<p>This dissertation examines ethnographic writing in the Jesuit Relations, a set of annual reports from missionaries in New France to Society of Jesus authorities in France that were published and widely read from 1632 to 1673. Drawing on currents in cultural anthropological thought about the complex relationship between anthropologists, their subjects, and the texts they produce, I analyze how the Relations allowed Jesuit missionaries to define for French readers Amerindian cultures, European-Amerindian interactions, and the health and success of the colony and the mission for forty years, almost without competition, giving them extraordinary influence over perceptions of the Amerindian Other at the very moment that France's interest therein was being piqued by an increasing awareness of the world outside of Europe. The texts now are lauded as the première source of information on the Algonquian and Iroquoian groups with which the Jesuits were in contact in seventeenth century New France. In this dissertation, I examine the ways Jesuits conveyed information about Amerindian groups, focusing on the rhetorical aspects of their accounts that have been largely ignored by social scientists who have mined the texts for data. Instead of considering the Relations as a collection of facts recorded by diligent field workers, I seek to understand them as texts that reflect multiple points of view and the political, religious, and intellectual pressures acting on their French Catholic authors. Were Amerindians human? If so, were they created in Eden along with the ancestors of Europeans? How could one explain their presence in America, with little apparent knowledge of their origins? And if they were human and of the same stock as European Christians, how could one explain the fact that their beliefs and behavior were so different from those of their French Christian interlocutors? These questions, I argue, left an enduring mark on the Jesuits' descriptions of Amerindian cultures, making their texts less the work of proto-anthropologists than a form of intellectual colonization.</p> / Dissertation

The objective of this study is to examine historically the policies of theDirectorate of Documentary Programs (DDP) of the Turkish Radio Television Corporation (TRT). Since there is very little research about particular sphere of the public service broadcasting in Turkey it is aimed to contribute to this area of study. In the course of the study, historical conditions, structural factors, broadcasting policies, the conditions of public broadcasting of a country, and the role of individuals and the research methods applied in media studies were taken into consideration. Furthermore, governmental, military, lawful, economic, cultural policies, and policies emerging from the institutional mechanisms, and practices of individuals are illustrated regarding the different time periods. In this study, documentary research, observation, interview, and internet research were used as data gathering methods. Literature analysis, historical analysis and interpretative analysis were employed as methods of analysis. It is mentioned that the role of individuals in the analysis of media studies is not paid much attention, additionally, especially in Turkey, research conducted about media generally ignores the methods of ethnography, field research and interpretative analysis. In analyzing the policies of DDP, it is asserted that except for the structural effects, individuals/actors have also roles in shaping these policies. Furthermore, to examine the media, particularly television policies, it is maintained that there is a need to carry out analysis at the individual level by the help of conducting field research, applying methods of ethnography, and interpretative analysis in Turkey. Finally, it is claimed that to a large extend DDP have been under the effects of public broadcasting notion of Turkey, and there is a need for improving the institutional policies for the DDP to serve the public interest.

This thesis analyzes data collection tools and methods in domestic environments for smart product development processes. The aim of the study is to create a method for supporting data collection studies in user research of smart products at domestic environments. The study examines the utilization of information and communication technologies in ethnographic data collection methods at domestic environments with a qualitative approach. Two case studies are conducted to understand and analyze the effects of custom designed data collection tools in user research studies conducted at domestic environments. The results of the study revealed that utilization of data collection equipment and methods that are customized to the characteristics of aims and objectives of user research studies, product characteristic and study participants&rsquo / own environment might lead to the possibility to increase number of study participants and decrease researchers&rsquo / presence in domestic environments. Additionally, it was found that, sensor kits and internal device logs are capable of supporting user research studies for the evaluation of products, however due to technical complexity and unpredictable contextual factors, triangulation of data collection methods and redundancy of data collection equipment are necessary.

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong></p><p>The purpose of the thesis is to, through an ethnographic case study, understand 20-25 year olds‘ multitasking habits when watching TV and to create a framework of the distractions identified for media consumption.</p><p><strong>Background:</strong></p><p>The changes in technology and the new possibilities of consuming media creates a need to understand how people in the ages of 20-25 consume media. Advertising on TV is, in Swe-den, the marketing channel that companies spend the largest amount of money on. Most of the statistics regarding viewing rates are collected in a way that might not give totally accu-rate picture of the actual TV viewing of the consumers. Therefore, it is necessary to do an in-depth study of the media consumption habits of this group.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong></p><p>The study will be conducted, through an ethnographic case study where the researchers ob-serve a sample of four people in the target group during 10 sessions. Each session will be two hours long, and during, the researchers will observe the group‘s media consumption habits when watching TV. The observers will also look at the multitasking habits of the group, what media and distractions are combined while watching TV.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong></p><p>The researchers conclude that multitasking is a common occurrence in the target groups media consumption. The authors have identified four categories that distracts the viewer‘s focus from TV commercials. The first three are distractions being, social, media and non-media distractions. The fourth category is technical avoidance, where people tend to switch channels or mute the sound in order to avoid commercials. Further, an important factor af-fecting the level of multitasking was whether the TV viewing was planned or unplanned. It was observed that this had an effect on the level of commercial avoidance when watching TV. Finally, four different models have been created as a framework to help marketers un-derstand the consumers behavior.</p> / <p><strong>Syfte: </strong></p><p>Syftet med avhandlingen är att, genom en etnografisk fallstudie, förstå 20-25 åringars multi-tasking vanor när de tittar på TV och att modeller för distraktioner som identifierats för mediekonsumtion.</p><p><strong>Bakgrund: </strong></p><p>De tekniska förändringarna och de nya möjligheterna för på vilka sätt media kan konsume-ras skapar ett behov av att förstå hur människor i åldrarna 20-25 konsumerar media. Re-klam på TV är i Sverige den marknadsföringskanal som företagen spenderar mest pengar på. De mesta av statistiken om tittarsiffror samlas på ett sätt som inte kan ge helt korrekt bild av det faktiska TV-tittande för konsumenterna, och därför är det nödvändigt att göra en fördjupad studie av mediekonsumtion vanorna för denna grupp.</p><p><strong>Metod: </strong></p><p>Studien kommer att genomföras genom en etnografisk fallstudie, där forskarna observerar ett urval av fyra personer i målgruppen under 10 separata tillfällen i objektets hem. Detta för att skapa en så naturlig miljö som möjligt. Varje observation kommer att vara i två timmar och under dessa observationer kommer forskarna studera objektens mediekonsum-tion vanor när de tittar på TV. Författarna kommer även att observera gruppens multita-sking vanor under TV tittandet, tillsammans med vilka media och distraktioner som kom-bineras i detta sammanhang.</p><p><strong>Slutsats: </strong></p><p>Författarna drar slutsatsen att multitasking är en vanlig företeelse i målgruppens mediekon-sumtion. Fyra kategorier är identifierade som distraherar tittarens fokus från TV reklam. De tre första kategorierna distraktioner nämligen social, media och övriga distraktioner. Den fjärde kategorin är tekniska åtgärder för att undvika reklam. En viktig faktor som på-verkar nivån av multitasking var om TV-tittandet var planerat eller oplanerat, och det kon-staterades att detta hade inverkan på nivån av kommersiell undvikelse när de tittade på TV. Författarna har skapat fyra modeller som kan användas för att underlätta för marknadsföra-re att förstå och nå denna målgrupp.</p>

<p>There are certain organizations that manage to handle risk in such a successful way that they almost stay error-free, in spite of the fact that they daily face the risks of accidents. These organizations are usually given the name High Reliability Organizations (HRO). While the most common example is that of a nuclear plant the variety of what organizations can fit into the category is extensive.</p><p>The purpose of this study is to describe safety culture and theories about HRO and how these can be found in practise within an organization.</p><p>This qualitative research uses influences of ethnography in its method. The ethnographical approach was picked due to the field of the study and the cultural context in which it is set.</p><p>The results of the study identify a number of elements sorted into four themes. These themes are deemed compatible or non-compatible with relevant existing theories. While most of the results match, the issue of routine-based work is not coherent with leading theories of HRO. An effort in making an alternative explanation proposing a balance between routines and mindfulness is taken on the subject.</p>

Diss. Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2008.

An educational reform was carried out in Sweden in the early 1990s. This reform involved implementing a far reaching policy of freedom of choice. The reform resulted in an increased establishment of independent schools, competition between schools and gave cause to substantial student flows between different city districts and public and independent schools. This study focuses on three public compulsory schools in Stockholm city with a striking inflow of students from socially disadvantaged suburbs, and an outflow of students to other schools. The aim is to describe and analyse how school leaders, teachers, parents and students relate to, and make use of, the freedom of choice policy. The study revolves around the following questions: How does the policy affect the schools’ positions in the field of education? How can the inflow of students be explained? How does the increased diversity affect identity formation and social relations among students? How can the outflow of students living within the schools’ catchment areas be explained? The empirical data were collected through an ethnographic fieldwork over the course of one year, using different techniques foremost observations, focus groups and interviews. My theoretical point of departure is that an understanding of these processes must take societal structures and social positions, as well as individual and institutional factors, into account. In my analyses I draw on Bourdieu’s theoretical framework and concepts such as field, habitus, capital and social space. The findings suggest that the schools’ positions, and the actors’ practices, are determined by objective factors, but that surrounding social and symbolic structures also plays an important role. Symbolic capital associated with “Swedishness”, and characteristics ascribed to stigmatized suburbs and the better-off inner-city districts, are important factors to understand the student flows and the development at the studied schools.

It has become increasingly apparent that anthropology has much to offer when it comes to educating our youth. This is true for all grade levels, kindergarten through senior level studies in high school. Here, this idea will be explored further by focusing on the students of Durant High School (DHS) of Plant City, Florida.This project was designed to explore the idea of combining widely accepted pedagogical theories (Gardner 1983, 1993, 1999; Geraci 2000; Silver, Strong and Perini 1997) with anthropological theory and methods in order to devise effective curricula for high school archaeology and other anthropology courses. More essentially, teachers must combine four approaches when designing curricula: multiple intelligences (MI), learning styles(LS), modes of presentation, and the use of ethnographic field methods. Through a combination of MI, LS, available modes of presentation, and ethnographic methods three major goals were accomplished.

This study examines promotoras from the U.S.-Mexico border. Promotoras are women who live in colonias throughout the border area and who are employed by service provider and community development organizations to do health-related outreach and education with colonia residents. The role of promotoras can be seen from the perspective of culture brokerage; that is, they are mediators between local communities and external actors such as service providers and agencies of the government. As culture brokers, promotoras facilitate the relationship among the local communities, and the system of services and outside resources. The study proposes a conceptual framework through which programs of community health workers in general, and those involving promotoras in particular, can be understood, designed, and implemented.

This thesis is an ethnographic examination of a local punk subculture. Its focus is the processes of meaning construction and subcultural identity formation and maintenance. Through in-depth interviews and on-site observations, the meanings of punk emerge in acts of social co-construction. An empirical analysis of the ways by which individuals define and explore what is involved and valued in a punk identity provides insight into this subculture. The concept of punk as a social practice is investigated discursively through interviews and documented discussions. My goal is to uncover thematic ideas, beliefs, and values in these interactions that form a matrix of interlocking cultural expressions, collectively creating a shared subcultural identity. As with any subculture, punk appears to be governed by a set of cultural codes and norms. The research reported here indicates that these themes are dominated primarily by knowledge displays and symbolic boundary maintenance.