aims:
    • towards accumulation of knowledge, depending on theory of knowledge = epistemology (for "pure research")
    • towards positive change, depending on theory of action = praxis ("applied research")
  • Safety.

Field positioning and modes

  • Positioning
    • Where are you located (socially, culturally, geographically, physically)? It may be helpful to answer this question in social network terms.
    • Do you (can you) occupy more than one location (social status...)?
    • What is your angle of view? (direction, aperture - metaphor of the lens)
    • Relation of position to personal identity (especially gender)
  • Modes of field research, epistemologies of culture and society, and attitudes towards action
    • qualitative/case-oriented: participation and observation (infield), interviewing (infield, outfield)
    • quantitative/systematic: surveying
    • collection: collecting artifacts (e.g. cassettes), field-based archival/library research (e.g. newspapers, photos).
    • interventions: deliberately seeking to change the field: research-creation experiments; (participatory) action research
    • reflexivity: are you in your own angle of view? Infinite regress: seeing the self.

Positioning and its Implications for modality:

  • The embedding of the self in an S-net (sonet, senet)... and "visibility" (what can be seen from your field perspective: position and angle?)
  • A quick intro to social network theory for fieldwork
  • Self-embedding through positioning, angling, modality
  • Balancing the infield and outfield
  • Considerations...all may impact the ways in which you self-position
    • time, identity (age, gender...),
    • field
    • theory and questions...
  • Modality shapes position; position shapes modality

Examples: My own fieldwork...

  • in Indonesia (Java and Bali): 6 weeks
  • in Ghana: 4 months
  • in Egypt: 5 years!

More generally: consider the range of choices before you:

  • entry into the field (now considered as an s-net). (Recall entry scenes in the African ethnographies)
  • self-presentation and social distance
  • establishing alliances and making commitments
  • moving towards stable position and angle (literally - and metaphorically)
  • defining infield and outfield boundaries
  • defining rhythms of fieldwork, to and from infield/outfield, and especially to/from homefield
  • how -- and how much -- to participate
  • how much of prior connections to put on hold or leave behind
  • the social network of connectivity, relationships
  • the ineffable, essential rapport
  • ethics of the field position: local and global
  • experiencing vs. measuring (qualitative vs. quantitative, empirical vs. phenomenological/hermeneutic)
  • etic vs emic
  • outsider vs insider
  • theoretical vs grounded
  • exploratory vs hypothesis testing research, and the role of iteration
  • collaboration and participation (e.g. Participatory Action Research)
  • living in the infield vs. living in the outfield

Mediation: what comes between "you" and "the field"?

  • via paradigm/theoretical assumptions
  • via media technology
  • via formalizing methodologies
  • via authority or inexperience of outsider
  • via disjunctions of the self - "going native"

Consider the various authors whom you've read - how do their approaches differ? Are the differences disciplinary, idiosyncratic, or a little of each? How are they shaped by aims or by the field itself?

A thought experiment: everyone choose a "place" (geocultural or virtual) and imagine traveling there with a particular research question in mind: to understand how music is transmitted from one generation to the next. What will you do?

Personal safety issues

A completely different issue related to positioning and mode - one that might be called "ethical duty to the self" - is practical and paramount: personal safety.

  • While not generally filed under the rubric of "positioning" (or "ethics") taking your own safety into account is obviously very important!
  • Furthermore your safety may affect the safety of those around you (and vice versa) so that this issue is not isolated from a broader ethical one.
  • Ethics of the self:
    • Consequentialist approach: consider the risks, and weigh them against benefits (e.g. learning, musical experience, academic degree, personal growth and self-realization, etc.)
    • Deontological approach: treat yourself as you'd treat someone you love.
  • Consider a range of issues, from abstract to very practical (and note these don't apply merely in distant locations, but perhaps close to home as well0:
    • Identity issues: gender identity, sexual identity, religious identity, etc. and acceptance.
    • Relationships with project participants and expectations (friendships, but especially romantic relationships)
    • Political issues.
      • Government hostility to foreigners
      • Political instability, demonstrations
      • Armed conflict
    • Health:
      • Endemic disease; precautions and medications required
      • Pre-existing conditions and how they can be managed
    • Physical dangers:
      • Transportation hazards (seatbelts? motorcycles? helmets? crossing the street??)
      • Random street crime (from pickpockets to violent crime), time of day
      • Visibility and Becoming a target

Presentations of today's assigned readings

Week 4 assigned readings (if time runs out we'll finish these next week)

Readings for today

All: Gilman and Fenn, chapters 7 & 11; DeWalt chapters 1-4 (chapter 1,2,3,5 in the new version); DeWalt chapter 4 in the new version (it's only in the new version - not in the old version!); Kvale 2007 chapter 2; McIntyre chapters 1-2

Optional: Fetterman: ch. 3 (esp. 31-37, 57-62); Jackson: chapters 5-8 (skim, esp. chapter 7);

Week 4 assigned readings (sign-up) (remember that you should all at least skim readings that have been assigned)

Assignment (for next time)

Building on what you've written up previously, use my research proposal format to sketch out a preliminary (draft) research proposal (submission 'a'; see course requirements above) - leave out "budget" (i), but include Comparative and multisited perspectives). Prepare an accompanying ethics application (via Research Ethics ARISE system (click to start an ARISE application for your project, but don't actually submit it. Note: you'll have to request a role for yourself first, as co-investigator. Fill out the request form and submit it - you can contact the research ethics office if you have any problems with this process, or let me know.); you'll submit this along with your proposal. There are also readings for next week (see below), which you should read and critique (as usual!).
Also browse and critique our various applied projects as instances of applied/action/advocacy ethnomusicology.

week 5 (Feb 8 - 14): writing; participation, observation, and participant observation. Fieldnotes

Due (Feb 8)

Preliminary ethnographic fieldwork research proposal (a), including a preliminary ethics application via Research Ethics office.
Note: budget section (i) is not due until week 9.

  • Follow the format presented in the document Research Proposals in Ethnomusicology.
  • Remember, this is a draft!
  • Don't spend a lot of time on background (III: area, scope; VI: literature review) at this point. In area/scope (III; maybe a page?) you should primarily strive to clarify your project, by defining terms (whether topical or theoretical) and introducing needed context and environmental factors. Most important is topic, aim, problems, and especially methods (Sections I, II, IV). Omit the resources/workflow section for now (budget, timeline, in section VII). References cited should be included, but this can be generated automatically if you're using bibliographic software (refworks, endnote, etc.).
  • The ethics application is entirely separate from the proposal in form (i.e. they're two separate documents), but not in content. Generally you'd provide the ethics review board with a condensed version of the project proposal, getting more specific on issues that matter to them (e.g. the kinds of questions you intend to ask in interviews, also part of your methodology section), less so on others (e.g. background). So while they're two distinct documents, you can certainly do a considerable amount of cutting and pasting from one to the other. Create your ethics application on REMO by logging in and creating a new study (but don't press "submit" until we've had a chance to review everything together), then print it to PDF format. If you have trouble please contact help via REMO. You may have to request a PI role for yourself before you are allowed to create an online ethics app.

