18 Policy research & Anthropology

Mary Grace ‘D’ Tungdim

Contents:

1.  Introduction

2.  Meaning & Concept of Anthropology

2.1 The Subfields of Anthropology

3.  Anthropology around the World

3.1 Employment

4.  Policy Research

5.  Policy Research and Anthropology

6.  Anthropology and Fieldwork

7.  Anthropological fieldwork in the post-modern world

Summary

Learning Objectives:

1.  To understand the meaning and concept of anthropology.

2.  To understand the meaning and concept of policy research.

3.  To study the use of anthropological fieldwork in policy research.

Introduction

Anthropology is the holistic study of the extinct form as well as the extant forms of man. It studies simple and complex societies of man in relation to its environment. The simple societies were healers, gatherers, hunters themselves for subsistence thereby maintaining a balanced relation with the environment they live in. However, in complex societies people have a tendency to accumulate and exploit nature, thereby hampering human existence on earth. The increase in population, development of in terms of technology, economy, health care, etc. have led to a call for policy formulation in each field viz.; Economy, Food, Population, etc. thereby increasing the need of policy research. The emergence of scientific forms of thinking and the production of “scientific knowledge” is increasingly significant in shaping political, economic and social policy debates.

Early initiatives to stimulate economic growth through the development of imperial science were pursued initially along the lines of the imperialist economic policies of Chamberlain and Milner, exemplified by state-directed constructive imperialism in South Africa. According to Joseph M. Hodge, these moves marked the effective beginning of “the triumph of the expert”. The new doctrine gave its adherents faith in new modes of knowledge and confidence in their abilities to shape and manipulate nature. As “social imperialism”, these ideas were extended by Leopold Amery, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (1919–1921), who sought, in the context of the post-war depression, to emphasize material exploitation of the “tropical estate”. This policy stressed the settlement of “surplus” European populations in the tropics where they were thought essential to “opening up and developing the primary resources of the colonies”.

By the time of the Great Depression in the early 1930s, shrinking world trade created a major social crisis leading European and North American governments to pursue policies aimed at domestic recovery with little concern for the implications on colonial economies. The crisis weakened Asian, African and Latin American economies that depended on the export of primary commodities to industrial nations. Yet the economic crisis also provided the opportunity to reconsider social policy in the industrialized countries and in the colonies. The period was marked by the beginning of state social engineering and Keynesian economics aimed at improving the lot of ordinary people and meeting the challenge of massive social innovation in the USSR. In the US, these developments gave rise to the New Deal. In the UK, they marked the beginning of initiatives to develop a welfare state. New thinking emerged at the Colonial Office (CO) about the role of the state in development and welfare, and in 1929, the Colonial Welfare Act which provided “up to a £1 million a year in Treasury grants and loans to aid the development of colonial agriculture and industry with the express purpose of promoting trade with or industry in the United Kingdom” was passed. Such embryonic initiatives in the 1930s were only fully embraced by the Colonial Office after the period under review with the passing of the Colonial Welfare and Development Act in 1940.

By the inter-war period, science and technology were also often seen as a means for strengthening governmental control over colonial peoples at a time of increasing political unrest and economic depression, while ameliorating social and economic circumstances. In this context, by the late 1930s, there was a decisive shift in Colonial Office emphasis from policy development relying on district administrators and colonial officials who “knew their natives” to policy guided by research and “scientific expertise”. Yet one of Hodge’s main assertions is that “the victory of the expert was short-lived and to a large extent illusory”. He argues that “despite increasing investment in development projects the disjunction between metropolitan discourses and colonial practice had its roots in the structural constraints and material contradiction punctuating the colonial project”.

Focusing on social issues, this scientific endeavour at first sought to deal with the implications of apparent African population decline on labour supply and economic growth. By the 1930s, the focus shifted to population pressure, the need for sanitary and medical research and services, and the economic problems of food supply, agricultural productivity, soil science and plant and livestock husbandry. These problems embodied the question of how African populations were to be governed in a complex, modernizing, new age.

Few contemporary officials or researchers were prepared to see the future in terms of an African industrial revolution and urbanization, which they associated with the negative effects of “detribalization”, the disintegration of rural/tribal/customary life and political unrest. Thus the key focus in India and Africa was often on “a romantically tinged anti-industrialism with India destined to remain a land of princes, peasants and artisans, spared the ugliness and turmoil of modern industrial society”. African traditional society was also to remain as undisturbed as possible, though paradoxically providing adequate labour for colonial industry and agriculture. The problem was, therefore, initially defined as how best to manage and sustain a viable rural society and to prevent the disruption of the old order embodied in the policy of Indirect Rule.

