Building an Agenda for Integrated Developmental Ethnographic Research: Proposal for a Conference, winter 2002

University Of Connecticut, Storrs CT

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract Building an Agenda for Integrated Developmental Ethnographic Research: A Proposal for a Conference Sara Harkness & Charles M. Super In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the need for culturally grounded developmental research; yet, the integration of ethnographic perspectives and methods in research on children's development remains an unfulfilled agenda. The lack of integration of developmental and ethnographic approaches to the study of children is evident across a wide variety of academic contexts, including grant proposals, as well as published work. Indeed, it appears that trends in graduate education in the social and behavioral sciences over the past few decades have exacerbated the separation of anthropological and developmental inquiry, to the detriment of both. Despite these trends, however, there is currently high potential for a new level of integration of developmental and ethnographic approaches in research on children. In order to realize this potential in research, a small working conference has been designed. The 2 -and one-half day workshop is intended to bring together leading researchers in anthropology and developmental science. Participants will include approximately fifteen scholars from several disciplines, including social, demographic and psychological anthropology; developmental, social, and cross-cultural psychology; linguistics; sociology; and pediatrics to build an agenda for integrated developmental ethnographic research on children in cultural contexts. Discussion will focus around three related topics: 1) theoretical frameworks that are promising for the integration of developmental and ethnographic research; 2) integration of research methods so that both development and its context can be analyzed in systematic fashion; and 3) overcoming the dichotomy between "qualitative" and "quantitative" data.