Today's class

  • Who hasn't presented a reading yet? Please select something to present next week and note your choice in this document
  • Wrap up material from last time
  • Discuss participant-observation (P-O) and fieldnotes: the heart/soul/core of ethnographic fieldwork
    • What is P-O? What issues arise? (ethics, pragmatics...)
      • What is participation? How to participate?
      • Immersion vs participation. The P-O axis, and cultural distance.
      • Fieldworker identity and P-O (gender, sexuality; religion, ethnicity; educational level; language; citizenship...)
      • Self-representation in the field: ethical and pragmatic considerations
      • Reflexivity and researcher/researched boundaries (?)
      • Interaction, rapport, resonance
      • Ethnographic truth???
      • P-O and "research design" (selections: scoping to a site; positioning; methods; questions/theories...)
        • reliability? reproducibility (in social time) vs. verification (in social space)
        • validity? joint/intersubjective social construction of knowledge vs. objectivity? (objectivity of correct representation vs. objectivity of incorrect representation)
        • use as "community access" tool towards more "objective" methods?
        • Other considerations: reflexivity, sampling (scoping, informants...), exploratory vs. hypothesis testing, holism, multisitedness, multimethods ("triangulation") - ethnography and history
    • Positioning, modalities, and P-O
    • Participatory research, Participatory Action Research, and M4GHD
    • Fieldnotes: the heart of ethnographic documentation. The most valuable product of your fieldwork is likely to be your notes, not fancy video or audio recordings. Don't miss the opportunity to document your field experience. But equally: remain critical of this tool!
      • Inscribing experience as language, and its limitations. Is the "data" fieldnotes? Or the field?
      • Fieldnotes and grounded theory systematic approach to qualitative data (B. Glaser and A. Strauss, 1967) - for later coding, memoing and theory building. Bracketing all presuppositions (cf: phenomenology)
      • Fieldnotes vs field experience? (cf: observation vs participation?)
      • Fieldnotes as solid data (fixed forever as "text") vs. residue of fluid encounter (subject to later editing)
      • Stages:
        • mental notes (mnemonics, infield. The power and distortions of memory.)
        • jottings (notation, infield or proximate outfield. Practical considerations: time/place. Use of electronics.) Quotations, paraphrases. Abbrev. techniques. Public or private? Concealing the jotting (ethical issues? pragmatic issues?) or delaying to the outfield.
        • full fieldnotes. daily writing (distant outfield). Rapid expansion of jottings (before forgetfulness sets in!). Rhetorical strategies ("scientific" descriptions, interpretations...poetry?). Quoting vs describing. Combining with media. Strategy and organization. Problems of linearization - how to sequence? (Chronology vs theme) Transformations of memory: positive and negative.
        • Writing for whom? (self vs other)
        • Confidentiality and anonymity.
        • Subjectivity in writing as well as observing. Relativity and space, time. Fact vs feeling. Polyvocality.
        • Where to place larger reflections, theoretical observations, questions?
        • Considerations for ethnomusicologists concerned with music, sound, events, rituals: (a) counting, (b) mapping, (c) transcribing.
        • "Participating to write" vs "writing to participate" (Emerson)
        • fieldnotes vs. diaries
        • Memoing
  • Ask me questions about my past P-O fieldwork
  • Everyone imagine doing P-O in your particular research context. Discussion: compare intended positioning, how to select an initial position and angle from which to observe, how to modify these dynamically, possible P-O settings, how to establish rapport, infield/outfield/homefield dynamics. What problems might you anticipate? what sorts of participant observation settings they believe would be most useful for your work? How would you modify for collaborative ethnography? Participatory action research?

Readings to complete by today's seminar

(to be included in your synthetic-critical bibliographic essays):

All: Gilman and Fenn, chapter 8; Dewalt (read chapters 5-8 selectively--that's chapters 6-9 in the new edition--skim the rest according to your interests); Emerson et al, Handbook of Ethnography (online; link below) (optional: read their book - Preface, chapters 1, 2 (links to Kindle edition is below, but as it's not free let's use the Handbook essay.); Barz chapter 13 (Barz)

Optional: Fetterman, chapter 6.


Note: from here on there are no individually assigned readings for presentation, but do read everything, take notes, and be prepared for critical discussion.


Assignment

(for next time):

PO (participant observation) fieldnotes assignment: infield and outfield (c):

  • Purchase a small, pocket-sized notebook suitable for jotting (you can experiment with different sizes).
  • Select a site (perhaps a store, restaurant, class…), and visit it regularly each day - i.e. 7 days total - throughout the coming week - applying all the strategies of participant observation we've been reading about. If this site can be part of (or close to) your project, great. If not, fine too. (But do focus on a setting that includes music, whose description you can include in the exercise.)
  • The aim: describe the physical site, the social interactions/discourses of the site, and their meanings for participants. Try to include something with music in it, and make a special focus on music in what follows. Try situating yourself closer to the P or O in P-O (participant-observation). What's the difference?
  • Infield: Practice the various techniques of infieldnotes (mental notes, open or covert jotting, mnemonics, musical notations)
  • Outfield: using your computer, writeup outfieldnotes as full entries – expand your jottings, mnemonics, or headnotes into your journal entry for the day. How much can you remember? Try various strategies: writing immediately after withdrawing from the infield, later that evening, the next day. How much do you remember at each stage? Try various techniques: chronological, thematic. Observe yourself writing: description vs interpretation, fact vs feeling, new questions that are triggered by your experiences, that you may wish to address the next day. How to organize all that? (How can you notate a melody most easily? Try a few strategies.)
  • For each entry, also include a meta-entry: your observations of yourself as a fieldworker, i.e. fieldwork of fieldwork (reflexivity). Observe yourself, situate yourself. How did people react to you? What was the effect of your presence in the field? What relationships were established? What techniques were most fruitful? How did you feel doing them – what modes of working do you feel comfortable in?
  • In your outfieldnotes: invent typographical means of differentiating the various registers and categories of content. (For instance, you could put reflections in italics, or use a different font. Invent a strategy for musical notation that works for you.)
  • Bring everything with you next time (for now: upload bits to your folder).


week 6 (February 15-21): field recording: technologies, formats, equipment, supplies, methods, storage, labeling, basic metadata concepts. Budgeting.

Due

Fieldnotes (c). (Submit this and other assignments via your Google Drive folder.)