Meaning & Concept of Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humankind in time and space. The term anthropology is derived from the Greek words anthropos meaning ‘human’ and logos meaning ‘word’ or ‘study of’. Anthropologists are not the only scientists who study humans, so the goals of anthropology are shared by other disciplines within the social, behavioural and biological sciences. Therefore, anthropologists take a broad approach to understand different aspects of the human experience, which is termed as ‘holism’. They consider the past, through archaeology, to see how human groups lived hundreds or thousands of years ago and what was important to them. They consider what makes up our biological bodies and genetic make up, as well as our bones, diet, and health.

Anthropologists also compare humans with other animals (most often, other primates like monkeys and chimpanzees) to see what we have in common with them and what makes us unique from the other primates. Even though nearly all humans need the same things to survive, like food, water, and companionship, the ways people meet these needs can be very different. Anthropologists also try to understand how people interact in social relationships (families and friends). Anthropologists also look at the different ways people dress and communicate in different societies and sometimes use them for comparisons to understand their own society. Thus, anthropology integrates the findings of many subfields and disciplines like sociology, economics, law, history, psychology and biology.

The Subfields of Anthropology

Anthropology is generally divided into four subfields. Each of the subfields teaches distinctive skills and techniques. However, the subfields also have a number of similarities. For example, each subfield applies theories, employs systematic research methodologies, formulates and tests hypotheses, and develops extensive sets of data.

Archaeology

Archaeologists study human culture by analyzing the objects people have made. They carefully remove from the ground such things as pottery and tools, and they map the locations of houses, trash pits, and burials in order to learn about the daily lives of a people. They also analyze human bones and teeth to gain information on a people’s diet and the diseases they suffered. The time range for archaeological research begins with the earliest human ancestors millions of years ago and extends all the way up to the present day.

Biological Anthropology

Biological anthropologists seek to understand how humans adapt to different environments, what causes disease and early death, and how humans evolved from other animals. To do this, they study humans (living and dead), other primates such as monkeys and apes, and human ancestors (fossils). They are also interested in how biology and culture work together to shape our lives. They are interested in explaining the similarities and differences that are found among humans across the world.

Cultural Anthropology

Sociocultural anthropologists explore how people in different places live and understand the world around them. They want to know what people think is important and the rules they make about how they should interact with one another. Even within one country or society, people may disagree about how they should speak, dress, eat, or treat others. Anthropologists want to listen to all voices and viewpoints in order to understand how societies vary and what they have in common. Sociocultural anthropologists often find that the best way to learn about diverse peoples and cultures is to spend time living among them. They try to understand the perspectives, practices, and social organization of other groups whose values and lifeways may be very different from their own. The knowledge they gain can enrich human understanding on a broader level.

Linguistic Anthropology

Linguistic anthropologists study the many ways people communicate across the globe. They are interested in how language is linked to how we see the world and how we relate to each other. This can mean looking at how language works in all its different forms, and how it changes over time. It also means looking at what we believe about language and communication, and how we use language in our lives. This includes the ways we use language to build and share meaning, to form or change identities, and to make or change relations of power.

Applied and Practicing Anthropology

Applied or practicing anthropologists are an important part of anthropology. Each of the four subfields of anthropology can be applied. Applied anthropologists work to solve real world problems by using anthropological methods and ideas. For example, they may work in local communities helping to solve problems related to health, education or the environment. They might also work for museums or national or state parks helping to interpret history. They might work for local, state or federal governments or for non-profit organizations. Others may work for businesses, like retail stores or software and technology companies, to learn more about how people use products or technology in their daily lives. Some work in the USA while others work internationally. Jobs for applied anthropologists have shown strong growth in the recent past with more and more opportunities becoming available as demand grows for their valuable skill sets.

Anthropology around the World

While anthropologists devote much of their attention to what human groups share across time and space, they also study how these groups are different. Just as there is diversity in the ways people physically adapt to their environment, build and organize societies, and communicate, there are also many ways to do anthropology. Unique approaches to anthropology developed in many countries around the world. For example, in some countries the four-field approach is not as strong as it is in others.

Employment

Anthropologists are employed in a number of different sectors, from colleges and universities to government agencies, NGOs, businesses, and health and human services. Within the university, they teach undergraduate and graduate anthropology, and many offer anthropology courses in other departments and professional schools such as business, education, design, and public health. Anthropologists contribute significantly to interdisciplinary fields such as international studies and ethnic and gender studies, and some work in academic research centers. Outside the university, anthropologists work in government agencies, private businesses, community organizations, museums, independent research institutes, service organizations, the media; and others work as independent consultants and research staff for agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control, UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank. More than half of all anthropologists now work in organizations outside the university.

