UNIT 1 PROJECT WORK (MANUA Content 11 Introduction 1.2 Recapitulation of Blocks 1-5 13. Project Work 1.4 Types of Project Work 1.5. Selection of Project Work Mgntor 1.6 Report Writing 1.7 Structure of the Project Report 1.8 Presentation of Reference Cited 1.9 Project Work Submission 1.10 Criteria for Evaluation 1.11 General Instructions for Project Work 1.12 Other Important Matter ye Learning Objectives A ‘The general objectives of this project work will help the leamer to: > develop research skills; > solve research problems through ‘scientific method’ of investigation; > develop writing, presentation and analytical skills; > develop ability to apply multi disciplinary concepts, tools and techniques; and > recognize problems of humans in different set up. Within this framework, this course enables the learner to: > identify and formulate hypotheses. > choose the universe and justify. > identify and use appropriate research sampling. v establish rapport in field area, v collect data by using primary and secondary source of data. > analyse the data by using classification and tabulation, following standard ‘method and then using appropriate statistical technique. > report writing after investigating and interpreting the problem by using data and anthropological insight. 1.1 INTRODUCTI ‘The Masters Degree in Anthropology comprises of six core courses and two elective courses out of a choice of five. Apart from theory and practical in theProject Work first year a project report is also to be submitted by the student. This forms part of Course I and catties credits. This is a very interesting part of the study and fulfills the concept that anthropology is a field study. We are categorically sure that you would enjoy doing the project and realise the nuances of the subject. ‘What is expected of you is to decide on any anthropological issue you would like to undertake, review the related literature in detail and understand and analyse it. This project would enable you to implement your understanding of everything you have leamt in the earlier five blocks of this course, This would help you to develop your research expertise in anthropology and give you an insight of the issue you are curious about. We will guide you on how to go about completing a project. The mentor will not only acquaint you with the procedures and rules to be followed for completion of the project but also provide you with an understanding on how to go about it 1.2 RECAPITULATION OF BLOCKS 1-5 Let us first recapitulate what we have learnt in the earlier blocks of this course in brief. You were introduced to anthropology at the beginning of this course in Block 1 with its definition, meaning, scope, background and branches in anthropology. Apart from this, the emerging frontiers were also elucidated. Anthropology gives an insight to the holistic approach of the discipline which emerged in the late 19 century to understand human beings, how the subject came into being and what its relevance is. The subject incorporates various approaches including scientific, in understanding the diversity and variation found in this species. The factors, significance and the issues concerning the variation and diversity must have made you look at the concept intensely. It familiarised you to the definition, meaning and scope of anthropology right from its inception to the present day context, Anthropology studies biological, socio-cultural and other diversities among human beings not only of the contemporary ones but also of our early ancestors. It gives us an insight to the simple societies and also to complex issues which would be dealt in subsequent courses. Anthropology aims to amass and transmit human physical and cultural facets using scientific knowledge on social, cultural and biological aspects of human beings. This very basis of holistic approach and conducting fieldwork for data procurement makes anthropology a distinct discipline. Also you were acquainted that there are four branches in anthropology: biological/physical anthropology, socio-cultural anthropology, archaeological anthropology and linguistic anthropology, their significance and the sub disciplines. Biological/ Physical anthropology concerns how man evolved; our position in animal kingdom as primates; the genesis of variation and diversity etc., whereas social and cultural anthropology discovers the social and cultural path of human society. Archaeological anthropology incorporates both physical and social traits of human beings of the past. Linguistic anthropology understands man through languages of the past and the present. These clearly portray that anthropology is emphatic in its holistic approach yet each branch maintains its own individuality. The unit on emerging frontiers focused on the applied perceptive of anthropology where it showed with the example of applied and business anthropology, how theoretical anthropological knowledge can be made useful. The unit takes you to a journey of how anthropology started using its knowledge for practical purposes for the benefit of humans and its implementation in different fields.Blocks 2 to 5 concentrates on methods of research and how they are employed in anthropological study. Fieldwork forms an integral component of anthropology and holds an important tradition in the discipline. Block 2 on fieldwork tradition concerns with its relevance, need for ethnography in research. and the status of techniques, methods and methodology along with the designing of pedigree and genealogy. Fieldwork as & major methodological tool and a deep professional experience leaves an everlasting experience throughout the career. It is very important for the anthropologist in the field to accurately record observed data irrespective of the hypotheses and interpretations. A society or field area which is said to be the universe of the study is synonym