Revision summary
Torres Strait and Boas ended armchair evolution as the only method. Malinowski made long residence the classic. African and Indian village studies expanded the map. Reflexivity and multi-sited work named power and movement. Digital and urban fields still owe the ethic of presence.
Model answer
Introduction
Fieldwork became anthropology’s mark of honour. The path runs from travellers and missionaries to year-long residence, teams, multi-sited work, and digital fields.
Body
Beginnings
- Rivers on the Torres Strait expedition (1898) and genealogical method made intensive field science possible.
- Boas on the Northwest Coast demanded language and texts. Armchair Tylor was left behind.
The classic year
- Malinowski in the Trobriands set tent, vernacular, and the native’s point of view. Radcliffe-Brown in the Andamans added structural questions.
- Mead, Benedict, and Evans-Pritchard (Nuer, Azande) normalised long stays. Indian village work by Srinivas, Dube, and Marriott brought the method home.
Critique and after
- Reflexivity after the 1980s, Clifford and Marcus, showed the ethnographer in the text. Colonial archives were reread.
- Applied, medical, and development fieldwork used PRA beside the notebook.
- Recent work is multi-sited (Marcus), urban, laboratory, and online. The ethic of consent and the long stay remain the core, even when the ‘village’ is a chat group.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD E[Expedition Rivers Boas] --> M[Malinowski year] M --> V[Village Srinivas] V --> R[Reflexive multi-sited]
Conclusion
Fieldwork grew from expedition lists to Malinowskian residence, then to reflexive and multi-sited practice. The tradition is still presence plus method, not a postcard.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Discuss the approaches of Leslie White, Julian Steward and Marshall Sahlins in the light of cultural evolution
Next question in the 2022 paper (Q7). View answer →
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Is a two-week PRA fieldwork?
It is a field method. It is not a substitute for the ethnographic year when the question needs depth.
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Did women enter the tradition late?
Mead and Benedict were early. Later feminist ethnography changed what counted as a field, including the house.
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Describe the evolution of Fieldwork tradition in Anthropology.
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