In class

  • Overview of the next few weeks.
    • Technology paper
    • Importance of metadata as ethnomusicology (context!)
    • Shifting the discussion of principles until after Reading Week (when you'll be preparing your synthetic critical SC essays).
    • Review of the S-C essay.
  • Remaining reading presentations. Hossein... (?)
  • Discussion of participant-observation and fieldnote exercise. Share some of your stories, notes (jottings, full notes).

Readings to prepare for class

Gilman and Fenn, chapters 5 and 6. Entries for "Metadata", and "Dublin Core" in wikipedia (follow available links).
Also see Dublin Core Usage Guide and other documents at Dublincore.org

Harvard's guide to metadata standards is very useful as a summary of the various types (descriptive, technical, structural, preservation, rights...) Now only available on wayback machine...am inquiring about an updated version.

Optional: Jackson: chapter 9; Fetterman: chapter 4.

Note: The world is a patchwork of different electrical plugs and sockets(older version minus ads!)

Assignments for next time

  1. Consider: What are the implications of technology for your fieldwork project? How will technology contribute? What are the advantages, what are the risks? How does such technology supplement, complement, support, or contradict more humanistic aims and humanistic fieldwork? How can you reconcile the distancing of equipment with the closeness and rapport of P-O research? How can you use technology more, or less, humanistically? Work technology into your methodology and consider it critically in relation to your project. What methods would you adopt & how would you evaluate them critically? Write 2 pages on this topic, ultimately to be added to your research proposal methodology.
  2. Begin to search for appropriate equipment and sketch a preliminary budget (i) (you don't have to submit it yet)

Week 7 (February 22-28) READING WEEK - no class on Feb 22.

Due: Short technology essay (see above), to be submitted. Also, please begin to map out your equipment budget (i), though it's not due yet.

Assignment for next time (due March 1st):

Critical synthesis on fieldwork and ethnography (b). Four-page (single-spaced, 1" margins, Times New Roman or equivalent font) critical synthesis on fieldwork and ethnography, addressing key issues of methods, representation and ethics, and gathering theoretical, methodological, and critical readings to date (as many as possible) from weeks 1-5, whether assigned for everyone to read together, or for a particular person to present. (Note that it is not necessary to read every word of every reading in order to include it in your critical synthesis.) Focus on comparing, contrasting, thematizing, and critiquing. Group multiple readings together - you won't have space to talk about each one individually. Rather, the idea is to highlight the main ideas and insights, to emphasize what's important, what's controversial, and what's lacking. Show me that you've done the readings...and that you've thought about them critically as sources (to be understood in context) not merely references (to be accepted as authorities). Note that your grade will depend in part on the number of readings you critically discuss, and how well you critically synthesize them. You needn't cover every last one, and you can be selective, but please don't stint either. You must at least cover all readings assigned for everyone to read, and those that you presented in class.

You may like to organize your essay around a sequence of questions. For each question, different readings may provide slightly different answers, and your own personal perspective may differ from theirs. Grouping the readings relevant to each question, you can summarize them, and then offer your own critique, or show how they critique each other. Here are some possible questions to consider (you don't have to answer them all, or you might touch on them but in a different order).

  • What is ethnographic fieldwork? What is its purpose? What sorts of questions does it seek to answer?
  • Why is it important for ethnomusicology? In what ways is ethnographic fieldwork about music different?
  • Discuss the ethical complexities of fieldwork, in terms of consequentialist or deontological theories.
  • How does ethnographic fieldwork compare to other research methodologies? What are its strengths and limitations?
  • What is the field and how does one research it? How does one self-position in the field and what are the implications of this positioning?
  • Compare the methods of ethnographic fieldwork, the various modes of research. What is the importance of participant-observation?
  • How is the researcher implicated in the fieldwork process? Discuss reflexivity and self-observation.


Cite, describe and critique the readings when answering these questions, eg "as X says (year) ...but X hasn't considered..." Talk about the readings in groups, comparing and contrasting them.

NB: Very important! As you mention a reference, be sure to cite it in-text using the (author date, pages) format, and append an alphabetical list of references (not counted in the 4 pages) cited at the end. If the author is obvious (because you introduced the name in your text), you can omit it and cite using the year only. Provide a page number only for verbatim quotations or books. If you use bibliographic software (Endnote, Refworks, etc.) a bibliography will be generated automatically. I strongly recommend using Zotero to make this process much easier. Note that the bibliography does not count towards the required four pages.

Week 8 (March 1 - 7): Fieldwork, field technology & recording, metadata (continued). Audio recording. Budgeting

Due: Synthetic critical essay. (Extended to next week, March 8)

In Class:

My fieldwork experiences in Egypt and Ghana (optional)

An argument against recording technology: The body as recorder

Your body is the best recorder -- naturally!
Your senses (eyes, ears, nose, skin, tongue) and mind (the best filter, the best recorder!) combined with natural mobility and sociability that no other technology can replicate.

  • External equipment is distancing, and sometimes captures too much information.
  • Field notes result from a kind of “mental recording”, which is transferred to words, symbols, sketches, diagrams, and musical notations on paper as quickly as is practical.
  • This "low tech" solution remains central to ethnographic fieldwork, not only because it is inexpensive, but also due to its flexibility and its automatic incorporation of the fieldworker's own interpretive competence, intelligent information reduction.
  • For example, in transcribing an interview or melody we think about what's really important.
  • Thus the irony: less information is often more information (and the recording process is much more affordable!)

But undoubtedly technology has transformed ethnographic fieldwork, both directly (as a means of recording) and indirectly (as something new to study). Still, perhaps technological recording is more useful as mediation of the fieldwork experience (since it aims to replicate that experience - even more so with contemporary immersive media, like 360 cameras) than as the basis for written ethnographies.

For ethnomusicology (comparative musicology), audio recordings were the primary transformative technology, followed much later by film and video.

An overview of field recording: technologies, media, metadata, storage, archiving, accessing - and associated issues in fieldwork

  • Human and machine: chains of perception and production: from perceptible phenomenon to media and back again (e.g.: microphone to sound card to computer to sound card to headphones)
  • Capture, storage, communication (Gilman and Fenn).
  • Factors to weigh and balance for equipment: High fidelity vs. cost (device and its media!) vs. weight vs. durability vs. power consumption vs. convenience vs. time (setup/takedown) vs. "distancing"
  • Pros and cons of high end (dedicated devices) or low end (using your phone for everything!).
  • Impact on fieldwork: as in quantum mechanics, to observe is to change - especially when introducing something new. But sometimes it's not new!
  • Familiarity: importance of knowing your own equipment - how to use it, how to fix it
  • Technology and sharing: when someone wants a copy (the return of the Polaroid! Cassettes and CDs? Bluetooth?)
  • Safe storage in the field. This is key. Backing up to hard drive, cloud.
  • Long term storage, documentation, accessibility after the field: archives, and metadata. Possible options, none of them perfect:
    • Private storage. (Risky, with limited future.)
    • Depositing in an archive. (Who will take it?)
    • Social media - widely disseminated, but not necessarily permanent. Rights and ethics issues.
    • http://archive.org Long term but totally open.
    • ERA or other university archives. Possibility of restriction.
  • Power: NB: The world is a patchwork of different electrical plugs and sockets(older version minus ads!)