Their work may involve building research partnerships, assessing economic needs, evaluating policies, developing new educational programs, recording little-known community histories, providing health services, and other socially relevant activities. You will find anthropologists addressing social and cultural consequences of natural disasters, equitable access to limited resources, and human rights at the global level.

Applied anthropology is simply “anthropology put to use” (Willigen, 2002 ). It is any kind of anthropological research that is done to solve practical problems. This means that there are stakeholders and clients who stand to gain or lose from the project.

Anthropology can be used to solve problems in enumerable fields. Here are some common examples:

• Health and medicine
• Business
• Human rights
• Education
• Environmental issues
• Community development
• Museums
• Disaster research & management
• International development

   Applied anthropologists can take on very different roles in their work. They may be one or more of the following:

• Researchers
• Policy analysts
• Program evaluators
• Needs assessors
• Impact assessors
• Community advocates
• Trainers
• Culture brokers
• Managers
• Change agents
• Consultants

   Policy Research

Policy research means an inquiry into the nature and origins of problems that public policy aims to solve. It is distinct from purely academic research that seeks only theoretical knowledge. It is also distinct from policy analysis done to inform a specific decision, but it supports such analysis by identifying the causes of problems that policy might change. In applied policy research, qualitative methods are used to meet a variety of different objectives. In this type of research, the objectives are usually clearly set and shaped by specific information requirements.

Therefore, any output from the research needs to be appropriately targeted towards providing answers in the form of greater elucidation or understanding of the issues being addressed. Most of the policy research are done on a limited time-scales, so it mostly requires a team of researchers which may comprise from different disciplines. The questions that need to be addressed in applied policy research may vary from study to study but they can be divided into four broad categories, viz.: Contextual, Diagnostic, Evaluation and Strategic.

• Contextual: It is used in identifying the form and nature of what exists. Some examples are cited below:

    Dimensions of attitudes or perceptions.

Nature of people’s experiences.

The present needs of the population under study

The elements operating within a system.

• Diagnostic: It is used in examining the reasons for, or the causes of what exists. Some examples are mentioned below:

The factors underlying particular attitudes or perceptions.

The reasons for the rise in particular needs.

The reasons for using any services or programmes.

• Evaluation: It is used in appraising the effectiveness of what exists. Some examples are given below:

The methods to achieve the objectives of the study.

The effects of successful delivery programmes or services.

The affect of experiences on subsequent behaviours.

The barriers existing in the operating systems.

• Strategic: It is employed in identifying new theories, policies, plans or actions. Some examples are stated below:

The types of services required to meet needs.

The actions needed to make programmes or services more effective.

The way to improve systems.

The strategies required to overcome newly defined problems.

According to Mead (2004), the general model of public policy is thus:

(1) Government → The good society

It is assumed that with regard to a specific problem, policy research must show which public policies will achieve good effects.

(2) Public policy → Good effects

For this connection to hold, however, government must be able to generate the desired policies. It means both making policy and implementing it.

(3)    Government → Effective public policy

For the government to do this assumes that it has effective policy making processes. These will include some form of policy analysis, or deliberate reasoning about how best to solve public problems, and also administrative mechanisms. Policy research seeks general knowledge of problems so as to support analyses done for specific public decisions. Only if model (2) is combined with (3) it can realize the vision of model (1). Also, most importantly, it is important to appraise the policy performance.

Policy Research and Anthropology

Field research is an essential component of realistic policy research. The purpose of policy research is to provide information to decision makers in support of the rational formation, implementation and evaluation of policy. Policy can be thought of as strategies of action and choice used to achieve desired goals. Policies may be formulated by private business firms, Non Governmental Organizations, Governments, etc. There are many kinds of policy namely: public policy, social policy, food policy, health policy, industrial policy, foreign policy, etc. which delegates the strategies of action and choice employed by governments and other organizations in various aspects of life in complex societies. So, all policies are concerned with values. Therefore, policy formulation involves specifying behaviour which is to result in achieving a valued condition.

A policy is a hypothesis about the relationship between behaviour and values. Policies involves allocation of decisions to spend money and time to achieve something, wherein ‘something’ can or may include increases in Gross National Product, decrease in unemployment, improvement of health services, decreases in the number of female foeticide, decreases in the cost of essential items, etc. Policies may be formulated at the international, national and local level. There can also be small scale concerns like identification of local needs of educational program, increases in public input in the planning of the construction of roads, dams, etc. Policy research can occur on both sides of a policy issues and can be adversarial.

