Anthropological Field Researches in the 21st Century: Scope, Challenges and Ethics
Teshome B., Wondosen and Jerusalem Negash Wossene, "ANTHROPOLOGICAL FIELD RESEARCHES IN THE 21ST CENTURY: SCOPE, CHALLENGES AND ETHICS" In: Anthropology Today: Trends, Scope and Applications (Anthropologist Special Issue), Vol. 3, No.2, pp.7-18, 2007
12 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2008
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explore the scope, trends, challenges and research ethics of anthropological (mainly, Medical Anthropology) fieldworks in the developing countries in the 21st century. The paper also assesses the impacts of the major features of this century such as globalization, urbanization, migration and cultural pluralism on the anthropological researches in the world. It also discusses the obligations of anthropologists during field researches in this period of globalization, where the information technology has turned the world in to "a global village". Furthermore, it tries to answer questions like: How do anthropologists exercise the principle of ethics in the field? What do the indigenous people get out of field works? Concerning research ethics in this age of globalization, there are researchers who argue that a research done on indigenous people, but is not designed to help them is unethical. On the other hand, other researchers argue that as long as the research result benefits the other sections of humanity, (even if it might not help the research population directly) and as long as it embraced informed consent, it is ethical. The paper explores both sides of these arguments and gives recommendations.
Keywords: Complex Society, Ethics, Ethnography, Field Work, Indigenous People, Informed Consent, Methodology, Non-Industrialized Countries, Part-Society, Participant Observation
JEL Classification: I20, Z00
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