Documenting recordings & metadata

Importance of documentation generally (fieldnotes, metadata)

Technology for fieldwork

Audio recording in theory and in practice

  • Human and machine: chains of perception and production - sound producer (music) to microphone to medium; medium to speaker to ear.
  • Range of equipment and software
  • Demos of software tools (audio, linguistics, scorewriters).
  • Audio recording: technical, pragmatic, and ethical issues
  • Lab:
    • experiments with Audacity:
      • generate some tones using different waveforms
      • record and analyze a sound: spoken, sung at the pitch A
      • can you see the difference?
      • create a spectrogram of each
      • try to measure the pitch
    • Fourier series/transform: tones, noise, spectrograms (frequency, analysis). Note how your ear fuses harmonic series into timbre.
  • See Making an audio recording for some helpful hints on recording protocols

Visualizing a musical recording

  • Representing sound: the spectrogram (use Audacity, Sonic Visualiser, Praat)
  • Representing pitch: Tony
  • Representing "notes": The tradition of symbolic transcription via staff notation and corresponding software (scorewriters): (abc, Notability, Sibelius, Finale)

See a range of audio analysis and editing software here..


Budgeting

  • Like your proposal, it's important for you first of all, as well as for the funder. How long can you afford to stay in the field?
  • Use a spreadsheet with columns that make sense for your project.
  • Budgeting examples
  • Focus on equipment, software, and supplies for now:
    • Laptop and external hard drive for backup
    • Phone and local SIM with data service
    • recording devices: audio, video, camera - and other (GPS...?), each with its power and data cords.
    • supplies: memory cards, batteries, adaptors...notebooks and writing devices.
    • software (much of it is free, but not all...)
  • Also consider the bigger picture:
    • travel (air and ground), health insurance, visas, vaccinations, accommodations, per diem, medical supplies...& special clothing for the weather/culture (shoes)
    • Funds for others: research assistants, gifts
  • Budget considerations for fieldwork rapport: positioning yourself in the field
    • How might people treat you differently if you appear to be extremely well-off vs. a student of modest means?
    • Wearing simple/local vs expensive/foreign-looking clothing?
    • What are the implications of staying in a fancy hotel, say, or fancy part of town? (distance, outfield)
    • But where is your outfield if you stay with a family, in cramped quarters? (rapport, infield)
    • Safety issues implicit in residence, equipment, appearance.
    • Carrying expensive equipment conspicuously (theft, alarming authorities vs. quality recording)

Assignment

For next time: audio recordings of music, plus metadata and transcription/analysis; begin to become familiar with software tools (d).

Recording:

  • A music event. Try making a variety of recordings of the same music event (including rehearsals - get permission first!), or even your own performance, trying different hardware/software settings, in different physical positions (close, far), using various kinds of equipment at your disposal. For each recording, listen for the effect of your choices, and document these parameters (part of "technical metadata") so you can relate the different "inputs" (equipment and settings) to "outputs" (recordings themselves). Import audio into Audacity (or another program) and try examining, analyzing, and manipulating the sound. Also try transcribing using any tool (software or manual) and analyzing your transcription. You can submit all these files into your google folder.
  • A soundwalk. Murray Schafer pioneered the idea of a "soundwalk" as a means of tuning into your sonic environment. It's a very useful technique for fieldwork, a means of capturing the acoustic character of a place, as opposed to focusing on events like musical performances or interviews. Select a route of approximately 1-2 km. At 4 or 5 points along this route, pause and listen for a while, eyes open, then eyes closed. Keynotes are ambient sounds that tend to be tuned out; try to hear them. Soundmarks are sounds that are distinctive to a place; what are they? Consider: sonic texture, timbres, pitch, loudness, rhythms, tempos, sources, locations. Before moving ahead, notate your listening experience in a small notebook, in 2 ways: (a) using linguistic description, (b) using any kind of graphical notation. How does opening or closing the eyes affect your experience? Also note your exact location. Record the sound at each stopping point using a mobile phone. Afterwards, compare notations and sound recorded. Create a google map (go to [2], click on the menu button, then select "my maps", "create map", and add markers numbered sequentially. If possible upload your sound files to youtube or soundcloud (providing you haven't recorded conversations) and link to these markers. You can also draw lines connecting the markers to indicate the route you followed. For some background on these techniques read [3], [4], and browse [5].
  • Think about the difference between these two styles of recording.

Metadata: Create a basic table (in Word or Excel) to record metadata, focussing on descriptive and technical metadata, for each recording. Descriptive metadata will include everything about recording content (e.g. date, place, time, composer, title, musicians, etc.) Technical metadata (which falls under the broader heading of administrative metadata) will include such things as: kind of microphone, details about the recording setup, distance from music, etc.

Transcription and analysis: Also try using various tools (Finale, Sibelius, abc, Sonic Visualiser, Speech Analyzer, Audacity, Praat) to transcribe and analyze the music. Some tools will also enable you to embed metadata, i.e. tie a comment to a particular moment in time. We'll also explore this procedure using HyperRESEARCH later on. You may also try a low-tech solution: transcribe to staff paper!

Note: Adapter is an incredibly useful tool for changing formats (e.g. mp3 to mp4)



Optional readings for audio recording:
Jackson chapters 10, 11; Ives: chapter 1 (dated, but fun to read); Bartlett (browse for basic concepts about microphones and digital recording).
Also, browse the outcome document for the Sound Directions project (Harvard and Indiana U.)

week 9 (March 8 - 14): interviewing

Due

  • Rough edits of audio recordings (using Audacity), plus metadata (Dublin Core) and short music notation transcription/analysis, for discussion and critique in class (final edits due with final project). Use of Audacity and a scorewriter for transcription/analysis. (d)
  • Very preliminary budget. Sketch out what you know so far; you'll continue to add to and refine it. (i)
  • Synthetic-critical essay.

Readings for today

Read: Gilman and Fenn, chapter 9. DeWalt chapter 7 (old edition) or chapter 8 (new edition); Heyl 2001.

