Research Methods in Anthropology
Course code
HIA6336.HT
old course code
Course title in Estonian
Uurimismeetodid antropoloogias
Course title in English
Research Methods in Anthropology
ECTS credits
6.0
Assessment form
Examination
lecturer of 2026/2027 Autumn semester
Maarja Kaaristo (language of instruction:Estonian)
lecturer of 2026/2027 Spring semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
Course aims
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Brief description of the course
The course provides an overview of the theoretical and methodological foundations of anthropological research and its main research methods, preparing students to design and conduct independent research. Lectures address the practical, methodological, and ethical dimensions of ethnographic fieldwork. Students learn to formulate a research question and develop an appropriate research design, including suitable methodology, methods of data collection and analysis, and research ethics. Particular attention is paid to participant observation, fieldnotes, ethnographic interviewing, and reflexive analysis of the researcher’s position. The course has a practical orientation: through seminars and independent fieldwork exercises, students apply ethnographic research skills and analyse the empirical material they have collected. By the end of the course, students complete an analytical and reflexive paper based on the fieldwork exercises conducted during the course.
Learning outcomes in the course
Upon completing the course the student:
- explains the theoretical and disciplinary-historical foundations of anthropological fieldwork;
- assesses and justifies the suitability of different ethnographic methods in relation to a specific research question and research context;
- designs and conducts small-scale ethnographic fieldwork exercises, applying appropriate data collection methods and following the principles of research ethics;
- analyses and interprets empirical material collected during fieldwork in a reflexive fieldwork report, using academic sources and appropriate referencing.
- explains the theoretical and disciplinary-historical foundations of anthropological fieldwork;
- assesses and justifies the suitability of different ethnographic methods in relation to a specific research question and research context;
- designs and conducts small-scale ethnographic fieldwork exercises, applying appropriate data collection methods and following the principles of research ethics;
- analyses and interprets empirical material collected during fieldwork in a reflexive fieldwork report, using academic sources and appropriate referencing.
Teacher
Jaanika Vider
The course is a prerequisite
Study programmes containing that course