to a ready-made laboratory for the social scientist. The unit on ethnography in Block 2 describes it as a technique for gathering empirical data on human societievcultures through observation, interviews, schedules and questionnaires, etc. However, in biological sciences this type of study is calleda ‘field study’ or a ‘case report’, both used as common synonyms for ‘ethnography’ which when studied in socio-cultural anthropology, is a scientific study of human social phenomena and communities. This is an important tool to be used in the post-modem and global moment which can still demonstrate how local processes are transformed under the pressure of globalisation and show how these global processes are themselves mediated by local factors to create localised variations and particularities. The techniques, methods and methodology emphasizes on the significance of field work in anthropology. In fact anthropology is referred to as field science. It gives awareness on the differences and relationship between technique, ‘method and methodology which are the backbone of research. Genealogy and pedigree must have been interesting to study allowing to understand, that the ‘most fundamental institution in human society is family which is based on ‘marriage and parentage. The meaning and distinction between genealogy and pedigree must be clear to you by now. You must have learnt when to use them, the symbols that are used and the way to construct it. Research design is essential before proceeding towards any research project. This block gives an idea about significance of literature in any research pursuit. Itgives the knowledge about the achievement of similar studies thereby helping the researcher to limit the scope of their inquiry providing them the structure of their topic along with cautioning to go beyond the scope of their quest. It is continuous process and efforts should be made not to repeat the study already undertaken. This is one of the strongholds of literature review. You must have noticed that research design follows certain steps. Selection of the research problem has three main components: determining the cote area of research, identifying the range of alternatives from which choices are made, and the context in which these choices are made, ie., the factors that can influence the choices. I am sure after you read through this unit on research design theory you can comprehend how in anthropology, science, theory and hypothesis are interrelated. Do you remember you were exposed to the idea of theory as basic building block of science? And then how hypotheses are built up from theories and how the parameters that would reveal information form the integral part of research? Research design as the name indicates means designing a strategy of conducting the research satisfying what, how, where, why and al the queries pertaining to the field chosen. In research design you were shown that the conclusions are not fabricated and they are true and the repeatability of results Project Work (Manual)Project Work is adhered to. This is only possible if the research design is planned well, keeping all the aspects into consideration. While doing so one must be very clear of the objective of the research and then choosing the right methods and techniques not only for collecting but also for analysing the data to achieve the objectives. ie ‘Tools and techniques of primary data collection and sources of collecting the same hold a pivotal position in anthropology and that is what you learnt in the tools and techniques of data collection in Block 4 paying weightage to direct and indirect observation and participant and non-participant observation for primary data collection. Observation is one of the oldest and most commonly used methods for data collection. Secondary data refers to already exiting data ‘which has been collected and analysed by somebody else. The unit on secondary data reflects that the most important problem that the social scientists of the day face concems the collection of relevant reliable data. The scholars belonging to various social sciences have developed their own technique of data collection, depending upon the nature of their discipline, Such data holds extreme importance as secondary data which could be in the form of census, gazetteers etc. The unit on biological methods elucidates that the importance and selection of the biological method is dependent on the objective of study. The significance of anthropometry, pedigree analysis, serogenetics and somatometry are well dealt with. Archaeology is one of the important branches of anthropology which ‘unearths the human past with the evidences from material and culture. Its not an easy task to unravel the bygone era therefore scientific techniques are employed to reach the conclusions. It involves everything, from locating the archaeological site, then collecting the relic of that time, organising it to specific cultural periods by choosing from different methods, conserving and preserving them and finally interpreting them. ‘The analysis and interpretation of data is the key to good research work. The Unit on statistical analysis exhibited the application of statistical techniques in research to appreciate the need of statistical techniques and which technique to employ best for any particular problem. It is not just deciding upon the ‘accurate technique but equal emphasis has to be given to interpreting the data and its result, Statistical techniques play a very important role in every step. The statistical techniques can be used to help in collecting, processing and interpreting quantitative data. ‘The project report is indispensable and mandatory in the study of anthropology. Now when you will work on the project remember and implement what you have leamt from earlier blocks which are recapitulated above. 