Abstract
In the fieldwork literature of the past twenty-five years there are approximately two dozen published references to children accompanying their researcher parents. Several generalizations can be made from these often quite brief accounts. Over time these accounts have become somewhat less apologetic about discussing the personal aspects of field-work, as the authors increasingly scrutinize the use of participant-observation as a research tool. All but one of the accounts conclude that the experience was a positive one on balance, and many claim it to have been overwhelmingly so. Nonetheless, over the years more candor about the negative aspects of fieldwork with children, such as limitations on time for research and concern about the children’s well-being, become evident. What deserves note is that almost all parent-anthropologists mention, however briefly, at least one major crisis of physical health for their child due to the field situation. That they have successfully weathered the crisis signifies that the parent-anthropologist has demonstrated substantial prowess in this important professional rite de passage. It is significant that the only account which gives no such positive evaluation of the experience of fieldwork with children (nor a negative one) is written by someone whose child died in the field. The most negative evaluation is given, however, by Margaret Mead, who never took her daughter along for research -- “…children of any age add tremendous hazards to field work” (1970,p.254). We will return to this question of why the experiences are judged in retrospect to have been positive after reviewing the accounts themselves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Agar, M. H. (1980). The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction to Ethnography. New York: Academic Press.
Andersen, M. L. (1983). Thinking About Women: Sociological and Feminine Perspective. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.
Beals, A. R. (1970). Gopalpur, 1958–60. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.), Being an Anthropologist ,(pp. 32–57). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Beekman, D. (1977). The Mechanical Baby. New American Library.
Boissevain, J. F. (1970). Fieldwork in Malta. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.), Being an Anthropologist ,(pp. 58–84). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Cesara, M. (1982). Reflections of a Woman Anthropologist: No Hiding Place. London: Academic Press.
Chafe, W. H. (1979). Women and Equality: Changing Patterns in American Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
Clinton, C. (1984). The Other Civil War: American Women in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Hill and Wang.
Colombotos, J. (1963). Sex Role and Professionalism: A Study of High School Teachers. The School Review ,No. l;27–40.
Cunniff, J. (1985). Comparability Could be Costly to Women. In The Free Lance—Star. Fredericksburg, VA: Thursday, June 13, 1985.
Dentan, R. (1970). Living and Working with the Semai. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.), Being an Anthropologist ,(pp. 85–112). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Diamond, N. (1970). Fieldwork in a Complex Society. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.), Being an Anthropologist ,(pp. 113–141). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Diaz, M.N. (1966). Tonala: Conservatism, Responsibility and Authority in a Mexican Town. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Dumont, J-P. (1978). The Headman and I: Ambiguity and Ambivalence in the Fieldworking Experience. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Fischer, A. (1970). Fieldwork in Five Cultures. In P. Golde (Ed.), Women in the Field ,(pp. 265–289). Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co.
Fluehr-Lobban, C. (1981). Josina’s Observations of Sudanese Culture. In Human Organization 40:277–279, Fall.
Foster, G. M. and Kemper, R. V. (Eds.) (1974). Anthropologists in Cities. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Co.
Freilich, M. (1970). Marginal Natives: Anthropologists at Work. New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Frisbie, C. J. (1975). Fieldwork as a “Single Parent”: To Be or Not to Be Accompanied by a Child. In T. Frisbie (Ed.), Collected Papers of Florence Hawley Ellis ,(pp. 98–119). Archeological Society of New Mexico.
Gallin, B. and Gallin, R. (1974). The Rural to Urban Migration of an Anthropologist in Taiwan. In G. M. Foster and R. V. Kemper (Eds.) Anthropologists in Cities ,(pp. 223–248). Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.
Golde, P. (Ed.) (1970). Women in the Field. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co.
Gonzalez, N. L. (1970). Cakchiqueles and Caribs: The Social Context of Fieldwork. In M. Freilich (Ed.), Marginal Natives ,(pp. 153–184). New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Gonzalez, N. L. (1974). The City of Gentlemen: Santiago de los Aballeros. In G. M. Foster and R. Kemper (Eds.), Anthropologists in Cities ,(pp. 19–40). Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.
Gulick, J. (1974). Village and City Fieldwork in Lebanon. In M. Freilich (Ed.), Marginal Natives ,(pp. 123–152). New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Harland, M. (1889). House and Home: The Complete Housewives’ Guide. Philadelphia, PA: Clawson.