James Mooney (1895) an American ethnographer conducted a research work which had as its goal the determination of what the US Department of War should do in response to the Ghost Dance as practiced among certain plains Indians (Wallace, 1956). The appointment of the early faculty of Anthropology at the English Universities was based on the need to train colonial administrators. The extensive involvement of anthropologists in policy research efforts amplified since the 1970s. This may due to the expansion of the coverage of the field of anthropology from the academics to the applied aspects of the subject.

This is illustrated in the case of Anthropologist Robert Textor, who worked in the Peace Corps and participated in the development of the personnel policy of the Peace Corps and restricted the length of employment in the Peace Corps so as to maintain a higher rate of innovation and it is known as ‘organizational youth’ (Textor, 1966). Homer G. Barnett as an anthropologist did extensive work in the Pacific following World War II. He argued that our effectiveness as applied anthropologists would be reduced if we took as administrators.. Though, of course, most involvement of anthropologists in the policy arena is as researchers. One advantage of anthropologists as administrators, leaders, etc. is the ability to make use of the knowledge and concepts of anthropology which makes them able to connect with the masses.

Policy research is not a monolith (Willigen, 2002). There are different types of policy research. Every stage in policy process is related with different research needs. There are many different types of current policy research where anthropologists are involved. Anthropologists perform evaluation research, social impact assessment, social soundness analysis as well as various kinds of policy research. In addition to research carried out in support of the development, implementation and evaluation of specific policies, research may be conducted in general areas of social concern.

Anthropology provides the traditional, holistic participant observation based research methodology. Due to the effective involvement and contribution of anthropology in the field of policy, “Anthropologists are said to be most effective at the local level (Chambers, 1977) or they work at the level of national policy formation and they function best in large multidisciplinary research teams (Trend, 1976).”

Anthropology and Fieldwork

The most important strength of anthropology is the fieldwork. Both the evolutionary approach and the functional approach were rooted in the belief that a science of society was possible complete with the formulation of generalized laws of society. Diligent fieldwork marked by scientific objectivity could enable a fieldworker to unravel the basic truths about policy adopted in a society or in any organization. An anthropologist after obtaining detailed understanding of a society during a long and substantive fieldwork would not only be able to tell how the society functions but also give advise and formulate strategies as to its repair and its ‘betterment’ or ‘development’.

The objective approach advocated for an anthropologist included not getting emotionally involved in the society they were studying, to remain ethically neutral so as not to form a value judgement about anything that they observed. As Victor Turner (1967) has written in his study of rituals, the observations of the participant in any ritual is situated in the position that he /she occupies in the ritual. They are likely to base their interpretation on the view from the position they occupy. Thus a person on a dance floor would look at the rest of the scene from the corner occupied by him. But a neutral observer is one who looks at the dance floor from a distance and to whom the entire dance floor is visible from an equidistance perspective like looking at it from the top.

The view of the fieldworker had to be objective and unbiased that is obtained from a neutral stand outside the field. This distance was not a physical one for he/she is situated within the field physically, but a mental one. This rule of scientific objectivity was based on the premise that the field situation for an anthropologist is similar to the laboratory of a scientist and observations to be done in the field have to be done with the same degree of detachment. It was this distancing oneself from the situations one observed that was an aspect of anthropological training. The explanations that came forth from the field were to be analyzed according to the logic of the observer. What the actors said about what they were doing was only a part of data but not a part of the explanation. A paucity of field research can weaken policy research on different problems.

Participant observation

Participant observation is used in anthropological fieldwork to get authentic data and so as to be as close to the action as possible. In participant observation the observer participates in ongoing activities and records observations. It has been the hallmark of anthropological studies. The meaning of anthropological observation is clearly defined in order to set it apart from what is known as simply ‘seeing’. Everyone sees but not everyone observes. Thus observation is defined as purposeful seeing. An anthropologist looks at things it is with an aim in view, the aim to understand and find an explanation for whatever is happening. Obviously by mere seeing even if with a purpose one cannot understand many things. Thus observation in this sense is quite different from the observation one carries out in the laboratory where the observed phenomenon is silent. The field of the anthropologist consists of other human beings who both speak and think.

Anthropological fieldwork in the post-modern world

The world has changed a lot in the post-colonial period and communication, migration, travel and market forces have created complex societies by the forces of globalization, industrialization and mass communication. Anthropological fieldwork has been used to help the colonial administration.

Anthropological fieldwork is transforming its character and we have transnational societies, diasporas and the notion of a “global village” that makes the isolated study of any field area both unrealistic as well as unfruitful. Even during the fifties and sixties anthropologists were already thinking in terms of concepts such as ‘networks’ to study more complex societies when it was realized that the local cannot be understood without reference to what is happening outside. The merging of the local with the global is a recognized phenomenon. One has to decode how decisions taken in one part of the world affect the lives of the others in the other parts of the globe or the use of a particular technology in one part of the globe may affect the health of people in a remote mountain village.

The ethics of fieldwork lies in that anthropology is not only a science about humans it is in itself a humanistic science. As quoted by Anthropologist Alfred L.Kroeber (1876-1960) “Anthropology is the most humanistic of sciences and the most scientific of the humanities”.

During the colonial era the anthropologists employed by the government did not always corroborate what the administration wanted them to do. Many of them came out openly against the accepted premises of colonialism that the savages needed to be civilized. In the twentieth century many the point of view of the anthropologists has converted the world into thinking in terms of the successful adaptation of the pre-industrial people that had preserved the environment for millions of years. The environmental disasters being faced by the world today as well as the moral and social problems increasing rather than decreasing in the age of rapid globalization.

Non-anthropologists such as doctors and even engineers also use anthropological fieldwork techniques when they need to interact with people and conduct different types of studies. The role of anthropologist in implementing policies and projects where people are involved has been recognized to the extent that there can be no project that does not require having an anthropologist as advisor on its panel or a researcher in the team of research. The understanding gained through anthropological fieldwork is the only manner in which a humanistic approach can be ensured and assist in policy development and planning for the complex human society.

Some of the earliest proponents of modernization theory were anthropologists. They figured prominently in the early editions of Economic Development and Culture Change, a journal that emerged in the 1950s as a forum for debate on economic development in poor countries. Furthermore, as Little and Painter demonstrate, anthropologists played a role in “articulating modernization theory as something that could be implemented as policy. In most cases, anthropologists stated their recommendations in neutral, technocratic language that portrayed as scientific fact assertions that the living conditions of the poor in Latin America, Africa and Asia would improve through processes of modernization” (Escobar, 1995).

Summary

Policy research in general is an inquiry into the nature and origins of problems that public policy aims to solve. Every government, NGOs, business institution, etc. need to formulate its own policy to regulate the system. Policy can range from public policy, health policy, food policy and so on. Policy are formulated and implemented to bring about development. Development is undoubtedly the key challenge of our time and anthropology does have a significant role to play in development. The general model of public policy is to bring about a good society with public policies which will achieve wholesome effects in making effective public policy. To achieve this, the government needs to have effective policy making processes that include some form of policy analysis, or deliberate reasoning about how best to solve public problems, and also effective administrative mechanisms by involving anthropologists who are specialized in field research. A good policy research conducted by Anthropologists can bring about a change in the society and overall development.

References

• Escobar, A. (1995). Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Mead, L.M. (2004). Prepared for delivery at the conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Atlanta, GA, Oct. 30, 2004.
• Mooney, J. (1896). The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890, Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1892-93, pt. 2. Washington DC: Government Printing Office.
• Textor, R.B. (1966). Conclusions, problems and prospects. In Cultural frontiers of the Peace Corps. R. Textor (ed.), Cambridge: MIT press.
• Turner, V.W. (1967). The forest of symbols: Aspects of Ndembu ritual Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Wallace, A.F.C. (1956). “Revitalization Movements.” American Anthropologist 58: 264–81.
• Willigen, J.V. (2002). Applied Anthropology: An Introduction. 3rd Edition, Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.

    Suggested Readings

1. Applied Anthropology: An Introduction. 3rd Edition, By John Van Willigen, Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. 2002
2. Methods for Policy Research by Edited by: Ann Majchrzak. Sage publications.
3. A Methodology Reader Health Policy and Systems Research Edited by Lucy Gilson.
4. Anthropology of Policy: Perspectives on Governance and Power. edited by Cris Shore, Susan Wright. Taylor & Francis eLibrary, 2005. London & New York
5. The Qualitative Researcher’s Companion. By Michael Huberman, Matthew B. Miles. Sage publications. Internation Educational and Professional Publisher, Thousand Oaks, California.
6. Essentials of Physical Anthropology. 5th edition. Robert Jurmain, Lynn Kilgore, Wenda Trevathan, Harry Nelson.
7. Controversies in Policy Research: critical analysis for a new era of Austerity and Privation. edited by S. Petrie, Macmillan Publishers Limited, UK, 2013