13 PROJECT WORK Project works an introduction to research. Research means seeking knowledge. More specifically, research means systematic effort to gain new knowledge. It is defined as a methodical and systematic search for relevant information on an explicit topic. Project work is entirely dependent on you. Itis you who hold the responsibility right from the inception to writing the report, You can select atopic which can either be from biological anthropology or social anthropology or having components of both the sub disciplines. The mentor will definitely provide guidance, but the work would be your perception. Project work in anthropology plays a very significant role as the fieldwork conducted givesyou an insight to any anthropologically related issue practically in a wider spectrum. It provides you a platform in professional career too because of your first hand involvement and observation. Of foremost importance is the nature of research. You have to decide what you want to work on and then formulate the hypotheses depending upon the nature of research. Project report is an art which is learnt by practice and experience. This is riot possible without meaningful research. Research is an important foundation of providing guidelines for solving issues. There are some major steps involved in project report. The most notable step is defining the project that is to be undertaken. It generally follows a chronological pattern — the problem is stated in a general way; the doubts are resolved: lot of thinking in formulation of the problem so that it may be a rational one in terms of the available data and resources; it should be analytically meaningful. This will enable in formulating ‘a well defined research problem that will be meaningful from an operational point of view of solving the problem itself. Research design is yet another significant step. Number of research designs is available but before you start coliecting the data and analyse them, you must be sure which design is most appropriate for your research project. Due importance should be given to the universe of study, what do you aim to achieve from the project and the sampling frame in designing of the research project. How do you develop a research project plan? The objectives or the purpose of research should be clearly stated, problem to be studied should be clearly focused so what one will achieve from solving the problem is unambigous: each major concept which you want to study should be defined in operational terms with respect to the research project; research plan should indicate the method to be used in solving the problem; complete details of the technique to be adopted should be mentioned; clear description of the population including indication of how sample is to be identified; statistical methods to be used for processing data must also be stated in the research plan. 1.4 TYPES OF PROJECT WORK Project Work should be undertaken on an anthropologically relevant topic. A descriptive list of topics given below gives you an idea as to what kind of topics could be selected for a project work. These are just examples and you can choose a topic of your own which you are interested in. It should have considerable scope for originality, or which may initiate new knowledge, or anything from the emerging areas of anthropology. They can be similar to those mentioned below: © Migration pattern among labourers, for e.g. rickshaw pullers. @ Nutritional status of adolescent children. ‘© Distribution of blood group in a particular population. © Observation at a bus stand/public place/religious place/marriage/function/ fair/festival © Family tree. © Hygiene in a slum area, © Harassment at work place. Project Work (ManualProject Work © Experiences of working women. © Secular trend among population. © Blood pressure among adults. ¢ Frequency of diabetes/hypertension in a select population. © Impact of pollution on children. Water contamination related health problems. © House type. © Family type. ® Indigenous knowledge system e.g. medical, traditional healers, local classification of flora and fauna. © Social problem e.g, smoking, drinking, domestic violence, unemployment. © Impact of social network sites like Facebook, Orkut etc., on youth, © Interpretation of any film, either a documentary or a commercial film. ‘These are just examples, similar ones can be thought of. You can surely choose in the area of your preference with an anthropological insight. Learners are encouraged to work in areas of their interest as it will generate more inquisitiveness in them and will motivate them to be more creative and innovative, which are important for research. This will also be an added advantage to the compulsory course on Fieldwork Dissertation in MA Part-II which can always be an extension of this project report. The student can formulate a project problem with the help of a mentor and commence working after getting the necessary approval ‘The formats of the cover and first pages are given subsequently. The length of the report may be approximately 10,000 (ten thousand) words, one and half space typed on an A-4 sheet and spirally bound. This does not include the area ‘map and photographs including that of the learner in the field. The report should be written in English. As stated earlier, your project work/dissertation is worth three credits. This ‘means that you are expected to spend about 90 study hours in completing your work. You need to complete this project work as part of Course I. Award of the degree is subject to the successful completion of your project work/dissertation. To be able to successfully complete this course you must secure a minimum of 50% of marks. We would prefer to receive a typed and bound copy of your Project work/dissertation. Keep both these things i.e., expected study hours and the expected length of your work in mind while choosing a topic. 