Kvale 2007, read the following chapters (note: you've already read chapters 2 and 3 - Epistemological Issues of Interviewing, and Ethical Issues of Interviewing - in prior weeks)

  • Introduction to Interview Research
  • Planning An Interview Study
  • Conducting An Interview
  • Interview Variations
  • Transcribing Interviews

Optional: Fetterman, pp. 37-56 and Jackson ch. 7; Ives: chapters 2 & 3;

Please make a list of summarizing the important issues in interviewing, as gleaned from the readings. Prepare to discuss this list, as well as how you intend to apply the interview method to your project.

In class today

  • History of fieldwork recording technology
  • Your proposals (including ethics applications)
  • Your audio recordings, metadata, notation/transcription, analysis - for discussion and collective critique
  • More on the Science of waves and sound: waves, Fourier analysis...
  • Reviewing some of the software tools we encountered this week (see Resources under http://bit.ly/fmeth22)
  • Preliminary budgets: what kinds of items did you include for Audio? Expanding and elaborating the budget
  • Important issues in interviewing: reviewing your lists, and my introduction (week 9 notes)
    • Kinds of interview (formality & structure: formal and structured and closed, vs. informal and semi-structured and open. Surveys and Questionnaires.)
    • Preparing for interviews. Developing question lists. (Examples.)
    • Ways of preserving interview data (recording: audio, video, still photography)
    • Transcribing the interview (macro/micro)
    • Interview metadata
    • Interview ethics

Assignment

(due next time): Conduct one interview, about an hour long, in three segments. (Ideally all practica will pertain to your project. In reality this may not be possible, but you can choose a person or setting similar to what you would encounter in your project.) Try three techniques: audio recording, simultaneous notes, and memory (subsequent notes). In each case there are advantages and disadvantages - observe both for all three techniques. (Alternatively conduct 2 or 3 separate interviews, the first for audio recording, and the other two either note taking or mental notes.)

  • Audio recording: make a recording of your interview. (Consider microphone type, direction. Who are you recording? Be sure to monitor the recording while you're interviewing. Note the difficulties in doing so! How does the presence of technology affect the interview?)
  • Simultaneous notes: take notes while you're interviewing. (What is the impact of this "technology"?)
  • Memory: no simultaneous notes! You can maintain perfect engagement and eye contact throughout. But try your best to remember the main points and any striking quotes you may want to preserve. Afterwards try your best to record the interview - paraphrasing or even jotting down snippets of conversation if you can remember. (What are the difficulties this time?)

Try two levels of formality: (a) formal interview (with definite questions and limited time for each; you might experiment with even having the questions before you, as on a form), and (b) informal interview, bordering on participant-observation conversation. You can try both in a single interview, perhaps by starting with an informal conversation, before launching into the "official interview" (or the reverse) - make note of the impact of this switch.


After you've completed the interview: Write up your notes. Transcribe and analyze a portion (you do not need to do the whole thing; a few minutes should do!) of the recorded interview using two levels of etic detail:

  • (a) microtranscription possibly with IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) or temporal notation; in this case the idea is to record the minutiae of the interview as a linguistic interaction - with all its phonetic variations, pauses and other nuances of pronunciation and conversational flow; you may even wish to develop a notation that is capable of (roughly) indicating timing (including pauses) and pitch (high/low if not actual frequency). You may use a technical tool (like Praat) or develop your own notation (for instance in MS Word you could make a table, using one column for timing information, another for pitch information - or adapt diacritical marks for either purpose). [How does this microscopic focus alter your perception of what transpired?] You can install free IPA fonts and keyboards from SIL - I recommend (and use) Charis along with an IPA unicode keyboard. IPA allows you to record sounds corresponding to all standard linguistic phonemes from any language - try it!
  • (b) content transcription, in which the main point is to get at the content of what was said, rather than its form (sometimes in such transcriptions might also include a translation to English), whether capturing the "gist" or even through paraphrasing. [What are the major issues in this case?] Again consider various forms of notation (for instance: I used to use a triple quote mark to indicate paraphrases, so I'd remember that this was not literal speech; you could also mark for language).


[In all cases: consider issues that arise; advantages and disadvantages of each technique. How did you transcribe your own speech, or did you?]

Then write a commentary (a sort of metadata) about your experiences (as in the parenthetical questions above) to share with the class. Bring all materials next week. (e)

A note on tools for interview transcription

See the main course website ( http://bit.ly/fmeth22 ) under "resources"(a direct link is here)

Note: there are a number of transcription packages out there. You can transcribe using Audacity to slow a recording down, or to provide timings and sonic details (by adding transcription to the comments), or use a dedicated linguistic software tool like Praat or Speech Analyzer

Another approach is automatic transcription (typically using AI to perform speech recognition), which has become highly accurate for English. Zoom provides this service, as does Android's Recorder app, and many other apps as well. Try converting your audio file to video (using Adapter or another tool), uploading to YouTube, and let YouTube rip. It will usually provide a quite good rough draft, and you can download and adjust it from there. But even if you convert speech to text in this way, you'll likely need to spend much time afterwards cleaning up the transcription.

The bottom line is that transcribing all your interview materials is probably overkill most of the time. Rather you can mark key segments and transcribe those only.

week 10 (March 15 - 21): photography and image editing

Due on March 15

  • Interview results (questions, recording, transcription, analysis) (e), for discussion and critique
  • I've presented some of Signals, Waves, Acoustics, Psychoacoustics, and music; browse and try to do the homework assignment! (it's not necessary to submit it as homework though)

Also continue working on the following:

  • Your proposals!
    • Your proposal (and your budget is part of that) is an evolving document! Keep working on it. Many of them were in rudimentary form when I checked last weekend.
    • Methods. Focus on the methodology and methods section (IVB). What is your approach? (phenomenological/knowledge constructivist vs. positivist/empirical data collection? you can do both!) What methods will you apply, when, with whom? Mapthis out, down to the kinds of questions you'll ask in an interview.
    • Budgets. Budgets are equivalent to lists with prices. The more complete, the better. I want everyone to select and price all the varieties of equipment we describe in class, even if you think you can get away without them, e.g.: various microphones (lavelier, wireless?), A/D converter, backup solution, speakers for feedback interviews, headphones for transcribing, DSLR with different lenses, flash, software (free or not)...Detail and integration is what I'm looking for: a camera bag that holds everything you need securely, cleaning solutions for lenses, cables and electrical converters...extension cords, mic stands, camera tripods, software you must download before heading to the field, even special notebooks or pens. And don't forget budgets for room and board, transportation and first aid! Everything should be clearly identified not only by generic type, but by manufacturer and model, with accurate prices (google on appropriate sites). Be creative, and be thorough!
    • Towards both methods and budgets, review Multimedia editing and analysis software and Fieldwork hardware suggestions
    • Timeline. Begin to map out your research timeline. There are various ways of representing the timeline: as a hierarchical list, on a diagram, using a spreadsheet, or specialized project management software. What's important is to make it detailed and feasible.
  • Audio recording in theory (review) and in practice

Readings/browsings for March 15

Optional: read Jackson chapters 12, 13; Grimm (browse as needed).

