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Ethnography of Africa: The Usefulness of the Useless
Author(s) -
Owusu Maxwell
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1978.80.2.02a00040
Subject(s) - ethnography , interpreter , anthropology , sociology , quality (philosophy) , epistemology , social science , computer science , philosophy , programming language
The complex epistemological and methodological problems of data‐quality control or ethnographer bias in anthropological research as they relate to the use of the native languages and/or the use of native‐interpreter informants are critically reexamined. Summarizing the 1939–1940 Mead‐Lowie debate, the paper suggests, on the basis of a close review of selected classic ethnographies of Africa, various ways by which the quality of comparative cross‐cultural data could be meaningfully improved . [methodology of cross‐cultural research, epistemological issues in anthropology, use of native languages in fieldwork, ethnography of Africa, history of anthropology]