1.5 SELECTION OF THE PROJECT WORK MENTOR Your Project Work will be guided by a mentor duly recognised by the Indira Gandhi National Open University. Leamers can choose a mentor, who is well versed in anthropology, ie., either from physical/social/archaeology depending upon the topic chosen. However, the person shall hold a senior position in anyuniversity or institute. A brief bio-data of the mentor along with the project, proposal/synopsis should be sent to the MAAN Programme Coordinator at IGNOU, New Delhi for approval, before commencing for project work. 1.6 REPORT WRITING Report writing is an art which is learnt by practice and experience. This is not possible without meaningful research, Research is an important foundation of providing guidelines for solving issues. There are major steps involved in a project report. Foremost is the defining of the project to be undertaken. It generally follows a chronological pattern — the problem is stated in a general way, the doubts are resolved and a lot of thinking results in a more defined formulation of the problem so that it may be a rational one in terms of the available data and resources and is also analytically meaningful. This will enable a well defined research problem that will be meaningful from an operational point of view in solving the problem itself. Research design is yet another significant step. A number of research designs are available but before you start collecting the data and analyse you must be sure which design is most appropriate for your research project. Due importance should be given to the universe of study, what you aim to achieve from the project and the sampling frame in designing of research project, how you develop a research project plan, etc. The objectives or the purposes of research should be clearly stated, the problem to be studied should also be clearly stated so that what one will achieve from solving the problem is unambiguous; each major concept which you want to study should be defined in operational terms with respect to the research project; the research plan should indicate the method to be used in solving a problem; complete details of the technique to be adopted should be ‘mentioned; clear description of the population to be made indicating how sample is to be identified should be included; statistical methods to be used for processing the data must also be stated in the research plan. Write on top of the envelope in bold MAAN Project Proposal/Synopsis, (MANI- 001) © For January Session submit latest by 31 of May © For July Session submit latest by 30" of November 1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT REPORT A report is an outcome of a project, so while presenting it due care should be taken to systematically arrange the contents of the project work. The following structure is recommended: © Title of the Project Work @ Table of Contents. © List of Tables and Photographs © Acknowledgements Project Work (Manual)Project Work Introduction Literature Review Study Area and People Materials and Methods Data Analysis and Results (to be presented in chapters or sections or paragraphs) Findings and Concluding Remarks References | 18 PRESENTATION OF REFERENCE CITED How do you cite references in the text? You must take care to cite all the sources of information that is not from your first-hand research, Whatever ‘material is important enough to be considered at all, it should be incorporated in the body of the paper, needless to say that anything unimportant is to be ignored. Now do you cite in the body of the text? Important point is that the citation must be incorporated in the sentence. It should be cited before you put a full stop to a sentence. It can at times be a part of a long quote, coming inside the punctuation, See the examples below to follow: © When in the text you are referring to one author .. Bindon (1994) discussed... or . © When the same author has more than one work referred in a single year «» Bindon (1994a; 1994)... for a single authored piece—use a, b, ete. © When the work is done by two people .- Bindon and Crews (1993) discussed .... or ... is discussed (Bindon and Crews, 1993) ... for two authors © When the work is by three or more people use et al Bindon et al. (1991) discussed ... or. is discussed (Bindon ct al., 1991) ... © When there is a list of citation involved, they should be arranged in alphabetical order then by date (year), separating references by semi-colons or commas. «is discussed by many workers (Bindon, 1994; Bindon and Crews, 1993; Simons et al 2011) It is very important to only list those references that are actually cited in the project report and not the ones which you consulted but did not cite. Author's name must be included in every reference, even if there are multiple publications by the same author or authors. The list of references must be in alphabetical order of the authors name and multiple sources by the same author or authors should be arranged chronologically. More than one publications by the sameauthor in the same year must be designated a, b, ete. in the order they are encountered in the text and listed in the references in the same order, Now in the ‘Reference cited’ section the following format should be followed for clarity and uniformity. Journal articles Austin-Broos D. 1991. Aesthetics or Politics: A Choice for Anthropology. Social Analysis 29:116-129, Bindon JR. 1994. Some implications of the diet of children in American Samoa, Collegium Anthropologicum, 18:7-15. Bindon JR, and Crews DE. 1993, Changes in some health status characteristics of American Samoan men: a 12 year follow up study. American Journal of Human Biology, 5:31-38, Bindon JR, Crews DE, and Dressler WW. 1991. Life style, modernisation, and adaptation among Samoans. Collegium Anthropologicum, 15:101-110. (REMEMBER THAT et al. IS STRICTLY NOT ALLOWED IN LIST OF REFERENCES) ‘When the citation of an author is both in a journal and a book Barth F, 1987. ‘Cosmologies in the making: A Generative Approach to Cultural Variation in Inner New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1989. The Analysis of Culture in Complex Societies. Ethnos 54(3-4):120-142. Schefold R, 1972-73. Religious Involution: Internal change, and its consequences, in the taboo system of the Mentawaians. Tropical Man. 5:46-81 1973 Religious Conceptions on Siberut, Mentawai, ‘Sumatra Research Bulletin 2:120-24. 