In class today

Assignment for next time

(due March 22 class): photography (f). Prepare a photo essay on a music-related (ideally, project-related) topic, including various kinds of photography (portrait, performance scene; flash, no flash; zoom, wide-angle etc.) If you use a "point and shoot", fine - but experiment with all possible settings (on manual mode) as well as lighting conditions, camera movement, stabilizing the camera (tripod, table..) or not, etc. Basically: experiment and document the conditions of each photo in metadata. In other words, take lots, and lots of pictures, but in a scientific way - in order to understand the consequences of camera settings and picture setup! Photos should be edited (cropped), possibly image-manipulated captioned, and uploaded to a google site (see below) for general display (NB: ethics! restrict visibility as needed). Also prepare a parallel table of metadata (technical and descriptive). Bring for discussion next week.


Also read Sarah Pink, Doing Visual Ethnography, chapters 4-7.

week 11 (March 22 - 28): videography and video editing software

Due in class

Preliminary photography results, plus metadata and text analysis, for discussion and critique (f)

In class

  • Review coming topics (video and coding)
  • Soundwalks with photographs
  • Issue: How does fieldwork feed back into the research process while you're still in the field? The proposal (methods, even aims) as a rewritable document...
  • Progress: your proposals, your budgets...
  • History of fieldwork recording technology (audio and film/video)
  • Review Multimedia editing and analysis software and Fieldwork hardware
  • Complete Light, vision, and photography (perspective distortion; issues of distance judgment in photographs)
  • Comparing photography and audio recording
  • Videography, theory, practice, & fieldwork. Videography simply ties together two media technologies: audio and image. But it gets a lot more complicated...
    • First of all, raw video data requires enormous storage. At 30 frames per second, and 1920 x 1080 frame size (only 2 MP) x 24 bits per pixel (Truecolor), we'd get nearly 180 MB per second, or 11 GB per minute and 670 GB per hour! That's nearly 1500x more storage than CD-quality audio (and we didn't even add in the audio storage requirements for video yet!)
    • Therefore nearly all video is subjected to lossy compression. But unlike audio there are many many standards so it all gets very confusing.
    • Different kinds of compression (intraframe, like photographic compression, and interframe)
    • Aspect ratios vary a lot, unlike still photography's standard 3:2 frame.
    • Resolution:
    • Frame rates and sizes: the former doesn't arise in still photography or audio
    • Encodings: known as codecs. In video we can compress each frame (intraframe), or we can compress between frames (interframe)
      • H.264 codec (MPEG4)
      • MPEG1
      • MPEG2
      • WebM codec
      • Many others
    • Containers: hold video and audio, metadata, and sometimes subtitles, etc. Many are also associated with particular codecs (but not necessarily...)
    • Specialty cameras
      • Stereo (two lenses, just as stereo audio requires two microphones)
      • 360 degree (or more properly 4π steradians
      • GoPro in fieldwork.
      • GoPro Fusion
    • Editing

Note: software you should be mastering

  • Audacity - audio editing, analysis
  • The Gimp - still photography/image manipulations
  • video editing and analysis software. I'll demonstrate using iMovie, which is free on the Mac. If you don't have that, you might like to try Shotcut and its tutorials.
  • HyperRESEARCH - qualitative data coding, for text, images, audio, video...in other words, everything! (we'll come to this next week if not this one...)

Please refer to this wiki page to review the scientific bases for fieldwork, the basics of recording audio and image, and links for relevant software and hardware.

Readings for today

Optional:

Assignment

Note - These can all be drafts of the final versions, to be submitted by the end of term.
Videography, completed budget, and rough draft of presentation websites.
1) The Videography assignment: select a few events and locations (ideally, related to your topic, for instance a performance, a lesson, an interview... but you can stretch that: e.g. a street scene outside the rehearsal you're intending to shoot), and shoot video. Try different camera features, and experiment with different angles, lighting, time of day, indoors and outdoors. If possible try different cameras (e.g. your phone, a still camera capable of video, and a video camera). Examine the resulting video files on your computer, and prepare metadata (descriptive and technical). Using any technique you like, create a transcription and analysis of your video (for instance, you might simply make a list of events, or dialog, or music - or you might note who interacts with whom, or when particular actions occur ....) Add some of this information to the video itself (using subtitles). Then edit the results into a single video. Try editing both video and audio tracks, rearranging the order, applying transitions and filters, subtitles. Try a voiceover using your own voice at some point. Create a big file (to be uploaded to Google Drive) as well as a smaller file (suitable for YouTube; some video editors will send a file straight to YouTube). (g)
2) Budget: You've already prepared a draft. Now think it through and be sure to add all needed equipment, accessories, and supplies, as well as travel expenses. Does your project perhaps require more than one trip? Ground transport as well as air travel? Be sure to include everything you need!
3) Website: This covers all the assignments to date (except coding) and will be presented next week, or the week after that - for class feedback. Organize according to the course template. Before adding, edit and compress your materials, e.g. cropping photos, excerpting fieldnotes, etc. and include metadata for everything you present on the site (you may present metadata in a single spreadsheet, or distribute metadata according to media type - your choice). Note that the process will be much easier if you store all your files on google docs first- it's very easy to include these on a google site. (You'll include everything -- edited and unedited -- in the Google Drive version.) Consider this website to be a first draft: you can continue to edit the site and all its constituent materials, but please do your best to make it as perfect & beautiful as possible, including:

  • Final research proposal (key: brief overview (aim/significance/background) then: method (in theory, in practice), timeline (prose or diagram), budget/equipment (detailed - with prices, model #s....); and ethics proposal - can also include some of the media/practica if relevant)
  • Practica:
    • Fieldnotes (illustrating infield and outfield notes)
    • Interviews (audio recordings, and transcriptions - (a) microtranscription, (b) content transcription - see above), with metadata
    • Music recordings (and notations) - edited using Audacity, transcribed with abc (soundwalks?), with metadata
    • Photography (images - to be cropped and adjusted using the Gimp or other software), with metadata
    • Videography - edited video footage, using iMovie or other software. Put together selected edited clips, with attention to sequencing & transitions, and including titles and subtitles as appropriate. Try voiceover if you want to (and add metadata)

week 12 (March 29 - April 4): data organization, protection, storage, and use, in the field and beyond. Data coding, using qualitative analysis software.

