Use of Reflexivity in Ethnographic Research :: Anthropology Culture Ethnography Papers

Use of reflexiveness in Ethnographic ResearchWorks Cited MissingThe use of reflexivity in ethnographic research and writing is used to insist that the anthropologist has systematicall(a)y and purely revealed their methodology and their self as the instrument of data collection and generation. Reflexivity can play a variety of roles in ethnographic publications as observed in the works of Renato Rosaldo, Dorinne Kondo, and Ruth Behar. These deuce-ace anthropologists all use reflexivity in different ways to convey their findings and feelings. The three works, however, also point out the advantages and the limits of ethnographic reflexivity.Renato Rosaldo in his article ruefulness and a Headhunters Rage uses ethnographic reflexivity to show how in the first gear of his fieldwork he was not yet in a position to cop the force of anger possible in bereavement (Rosaldo, 7) and that it wasnt until 14 years later when he experienced the loss of his wife that he could comprehend wha t the Ilongots had told him about grief, rage, and headhunting. Rosaldo then writes I began to fathom the force of what Ilongots had been relation me about their losses through my own loss, and not through every systematic preparation for field research (Rosaldo, 8). Renato Rosaldos own experiences had helped him to see and empathize with the Ilongots, who fourteen years earlier, he was not able to reckon that the Ilongots statement that Rage, born of grief, impels him to kill his fellow human worlds. (Rosaldo, 1)Rosaldos writings point out that having similar experiences allows the anthropologist to understand and empathize with the plenty they are studying. This comprehension on the anthropologists behalf allows for easier accessibility and transcription to the worldwide public. Shared experiences, however, allow for more biases and interpretations to seep into the anthropologists writing. It is more seeming that the anthropologist will use his or her own experiences an d interpretations when writing on the culture. Renato Rosaldo addresses this bang when he writes, by invoking personal experience as an analytical household one risks easy dismissal (Rosaldo, 11).In the article Dissolution and Reconstitution of ego Implications for Anthropological Epistemology, Dorinne Kondo uses ethnographic reflexivity to discuss her research in Japan, being a Japanese-American, and the expectations of being Japanese. Dorinne Kondo was torn between the American culture she was devoted to and the Japanese culture she was studying and tried to associate with.