1980 The Sacrifices of the Sakuddei (Mentawai Archipelago, Wester Indonesia): An attempt at classification. In R.Schefold, W, Schoorl, & J. ‘Tennekes. eds. Man, Meaning, and History: Essays in Honour of H.G. Schulte Nordholt. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 1982a The Efficacious Symbol. In E.Schwimmer & P.E. de Josselin de Jong. eds. Symbolic Anthropology in the Netherlands, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, Chapter in edited volume reference format Bindon JR. 1997. Coming of age of human adaptation studies in Samoa. In ” Ulijaszek SJ and Huss- Ashmore RA, editors, Human adaptability: past, present, and future. New York, Oxford University Press. p 126-156. Project Work (Manual) 13Project Work “4 Bindon JR, and Zansky SM. 1986. Growth and morphology. In Baker PT, Hanna JM, Baker TS, editors. The changing Samoans: behavior and health in transition, New York: Oxford University Press. p 222-253. Book reference format Bachelard, G. 1969. The Poctics of Space, Boston, Beacon Press. Dressler WW. 1991. Stress and Adaptation in the Context of Culture: Depression in a Southern Black Community. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. In edited book ‘Abu-Lughod, L. 1992. Writing Against Culture. In R. Fox ed, Reeapturing ‘Anthropology. Santa Fe: School of American Research, Website For a website, the first element would be the individual or registered name (give as much information as possible), Year last updated, Group responsible for the site with their address (if available/applicable), the date site was last updated, the date of access, and the URL address. The in-text citation would be (WHO, 1999). WHO Country Health Informstion Profile: Samoa, U.N. W.H.0,, Manila, Philippines. (updated July 1, 1999; accessed February 23, 2007). http:// ‘www.who.org.phichip/ctry.cfinctrycode=smag&body=sma htmiflag=sina.gif &ctty=SAMOA. 1.9 PROJECT WORK SUBMISSION One copy of Project Work has to be submitted to the RSC Registrar, SED (Student Evaluation Division), IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi ~ 110068. ‘The project work/dissertation may be submitted either by insured registered post/insured speed post or by hand in the Student Evaluation Division, IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Dethi-1 10068. MAAN PROJECT REPORT (MANI- 001) should be written prominently on the top of the envelope. This will facilitate sorting of project reports for various programmes received in SED of IGNOU, The project work/dissertation may be submitted in either of the two slots, ie. in April each year for accountability in June Term End Examination, or in October each year for accountability in December Term End Examination. Date of Submission ‘The schedule for submission of Final Report for the July/January academic sessions is as follows: Before 30* April (for June Term End Examination) for July Session Before 31 October (for December Term End Examination) for January Session Submission of the Project Work Dissertation (one copy) to:The Registrar(SED) Projeet Work (Manual) IGNOU, Maidan Gathi New Delhi-110068 1.10 CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION Your project work will be evaluated on the following points with marks indicated against each subject Maximum Marks: 30 Objectives, Hypotheses, and Research Methodology: 10 Review of Literature: 2 Data Analysis, Interpretation, Discussion and Conclusion: 10 Bibliography: 2 Overall Presentation: 6 1.11 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROJECT WORK '® Project Work should be original and in your own style. The medium of language to be followed is English. © _Itshould not be a copy orreproduction of any other published or unpublished projects or project work. Such work is subjected to rejection. © Theresearch methodology adapted by you should be stated at the beginning of yout work as already mentioned. © Reference cited should be provided at the end as arule. © The length of the report may be about 10,000 words typed in one anda half, space. @ The project should have area map i.e. area of work or study ‘© Theproject should include photographs including you in the field © Report should be in A-4 size papers and in a spiral bound form. © The project report should contain: — Approved proforma for project proposal from mentor — Project proposal — Certificate of originality © Project reports received otherwise are not acceptable, © The project should be taken at an individual level and not in a group. 15Project Work 16 1.12 OTHER IMPORTANT MATTER Ensure that the report contains the following: “Approved proforma for project proposal (Appendix - 1) Project proposal Certificate of originality (Appendix - V) Do note again: Kindly mention on the top of the envelope “MAAN Project Report (MANI-001)”. This will facilitate sorting out Project reports. ‘The envelope containing the remuneration form for the project guide duly signed by the mentor, should be sent to “Regional Director, Concerned Regional Centre”. In all correspondence, please quote your Enrolment No. Incase you secure less than 50% marks, you will have to do the project work/ dissertation afresh, Students are advised to contact the Regional Study Centres of the University for the formalities and procedures in this regard. You must retain the project guide till the completion of the entire MAAN Programme.