Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

Research Methods in Anthropology is the field's classic, celebrated introduction-and the most comprehensive survey available-of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Written in Russell Bernard's unmistakable conversational style, this guide has launched tens of thousands of students into fieldwork with a combination of rigorous methodology, wry humor, and commonsense advice. The book's tripart organization covers the three major components of research (research design, data collection, and data analysis) in an accessible, step-by-step manner that eases students into developing their anthropological mindsets. Boldfaced key terms introduce students to the vocabulary of social research, boxes expand on ideas covered in the text, and an appendix on “Resources for Fieldworkers” provides a comprehensive collection of student aids for the code of ethics, statistics packages, research journals, and area files. New to the Seventh Edition: - New Chapter 6, “Ethics and the Conduct of Anthropology” walks students through the challenges anthropologists face in research and how to deal with them - New Chapter 25, “On Writing Up” introduces the basics of getting articles published in peer-reviewed journals - New discussion of “The Art of Proposal Writing” teaches students to write persuasively about the importance, rigor, and creativity of their proposed work - Expanded Chapters 11 and 12, “Collecting Cultural Domain Data” and “Collecting Social Network Data” offer practical skills in data collection for both cutting-edge and classic anthropological methods

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Anthropology and the Social Sciences Introduction Methods Belong to All of Us The Many Meanings of Method Rationalism, Empiricism, and Morality The Norms of Science The Development of Science-From Democritus to Newton Exploration, Printing, and Modern Science Science, Money, and War The Development of Social Science-From Newton to Rousseau Early Positivism: Quételet, Saint-Simon, Comte Great Failures in Science and Social Science The Varieties of Positivism Later Positivism: The Vienna Circle Instrumental Positivism The Reaction against Positivism And Finally … The Qualitative/Quantitative Split Chapter 2: The Foundations of Social Research Introduction Variables: The Joy of Measurement Measurement and Concepts Conceptual and Operational Definitions Conceptual Definitions Operational Definitions Levels of Measurement Reliability, Validity, Accuracy, and Precision Determining Validity Units of Analysis Chapter 3: Preparing for Research Introduction-Setting Things Up The Ideal Research Process A Realistic Approach Alternative Paradigms for Building Theories Choosing a Research Problem: A Guide to Research Topics, Anyway Meta-analysis Chapter 4: Research Design Introduction: What Is Research Design? Cause and Effect Three Decisions in Research Design The Eight Types of Research Design The Components of a Research Design The Art of Proposal Writing How to Develop Your Proposal with Mentors and Peers Chapter 5: Experiments and Experimental Thinking Introduction Kinds of Confounds: Threats to Internal Validity Controlling for Threats to Validity Field Experiments Are Field Experiments Ethical? Thought Experiments Chapter 6: Ethics and the Conduct of Anthropology Introduction I: Choosing a Research Problem II: Making Our Work Less Extractive and Exploitative Participatory and Action Research III: Getting Informed Consent How to Get Your IRB Proposal Approved IV: Maintaining Confidentiality Chapter 7: Probability Sampling Introduction: What Are Samples and Why Do We Need Them? Sampling Frames Stratified Sampling Cluster Sampling and Complex Sampling Designs Maximizing Between-group Variance: The Wichita Study How Big Should a Sample Be? The Normal Distribution and z-scores The Central Limit Theorem The Standard Error and Confidence Intervals Calculating Sample Size for Estimating Means Calculating Sample Size for Estimating Proportions Chapter 8: Nonprobability Sampling Introduction: Reasons to Use a Nonprobability Sample Four Common and Two Uncommon Types of Nonprobability Samples Minimum Sizes for Different Types of Nonprobability Samples Deciding on a Nonprobability Sampling Method and Sample Size And Finally . . . Chapter 9: Interviewing and Focus Groups Introduction-The Big Picture Interview Control Unstructured Interviewing Probing Learning to Interview Positionality and Presentation of Self Using a Voice Recorder Using Visual Cues, Like Photos in Interviews Focus Groups Response Effects Informant/Respondent Accuracy Chapter 10: Questionnaires Introduction Personal, Face-to-face Interviews Telephone Interviews Self-administered Questionnaires When to Use What Working with Interviewers Closed- versus Open-ended Questions Fourteen Rules for Question Wording and Format Pretesting and Learning from Mistakes Translation and Back Translation The Response Rate Problem Improving Response Rates: The Legacy of Dillman's Total Design Method Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Studies Some Specialized Survey Methods And Finally Chapter 11: Collecting Cultural Domain Data Introduction It Started with the Domain of Kinship Free Listing The True–False/Yes–No and Sentence Frame Techniques Triad Tests Free Pile Sorts Rankings and Paired Comparisons Chapter 12: Collecting Social Network Data Introduction-What Is Social Network Analysis? Anthropology and Social Network Analysis Whole Networks Personal Networks Doing Network Analysis Collecting Whole (Sociocentric) Network Data Methods for Finding Network Ties Collecting Personal (Egocentric) Network Data Reducing Respondent Burden Chapter 13: Scales and Scaling Introduction Single-question Scales Indexes Guttman Scales Some Examples of a Guttman Scale Likert Scales Item Analysis Testing for Unidimensionality with Factor Analysis The Semantic Differential Chapter 14: Participant Observation Introduction What Is Participant Observation? The Stages of Participant Observation Entering the Field Fieldwork Roles The Skills of a Participant Observer Building Explicit Awareness Ethically Practicing the Darker Arts of Fieldwork Objectivity Studying Your Own Culture Rapid Assessment Validity-Again Surviving Fieldwork Chapter 15: Field Notes and Data Management Introduction How to Write Field Notes Field Notes Coding Field Notes Analyzing Field Notes Database Management Chapter 16: Direct Observation Introduction CM-Continuous Monitoring Coding Schemes Spot Sampling and Time Allocation Studies Experience Sampling (ES) and Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) Unobtrusive Observation Indirect Observation Archival Research Chapter 17: Introduction to Data Analysis Introduction: Qualitative, Quantitative Data Matrices Presenting Results in Matrices and Tables Presenting Results: Causal Flow Charts Chapter 18: Analyzing Cultural Domain Data Introduction Analyzing Free Lists Analyzing Pile Sort Data How MDS Works Cluster Analysis and Pile Sort Data How Cluster Analysis Works A Real Research Example: Green Behavior and Electric Cars in the United States Analyzing Triad Data Analyzing Sentence Frames Analyzing Paired Comparisons Cultural Consensus Analysis Running Consensus Analysis Cultural Consonance Cultural Domains and Folk Taxonomies Chapter 19: Analyzing Network Data Introduction: A Bit More About Matrices Analyzing Social Network Data Analyzing Whole (Sociocentric) Network Data Analyzing Personal (Egocentric) Network Data “It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know” Adding Network Data to the Classic Recipe Affiliation Matrices Semantic Networks Chapter 20: Analyzing Text I: Theme Coding, Grounded Theory, and Content Analysis Introduction Overview of Grounded Theory Content Analysis Doing Classical Content Analysis Intercoder Reliability AI and Text Analysis HRAF: Cross-cultural Content Analysis Doing Cross-cultural Text-based Research Chapter 21: Analyzing Text II: Discourse Analysis Introduction Conversation Analysis Taking Turns in a Jury Narrative Analysis Phenomenological Analysis of Narratives Language in Use Critical Discourse Analysis: Language and Power Chapter 22: Text Analysis III: Analytic Logic Introduction Ethnographic Decision Models (EDM) Representing Complicated Models with Tables and IF?THEN Charts Schema Analysis Three Examples of Schema Analysis Analytic Induction/Qualitative Comparative Analysis Qualitative Comparative Analysis-QCA And Finally . . . Chapter 23: Univariate and Bivariate Analysis Introduction Univariate Analysis: Raw Data Frequency Distributions Measures of Central Tendency Visualizing Data Measures of Variation I: Range and Interquartile Range Measures of Variation II: Variance and the Standard Deviation The Logic of Hypothesis Testing So, What About the Mean of FEMILLIT? More About z-Scores The Univariate Chi-square Test Testing Relations: Bivariate Analysis The t-Test: Comparing Two Means ANOVA-Analysis of Variance Examples of ANOVA Visualizing the Direction and Shape of Covariations Crosstabs of Nominal Variables Correlation and Cause: Antecedent and Intervening Variables Chi-square for Bivariate Comparisons Testing the Association Between Ordinal Variables What to Use for Nominal and Ordinal Variables Correlation: The Powerhouse Statistic for Covariation Spearman's r Pearson's r Regression How Regression Works Testing the Significance of r Nonlinear Relations Statistical Significance, the Shotgun Approach, and Other Issues Chapter 24: Multivariate Analysis Introduction Elaboration: Controlling for Independent Variables Car Wrecks and Teenage Births The Multiple Regression Equation Unraveling the Teenage-birth-and-motor-vehicle-death Puzzle Path Analysis Factor Analysis Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) And Finally . . . Chapter 25: On Writing Up Introduction Getting Your Article Published Appendix A: Table of Areas under a Normal Curve Appendix B: Student's t Distribution Appendix C: Chi-square Distribution Table Appendix D: F Table for the .05 Level of Significance Appendix E: Resources for Fieldworkers References

About the Author :
H. Russell Bernard is Director of the Institute for Social Science Research at Arizona State University and Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Florida. He is the author of Social Research Methods, third edition, Analyzing Qualitative Data: Systematic Approaches, second edition, and Native Ethnography. Amber Wutich is Director of the Center for Global Health and Associate Director of the Institute for Social Science Research at Arizona State University. She is the author of Social Research Methods, third edition, and The Human Story: An Introduction to Anthropology, Lazy Crazy, and Disgusting: Stigma and the Undoing of Global Health, and Analyzing Qualitative Data: Systematic Approaches, second edition.

Review :
In my courses on ethnographic methods, I have assigned multiple incarnations of H. Russell Bernard's Research Methods in Anthropology to upper-division undergraduate and graduate students. I also use it as my own go-to guide for planning and implementing anthropological projects. The latest edition, co-authored with Amber Wutich, includes substantial additional guidance on writing proposals and drafting publications. It also contains expanded and updated material on research ethics and clarification on important qualitative methods. I look forward to assigning this updated book in the near future. This classic textbook, a comprehensive introduction of anthropological research methods with rigor and clarity, has been always the cornerstone of my research and teaching in and beyond this field. The seventh edition keeps that approachable voice while refreshing and enhancing the toolkit. With these updates, the authors make an indispensable text an even stronger bridge between methodological principles and research practice in the fast-changing world today. A newly-updated classic and comprehensive work, the seventh edition of Research Methods in Anthropology should be required for anyone who calls themselves a social scientist or anthropologist. It is a service to our discipline, setting forth the clearest and most compelling arguments for social science. Bernard and Wutich's contributions have ensured generations of valid and critical research questions, research design, and findings. Research Methods in Anthropology has earned its place as the field's essential methods reference. Grounded in practical wisdom, it renders the full spectrum of research design accessible without sacrificing depth, showing that rigorous science and deep ethnographic sensitivity are not only compatible but mutually reinforcing. If you only had to read one methods book, this would be the one. I read this book cover to cover as a graduate student in a hostel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, waiting to meet my very first research participants. Decades later, it is a true companion to my undergraduate students and me as I teach them the seemingly unteachable in one semester – anthropological research methods. The authors' friendly tone is just right for students encountering field notes, transcripts, coding, and p-values for the first time. The constantly-updated, engaging references to real anthropologists' work fills in the gaps we just can't cover in one semester and helps my students understand the breadth of anthropological fieldwork. The new chapters on proposal writing and writing manuscripts for publication will be invaluable to graduate students and early-career professionals. Over the last four decades, while many social sciences methods texts have come and gone, Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches enters its seventh edition with a new co-author (Amber Wutich, ASU) and publisher (Bloomsbury Academic). It remains true to its original goal of bringing cultural anthropology methods to the masses. Research Methods in Anthropology is essential reading for anyone undertaking social science research at any level and at any scale. The book teaches readers not just how to do research, but why particular choices matter. Always within arm's reach, Research Methods in Anthropology has been my constant companion, from my first undergraduate project, through my dissertation, and now as the indispensable text I place in the hands of my own students and recommend to colleagues. Bernard and Wutich manage the rare feat of writing a work simultaneously encyclopedic and eminently readable, setting a standard that few texts approach and none surpass. At once a handbook, reference guide, and mentor in print, the book equips readers to validate methodological choices with rigor and confidence. Its thoughtful integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches, ethics, proposal writing, and analysis reflects decades of field-tested wisdom. If I see Research Methods in Anthropology cited in a research proposal, I am immediately reassured that the study rests on sound methodological ground. Bernard's Research Methods in Anthropology is a trusted, reliable handbook that I have used for over fifteen years of teaching Research Methods to undergraduate students in anthropology. The book is engaging in its coverage of various qualitative and quantitative methodologies employed by social scientists. This new edition has two important new chapters. Chapter six chronicles what has been a shifting landscape of ethical concerns within the field, and the complexity and importance of conducting ethical, non-extractive research. The various real-world examples of ethical challenges previous anthropologists have faced add depth to all of the chapters of this book. Finally, a new chapter on "writing up" research offers a helpful guide for young scholars to prepare manuscripts for publication. While my own students may not need this at this point in their careers, the advice offered is knowledgeable and helpful for any student imagining a career that requires analytical and communication skills. Research Methods in Anthropology is unique in its helpful, practical, and clearly organized advice on methods that makes it clear not just how to use methods, but also when and why they should be used and what the pros and cons are of each methodological approach. Often when one introduces students to methods, it seems so abstract that they don't really understand what they would do to implement them-but the many anecdotes told by the authors in Research Methods in Anthropology give enough detail and context to overcome this block and make research possible. This edition is a welcome expansion of a book that defines and explains best practices in anthropology. Long regarded as the “bible” by many scholars, Bernard's critical lessons are expanded and enriched through Wutich's insights. Their engagement with ethics, research writing and the rejection of the qual-quant divide reminds practitioners and students of ethnography's enduring strength and value. Updated and expanded, Russell Bernard's definitive manual just keeps getting better. The addition of Amber Wutich, a cutting-edge methods scholar in her own right, as co-author adds depth and breadth to the work. Her experience provides new memorable examples of research approaches that went well-and others that did not. Among the helpful and compelling changes in this edition are a new stand-alone chapter on ethics and conduct, a useful explanation of research proposal structure, and expanded discussions on cultural domain analysis, social network data, and focus-group related methods. I've been using earlier editions of Bernard's Research Methods in Anthropology since I was in graduate school. This updated edition will remain my go-to work when I am designing a research project or teaching my mixed-methods ethnographic methods course for graduate students. This thoughtfully updated and expanded edition of Research Methods in Anthropology affirms its position as an indispensable guide for the design and conduct of anthropological field research. It offers accessible and thorough attention to a vast array of rigorous field methods as well as grounding in the philosophical foundations and principles that undergird systematic research across the social sciences. With welcome new chapters that expand on ethics, analyzing social network data and writing up, as well as attention to the use of AI in text analysis, this edition stays on the forefront of current qualitative and quantitative approaches. The vignettes presented in “Russ's Corner” and “Amber's Corner” offer concrete examples of research experiences and lessons learned. While aimed at emerging researchers, the book is also useful for experienced researchers who aim to increase their repertoire of mixed methods that support holistic investigation of human behavior, lived experiences and societal challenges. As a standard in the discipline, Research Methods in Anthropology has a keen awareness of the strengths of the anthropological approach to research without leaving the reader alone to figure out some of the potential pitfalls. The new version adds valuable insights from both Wutich and Bernard, which is especially evident when covering the collapsible dichotomy that is the choice between qualitative and quantitative methods.