Due

Rough edits of video footage (including titles and subtitles), with metadata and in-video transcription/analysis, for discussion (you can continue editing later ....final edits due with final project) (g). Please bring your video work in progress to share with the class. Talk about difficulties and issues involved in editing, whether technical or thematic. You can also use this opportunity to talk about previous practica, particularly if you haven't presented any of yours yet (audio recordings, photography, interviews...).

Also: Begin preparation of google site summarizing your edited multimedia work. This will include everything you've prepared over the term.

In class

Background readings (prepare in advance)


Gilman and Fenn, chapters 10,12,13,15.

Review metadata material: Entries for "Metadata", and "Dublin Core" in wikipedia (follow available links).
Also see Dublin Core Usage Guide and other documents at Dublincore.org

Optional: Fetterman chapter 4 (again); Jackson chapter 15; Emerson: chapter 6

Assignment (for next time)

1. Read Ch 6 from Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (2nd edition) by Robert M. Emerson, Rachel I. Fretz, Linda L. Shaw. Chicago: U. Chicago Press.

2. Prepare the data coding exercise using atlas.ti (h).
Download the trial version. It's full-featured for 5 days, which may be enough, but after that you can still use it, though it doesn't have all the capabilities. Practice by coding the various types of document as generated by prior practica: fieldnotes, interview transcripts, audio, image, video. Select a small set of codes, and refine it as you go. Organize your codes hierarchically as appropriate (people, genres, themes...). You can also try adding memos. Think about how you might assign codes to chapters in your thesis or dissertation, allowing you to analyze, synthesize, and write up fieldwork materials as an ethnography (which you don't need to write for this class!). Atlast.ti contains plenty of online help, and there's more if you googe for it. But, if you experience tremendous difficulty with atlasti you can also prepare the codes in other ways - embedded in a word document, documented in a spreadsheet, etc. Remember that each code must be associated with a specific location or range of locations, where "locations" are (a) textual position for text files; (b) spatial positions for images; (c) temporal positions for audio and video files (actually videos are temporal as well as spatial).

 (Please include at least one of each of the following:  fieldnotes, interview, audio recording, image, video recording) and add a few codes (let's say at least 5 codes, each appearing multiple times throughout your documents). 

Prepare a well-organized google site presenting your entire project proposal and preliminary results (i.e. the practica, including associated metadata, both technical and descriptive) next time. (Note: I realize your practica may not relate directly to the proposal. You'll present them anyway.) (Google provides a good overview here, but you'll find oodles of Youtube videos explaining how to do this or that if you search for them...) This will require not only creating the google site, but also curating your materials (fieldnotes, interviews, audio recordings, photo essay, video), possibly compressing some of the media files (using lower resolution, or editing), and arranging them on that site in a well-organized and aesthetically pleasing manner. Note that you can most easily embed into a google site media stored on google drive using other google app tools (e.g. google slides for images; google sheets for budget; google docs for text). You can also embed videos from YouTube (set them as private or unlisted). Just be sure you provide read access for me at least! Otherwise I won't be able to view them. Submit the link on eClass for next week.

Continue to refine your project proposals (including budget), and develop your practica further (e.g. if you haven't prepared a metadata sheet for one or more practica, please do so).

Week 13 (April 5): Student presentations

Assignments:

  • Upload your coding assignment to google drive (h)
  • Submit your website URL on eClass

Bibliography

Books


Many listed on as a reading list (note: list is in process). Several items available online; many are available in the SUB bookstore for purchase.

Sage Series

Sage publishes a wide variety of books on methodology in the social sciences. Most of them are available online via our Library.

Handbook of Ethnography: Selected chapters

Chapters from Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage, 2001.

Note: if you have trouble with the online version try this scan.

  • Brunt, Lodewijk. 2001. Into the Community. (ch. 5)
  • Charmaz, Kathy and Richard G. Mitchell. 2001. Grounded Theory in Ethnography. (ch. 11)
  • Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. 2001. Participant Observation and Fieldnotes (ch. 24)
  • Faubion, James D. 2001. Currents of Cultural Fieldwork. (ch. 3)
  • Fielding, Nigel. 2001. Computer Applications in Qualitative Research. (ch. 31)
  • Heyl, Barbara Sherman. 2001. Ethnographic Interviewing. (ch. 25).
  • Lather, Patti. 2001. Postmodernism, Post-structuralism and Post(Critical) Ethnography: of Ruins, Aporias and Angels. (ch. 33)
  • Marcus, Julie. 2001. Orientalism. (ch. 7)
  • Maso, Ilja. 2001. Phenomenology and Ethnography. (ch. 9).
  • Murphy, Elizabeth and Robert Dingwall. 2001. The Ethics of Ethnography. (ch. 23)
  • Spencer, Jonathan. 2001. Ethnography after Postmodernism. (ch. 30)
  • Van Loon, Joost. 2001. Ethnography: A Critical Turn in Cultural Studies. (ch. 19)

