Study-unit METHODOLOGY OF ETHNOGRAFIC RESEARCH

Course name	Socioanthropological studies for integration and social security
Study-unit Code	40A00059
Curriculum	Comune a tutti i curricula
Lecturer	Massimiliano Minelli
Lecturers	Massimiliano Minelli
Hours	36 ore - Massimiliano Minelli
CFU	6
Course Regulation	Coorte 2024
Supplied	2024/25
Supplied other course regulation	Coorte 2023 - Will supplied in year 2023
Sector	M-DEA/01
Type of study-unit	Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities	Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction	Italian
Contents	The course will examine the main strategies of qualitative social research, promoting the development of specific skills concerning ethnographic methods and techniques. Ethnography, considered a "theoretical practice," is examined in its main methodological steps: design, observation, field notes and diary, interviews, data analysis, and narratives in constructing the monographic text, Grounded Theory, case studies, and extended case method.
Reference texts	The following 3 texts: (1) Cappelletto F. (a cura di), Vivere l'etnografia, Seid Editori, Firenze, 2009. (oppure in alternativa: Pavanello M., Fare antropologia. Metodi per la ricerca etnografica, Zanichelli, Bologna, 2010) (2) Palumbo B., Lo sguardo inquieto. Etnografia tra scienza e narrazione. Bologna, Mariett, 2021i. (3) Ingold T., Making. Making. Antropologia, archeologia, arte e architettura, Raffaello Cortina, Milano, 2019. For those who wish to take the exam on texts in English, the following texts are indicated as an alternative: (1) Atkinson P. - Coffey A. - Delamont S. - Lofland J. - Lofland L. (Eds.) Handbook of ethnography, Sage Publications, Los Angeles - London - New Delhi - Singapore, 2007. (2) Ingold T., Making. Anthropology, Archaeology, Art, and Architecture, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013. (3) A volume to be chosen from the following: Biehl J., Vita: a life in a Zone of social abandonment, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2005. Bourgois P. - Schonberg J., Righteous dopefiend. Homelessness, addiction, and poverty in urban America, University of California Press, Berkeley - Los Angeles, 2009. Fassin D., Enforcing Order: An Ethnography of Urban Policing, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2013.
Educational objectives	The course provides the basic knowledge of qualitative research and promotes the acquisition of epistemological and methodological skills in ethnography. Teaching aims to develop research projects with high autonomy and competence. The students will acquire the following main skills: knowledge of the qualitative methods, knowledge of the relationship between anthropology, sociology, and ethnographic research, and knowledge of the tools and techniques for the interpretation of the sociocultural processes. The main skills that allow students to apply the acquired knowledge are the ability to define the research problem and adopt effective and innovative methodological choices, data analysis and report research results, and effectively combine socio-anthropological interpretation and social intervention in dialogue with social actors.
Prerequisites	To understand and tackle the course, which has a critical and reflexive orientation toward field research, the student must have basic knowledge concerning social sciences theories and cultural anthropology's history. This precondition is valid for both attending and non-attending students.
Teaching methods	The course is organized as follows: - lecturers on all subjects of the course; - laboratory activities and discussion groups; - ethnographic video materials that will complement the lectures; - ethnography in urban areas and discussion of the problems tackled during different phases of investigation: to this end, a research team composed of the course participants will be created.
Other information	During the course, in addition to research materials and the projection of ethnographic audiovisuals, more bibliographic information will be provided. Not attending students are warmly recommended to contact the teacher during office hours to speak about the exam program.
Learning verification modality	The exam consists of an individual oral test and usually begins with a question concerning the fieldwork experiences acquired by the student during the course. The discussion interview focuses on the topics covered during the lectures and the issues in recommended texts. Attending students will integrate the oral examination with a discussion of a written paper, in which the candidates will present and interpret the ethnographic data produced during the course. The acquired skill in ethnographic writing, essential for training in qualitative research methodology, is evaluated as an exemption from part of the overall teaching load. The oral exam consists of an interview of about 30 minutes and is aimed at assessing: - the level of knowledge of the theoretical contents of the course (Dublin descriptor 1); - the level of competence in presenting their knowledge (Dublin descriptor 2); - autonomy of judgment (Dublin descriptor 3). - the student's language skills in answering the Commission’s questions, sustaining a dialectical relationship during the interview, and demonstrating logical-deductive and summary abilities in the exhibition of one's thought (Dublin 4 descriptor). The Commission will express the grade in thirtieths. Note: If you intend to anticipate your exam in a year preceding the one it is scheduled for, it is highly recommended that you anticipate the attendance of the lessons as well and schedule the exam in the first useful session after the lessons have been concluded. Prepare and perform at the best strategic place in your curriculum. This will allow you to fully plan. Students with disabilities and/or SLD: due to the way the tests are carried out, students can take advantage of inclusive technologies, compensatory tools, and dispensation measures provided for by the legislation. Technologies, tools, and measures must be requested and agreed upon with the teacher well in advance of the tests. For general information, please consult the University Services on page http://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa and contact the Contact Person for the Department.
Extended program	The course will examine the main strategies of qualitative social research, promoting the development of specific skills concerning methods and techniques of ethnography. Ethnography, considered a "theoretical practice," is examined in its main steps of design, investigation, and interpretation during the fieldwork. The first part of the course outlines a framework for qualitative research in social sciences, giving particular attention to the fieldwork experience, especially its interactive, processual, and reflexive features. It proposes an exploration of ethnography through an analysis of research methods and forms of inscription in the making of fieldwork. Specific issues will be considered: the relations between the “construction of the object” and “definition of the field” and developing the “research design.” In this way, the main steps of ethnographic research will be reviewed: the definition of the problem, the research design, access to the field and ethnographic interactions, the writing of the field notes and the diary, qualitative interviewing and life history, analysis and interpretation of data, writing reports and final texts, the interactions between anthropological work and positioning during the fieldwork. The second part proposes a monographic path on the relationship between social research and case studies in urban anthropology. To this aim, the relationship between the researcher, urban context, and case study will be explored, showing the peculiar historical and processual features of social research: “situational analysis,” “case studies,” and “extended case method.” To experience the analysis of social situations directly, students will be involved in group practice based on direct observation in urban areas and an ethnographic exploration of daily practices.
Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile	4,5,10,11