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Summer 2010 Offerings
Application Information
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Short Courses on Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology (SCRM)
 

Supported by the National Science Foundation

Now in its sixth year, the SCRM offers a program of intensive, five-day courses on research methods in cultural anthropology. The program is directed by H. Russell Bernard and a board of advisors, including Jean Ensminger, Jeffrey Johnson, Carmella Moore, Eric Smith, and Susan Weller, with support from the National Science Foundation. The SCRM courses will be held at the Duke University Marine Laboratories in Beaufort, North Carolina.

Since 1999, the Duke Marine Lab has hosted the NSF-supported Summer Institute on Research Design in Cultural Anthropology (SIRD), for graduate students in cultural anthropology, directed by Jeffrey Johnson and East Carolina University, with Susan Weller and H. Russell Bernard as co-directors. That three-week program on research design, now in its 15th year, is only for Ph.D. students in cultural anthropology.

The SCRM program is for colleagues who already have the Ph.D. and who want to broaden or improve their skills.

Summer 2010 Course Offerings

Text Analysis
July 19 – 23, 2010

Methods in Ethnoecology
July 26 – 30, 2010

Geospatial Analysis
August 2 – 6, 2010

Application Information

Costs - The National Science Foundation, through a grant to the University of Florida, pays the costs of instruction, room, board, and instructional materials. Participants pay their transportation to the course, in Beaufort, North Carolina.

Deadline - February 15, 2010

To Apply - Applications for this year's SCRM are complete. Applications for the 2011 SCRM will open Sept. 1, 2010.

Course Overviews

Text Analysis

Clarence Gravlee (University of Florida) and Amber Wutich (Arizona State University)

This five-day course for professional anthropologists lays out a broad range of systematic methods for analyzing qualitative data (e.g., text and images) and provides guidance on when the methods should be used. We will cover the basics of qualitative research, including: techniques for identifying themes, tips for developing and using codebooks, and suggestions on how to produce qualitative descriptions, make systematic comparisons, and build and formally test models. The course will concentrate on three major traditions of analysis: grounded theory, content analysis, and semantic analysis.

We will emphasize hands-on data analysis exercises to illustrate the complementary strengths of different methods for analyzing qualitative data. The methods are independent of software, but we will also show participants how recent advances in hardware and software can facilitate the collection and analysis of qualitative data. Participants will learn the basics of working with MAXQDA and UCINET.

Readings will be available on the course web page (participants will be asked to read the materials prior to the course so we can concentrate on hands-on learning). Classes will be divided between lectures and labs where participants will analyze real data. At the end of the course, participants should be able to use the various methods presented in the analysis of their own data and to demonstrate the methods to their students and colleagues.

Who should apply: Anthropologists who have completed the Ph.D. and are working in the U.S. are eligible to apply. (Non-U.S. citizens may apply if they are working in the United States.) U.S. citizens working abroad are also eligible.

Course requirements: Participants will need a laptop that can run Windows-based programs. This can be either a PC or Intel-based Mac with Windows installed using either Boot Camp or virtualization software like Parallels. Participants will be asked to install demo or free software before the course and to complete a set of readings and web-based tutorials before the course.

Methods in Ethnoecology

John Richard Stepp (University of Florida) and Justin M. Nolan (University of Arkansas)

This course will acquaint participants with the approaches, methods and analyses used by ethnoecologists who are researching various contemporary issues in biocultural diversity, including:

Community-based management of natural resources Co-evolution of cultural diversity and agrobiodiversity Ethnobiological classification and cultural history Gender and biodiversity conservation and management Historical ecology and landscape modification Indigenous peoples and protected areas

The course will draw on the instructors' field research in Southeast Asia, Native North America and Mesoamerica, and on case studies of researchers who are active in other parts of the world. We will explore a variety of approaches that guide data collection including consensus modeling, cultural domain analysis, and social network analysis. We will experiment with some techniques for collecting ethnobiological data in the field, including freelisting, paired comparisons, rankings, pile sorting, specimen identification and triad tests. We will also review methods that take an ecological perspective, such as landscape valuation, plots, transects, and diversity indices. We will address the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data using statistical software packages appropriate for ethnoecology.

Complementary topics that will be covered include: (1) obtaining prior informed consent for ethnoecological studies and negotiating community research agreements; and (2) ethical approaches to making ethnoecological data public.

Who should apply: Anthropologists who have completed the Ph.D. and are working in the U.S. are eligible to apply. (Non-U.S. citizens may apply if they are working in the United States.) U.S. citizens working abroad are also eligible.

Course requirements: Participants will need a laptop that can run Windows-based programs. This can be either a PC or Intel-based Mac with Windows installed using either Boot Camp or virtualization software like Parallels. Participants may be asked to install additional demo or free software during the course. Appropriate clothes and footwear may be needed during short outings to the field.

Geospatial Analysis

Eduardo Brondizio (Indiana University) and Tracy Van Holt (East Carolina University)

This intensive course introduces different components of Geospatial analysis and their applications in Anthropology: Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and their integration. The course covers basic concepts necessary to work with geospatial data. We pay particular attention to research set-up and design, and the use of specialized software, such as ArcGIS and Erdas Imagine via hands-on activities. By the end of the course, participants should understand: (1) how geospatial data sources can be relevant to their research; (2) how to georeference geospatial data; (3) how to collect GPS points and incorporate them into a georeferenced map; (4) how to run basic geospatial analyses; and (5) how to develop survey questions specific to the collection of geospatial data. Participants will be exposed to the basic features of ArcGIS and Erdas Imagine (GIS and remote sensing software) and will understand the types of analyses that can be conducted with the software including detection of change and geospatial analysis.

Each section (5days, 10 sections) of the course will comprise a lecture or demonstration and an interactive component. Interactive sections include discussion of individual problems and hands-on use of software or tools (e.g., GPS).

Who should apply: Anthropologists who have completed the Ph.D. and are working in the U.S. are eligible to apply. (Non-U.S. citizens may apply if they are working in the United States.) U.S. citizens working abroad are also eligible.

Course requirements: Participants will be asked to install demo or free software before the course and to complete a set of readings and web-based tutorials before the course. ArcGIS and Erdas Imagine software are designed to run on a Windows operating system. Participants will need a laptop, either a PC or Intel-based Mac with Windows installed using either Boot Camp or virtualization software like Parallels.

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