Participant observation in rural Mexico – what my child taught me
Participant observation in rural Mexico – what my child taught me
This case study explores the interplay between personal identity and participant observation through the lens of the author’s ethnographic research in a rural Mexican village. My journey as an anthropologist, mother, and outsider shapes my fieldwork and some thematic emphases. I address the community’s cultural intricacies, shedding light on nuanced relationships between children, key symbols, and social identities while underscoring the dynamic nature of ethnographic research, the challenges of objectivity, and how personal circumstances both constrain and enrich the understandings that emerge from shared experiences and perspectives.
Ethnography, Participant observation, Mexico, Motherhood
Lewis, Laura A.
3b8fef98-e0ff-4acf-879f-ed9b1c318890
Lewis, Laura A.
3b8fef98-e0ff-4acf-879f-ed9b1c318890
Lewis, Laura A.
(2024)
Participant observation in rural Mexico – what my child taught me
(Research Methods),
SAGE Publications
Abstract
This case study explores the interplay between personal identity and participant observation through the lens of the author’s ethnographic research in a rural Mexican village. My journey as an anthropologist, mother, and outsider shapes my fieldwork and some thematic emphases. I address the community’s cultural intricacies, shedding light on nuanced relationships between children, key symbols, and social identities while underscoring the dynamic nature of ethnographic research, the challenges of objectivity, and how personal circumstances both constrain and enrich the understandings that emerge from shared experiences and perspectives.
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Accepted/In Press date: 26 October 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 March 2024
Keywords:
Ethnography, Participant observation, Mexico, Motherhood
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 487638
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/487638
PURE UUID: 665b904a-24a2-4522-845b-714692278884
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Date deposited: 29 Feb 2024 17:54
Last modified: 10 Apr 2024 01:48
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