Other books

  • Alonso Bejarano, Carolina, López Juárez, Lucia, Mirian A Mijangos García, and Goldstein, Daniel M. 2019. Decolonizing Ethnography: Undocumented Immigrants and New Directions in Social Science. https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478004547.
  • Atkinson, Paul, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland, and Lyn Lofland. 2014. Handbook of Ethnography. Los Angeles: Sage.
  • Bartlett, Bruce, and Jenny Bartlett. 2017. Practical Recording Techniques: The Step-by-Step Approach to Professional Audio Recording.
  • Barz, Gregory F., and Timothy J. Cooley. 2008. Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, USA.
  • Bourgois, Philippe. 2006. Confronting the Ethics of Ethnography: Lessons From Fieldwork in Central America. Ch. 20 In Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthology, edited by Antonius C. G. M. Robben and Jeffrey A. Sluka, 1st edition, 29–32. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Browne, Ray B. 1967. Review of Review of Oral Tradition: A Study in Historical Methodology, ; A Folklore Reader, , ; The Study of Folklore, by Jan Vansina, Kenneth Clarke, Mary Clarke, and Alan Dundes. Western Folklore 26 (1): 62–64. https://doi.org/10.2307/1498494.
  • Burawoy, Michael. 2010. Global Ethnography: Forces, Connections, and Imaginations in a Postmodern World. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press.
  • Cantarella, Luke. Hegel, Christine. Marcus, George E. 2020. Ethnography By Design: Scenographic Experiments in Fieldwork. S.l.: Routledge.
  • Cerwonka, Allaine, Allaine Cerwonka, Liisa H Malkki, Liisa H Malkki, and Liisa Malkki. 2021. Improvising Theory: Process and Temporality in Ethnographic Fieldwork. Chicago. https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780226100289.
  • Clifford, James, Kim Fortun, and George E Marcus. 2011. Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography ; a School of American Research Advanced Seminar. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
  • Conquergood, Dwight, Johnson, E. Patrick. 2016. Cultural Struggles Performance, Ethnography, Praxis. Ann Arbor, Mich: The University of Michigan Press.
  • Davis, Dána-Ain, and Christa Craven. 2020. “Feminist Ethnography Thinking through Methodologies, Challenges, and Possibilities.” Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  • Debevec, Liza. 2008. “Cerwonka, Allaine and Liisa H. Malkki. 2007. Improvising Theory. Process and Temporality in Ethnographic Fieldwork. Chicago: Chicago University Press ...” Anthropological Notebooks, no. 2: 121–22.
  • DeWalt, Kathleen Musante, and Billie R DeWalt. 2011. Participant Observation: A Guide for Fieldworkers. Lanham, MD.: Altamira Press. Note: I discovered that a 2nd edition is available online but chapter numbers differ, so please be careful to match the topic rather than chapter number!
  • Dr. Jan Blommaert and Dong Jie. 2020. Ethnographic Fieldwork : A Beginner’s Guide. Vol. 2nd edition. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. .
  • Emerson, Robert M, Rachel I Fretz, and Linda L Shaw. 2020. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Chapter 6: Processing Fieldnotes
  • Faubion, James D, Marcus, George E, and Michael M. J Fischer. 2009. Fieldwork is not what it used to be: learning anthropology’s method in a time of transition. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
  • Faubion, James. 2009. The Ethics of Fieldwork as an Ethics of Connectivity. Chapter 7 in: Fieldwork is not what it used to be: learning anthropology’s method in a time of transition. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
  • Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock. 1969. Guests of the Sheik. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books.
  • Ferrarini, Lorenzo, Scaldaferri, Nicola. 2020. “Sonic Ethnography: Identity, Heritage and Creative Research Practice in Basilicata, Southern Italy.”
  • Fetterman, David M. 2010. Ethnography: Step-by-Step. Los Angeles: SAGE.
  • Fielding, Nigel. 2001. “Computer Applications in Qualitative Research.” Handbook of Ethnography., 453–67.
  • Gilman, Lisa, and John Fenn. 2019. Handbook for Folklore and Ethnomusicology Fieldwork. Indiana University Press. Available in the bookstore, or on Amazon or Google Books.
  • Grimm, Tom, and Michele Grimm. 2003. The Basic Book of Photography. New York: Plume Book.
  • Hampe, Barry. 2007. Making Documentary Films and Reality Videos: A Practical Guide to Planning, Filming and Editing Documentaries. New York: Holt.
  • Ives, Edward D. 1997. The Tape-Recorded Interview: A Manual for Field Workers in Folklore and Oral History. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.
  • Jackson, Bruce. 1987. Fieldwork. Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Pr.
  • Khan, Shamus Rahman, and Colin Jerolmack. 2018. Approaches to Ethnography: Analysis and Representation in Participant Observation. New York, N.Y.: Oxford university press.
  • Kvale, Steinar, and Svend Brinkmann. 2009. InterViews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. Thousand Oaks; London.: Sage Publications.
  • Kvale, Steiner. 2007. Doing Interviews. London: Sage.
  • Lassiter, Luke E. 2005. The Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press.
  • Madison, D. Soyini. 2020. Critical Ethnography: Methods, Ethics, and Performance. Los Angeles [etc.: Sage. http://sk.sagepub.com/books/critical-ethnography.
  • Marcus, George E. 2004. Critical Anthropology Now: Unexpected Contexts, Shifting Constituencies, Changing Agendas. Santa Fe: School of American Research Pr.
  • ———. 2021. “Ethnography through Thick and Thin.”
  • Marcus, George E, and Michael M. J Fischer. 2004. Anthropology as Cultural Critique: An Experimental Moment in the Human Sciences. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
  • McIntyre, Alice. 2008. Participatory Action Research. Qualitative Research Methods: 52. Sage Publications.
  • McPhee, Colin. 1946. A House in Bali. The John Day company.
  • Pink, Sarah. 2016. Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practice. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
  • Przybylski, Liz. 2021. Hybrid Ethnography: Online, Offline, and in Between. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc. .
  • Robben, Antonius C. G. M. 2006. “Introduction.” In Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthology, edited by Antonius C. G. M. Robben and Jeffrey A. Sluka, 1 edition, 29–32. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Robben, Antonius C. G. M., and Jeffrey A. Sluka, eds. 2006. Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthology. 1 edition. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Robben, Antonius C.G.M, and Sluka, Jeffrey A. 2012. Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthropological Reader. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Robinson, Dylan. Hungry Listening. 2020. University of Minnesota Press.
  • SIL. 1996. Speech Analyzer. Waxhaw, NC: Summer Institute of Linguistics. https://software.sil.org/speech-analyzer/.
  • Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 2021. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London; New York; Dublin: Zed Books. .
  • Spradley, James P. 2016. Participant Observation.
  • Topp Fargion, Janet. 2001. A Manual for Documentation, Fieldwork & Preservation for Ethnomusicologists.

Reference

Encyclopedia of Sociology

Encyclopedia of Social Theory

Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology

Resources for Ethnomusicological Research

Official statements

Course prerequisites: none
Course-based ethics approval, Community service learning: NA
Past or representative evaluative course material: NA
Additional mandatory instruction fees: No

Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar. (GFC 29 SEP 2003).

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All students should consult the information provided by the Office of Judicial Affairs regarding avoiding cheating and plagiarism in particular and academic dishonesty in general (see the Academic Integrity Undergraduate Handbook and Information for Students). If in doubt about what is permitted in this class, ask the instructor. Students involved in language courses and translation courses should be aware that on-line “translation engines” produce very dubious and unreliable “translations.” Students in language courses should be aware that, while seeking the advice of native or expert speakers is often helpful, excessive editorial and creative help in assignments is considered a form of “cheating” that violates the code of student conduct with dire consequences. An instructor or coordinator who is convinced that a student has handed in work that he or she could not possibly reproduce without outside assistance is obliged, out of consideration of fairness to other students, to report the case to the Associate Dean of the Faculty. See the Academic Discipline Process.

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Audio or video recording of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan. Recorded material is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the instructor.

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See section on Evaluation, above.

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Media Archives and Departmental Broadcasting of Audio-visual Material
Audio or video recording of performances, lectures, seminars, or any other academic or research environment activities are carried out by the Department of Music for archival purposes. These archives may be collected and housed in the Music Library. Recorded material is to be used solely for non-profit, educational, research, and community outreach purposes, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without obtaining the express permission from all parties involved. Please be advised that your solo or group performance may be featured on the University of Alberta's Department of Music website and/or social media platform(s). If you object to this use of audio and/or video material in which you will be included, please advise your instructor or the Department of Music in writing prior to participating in any performance, lecture, seminar or public event held by the Department of Music.