Hart, C. W. M. (1970). Fieldwork among the Tiwi, 1928–29. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.), Being an Anthropologist ,(pp. 142–163). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Hill, C. E. (1974). Graduate Education in Anthropology: Conflicting Role Identity in Fieldwork. In Human Organization 33(4):408–412.
Hitchcock, J. T. (1970). Fieldwork in Ghurka Country. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.), Being an Anthropologist ,(pp. 164–193). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Honigmann, J. J. (1970). Fieldwork in Two North Canadian Communities. In M. Freilich (Ed.), Marginal Natives ,(pp. 39–72). New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Hostetler, J. A. and Huntington, G. E. (1970). The Hutterites: Fieldwork in a North American Communal Society. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.), Being an Anthropologist (pp. 194–219). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Hymes, D. (1969). Reinventing Anthropology. New York: Random House.
Kimball, S. T. (1972). Learning a New Culture. In S. Kimball and J. B. Watson (Eds.), Crossing Cultural Boundaries: The Anthropological Experience ,(pp. 182–192). San Francisco, CA: Chandler Publishing Co.
Maybury-Lewis, D. (1965). The Savage and the Innocent. Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Co.
Mead, M. (1970). The Art and Technology of Fieldwork. In R. Naroll and R. Cohen (Eds.), A Handbook of Method in Cultural Anthropology ,(pp. 246–265). Garden City, NY: The Natural History Press.
Mead, M. (1970a). Fieldwork in the Pacific Islands, 1925–67. In P. Golde (Ed.), Women in the Field ,(pp. 291–331). Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co.
Moore, W. E. (1970). The Professions: Roles and Rules. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Norbeck, E. (1970). Changing Japan: Field Research. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.), Being an Anthropologist ,(pp. 238–266). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Perlman, M. L. (1970). Intensive Fieldwork and Scope Sampling: Methods for Studying the Same Problem at Different Levels. In M. Freilich (Ed.), Marginal Natives ,(pp. 293–338). New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Powdermaker, H. (1966). Stranger and Friend. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., Inc.
Rabinow, P. (1977). Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Ruby, J. (1982). A Crack in the Mirror: Reflexive Perspectives in Anthropology. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Sass, L. A. (1986). Anthropology’s Native Problem. In Harper’s Magazine. May: 49–57.
Scheffler, I. (1967). Science and Subjectivity. Indianapolis, IN: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc.
Schultz, H. (1961). Blue-Eyed Indian. In National Geographic Magazine. 120:1:64–89.
Schwab, W. B. (1970). Comparative Field Techniques in Urban Research in Africa. In M. Freilich (Ed.), Marginal Natives ,(pp. 73–122). New York: Harper and Row.
Simic, A. (1974). The Best of Two Worlds: Serbian Peasants in the City. In G. M. Foster and R. V. Kemper (Eds.), Anthropologists in Cities ,(pp. 179–200). Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.
Spindler, G. D. (1970). Being an Anthropologist: Fieldwork in Eleven Cultures. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Spindler, G. D. and Spindler, L. (1970). Fieldwork Among the Menomini. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.), Being an Anthropologist ,(pp. 267–285). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Spradley, J. P. and McCurdy, D. W. (1980). Anthropology: The Cultural Perspective. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Stack, C. (1980). All Our Kin. New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Tedlock, B. (1982). Time and the Highland Maya. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
Tilly, L. A. and Scott, J. W. (1978). Women, Work and Family. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Valentine, B. (1978). Hustling and Other Hard Work: Life Styles in the Ghetto. New York: The Free Press.
Vollmer, H. M. and Mills, D. L. (Eds.) (1966). Professionalization. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Whiteford, M. (1974). Barrio Tulcan: Fieldwork in a Colombian City. In G. M. Foster and R. V. Kemper (Eds.), Anthropologists in Cities ,(pp. 41–62). Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.
Yengoyan, A. (1970). Open Networks and Native Formalism: The Mandaya and Pitjandara Cases. In M. Freilich (Ed.), Marginal Natives, (pp. 403–440). New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Butler, B., Turner, D.M. (1987). Children and Anthropological Research: An Overview. In: Butler, B., Turner, D.M. (eds) Children and Anthropological Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1843-9_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1843-9_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9029-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1843-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive