Deep Hanging Out

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Definition

Deep hanging out was coined as a term by anthropologist Clifford Geertz in 1998, with his book Deep Hanging Out.[1] Deep hanging out is the phenomenon that takes place when an anthropologist is immersed in a cultural experience where they are then able to observe what typically end up being the most poignant insights of their research.

The validity of deep hanging out as a practice is debated in the anthropology community. Many argue that 'hanging out' or spending time with a group of people is one of the best ways to get real stories about the everyday lives of a culture or group. For instance, deep hanging out often builds trust in situations in which an anthropologist outsider might not be completely trusted on first blush. One anthropologist was able to hear stories about extremely sensitive subjects such as rape and murders deals from a specific violent gang group because he was able to establish trust with them over time. He kept the research and results anonymous when he published it to protect the rights of the group.

Others argue that deep hanging could affect objectivity in research. (Check this to see if it is likely to be a fact or not).

Deep Hanging Out Online vs. Offline

In traditional anthropology, the field is a literal space or place in which actors preform culture. In digital anthropology, the field can be entirely virtual, part virtual and real, and completely real. For instance, a digital anthropologist could practice deep hanging out in a user group or chatroom without physically meeting any of the group members during the research experiment. Along the way, the anthropologist would pick up on the cultural terms in the demographic and be able to conduct research either as a detached observer, or as a participant observer embedded into the social reality of the site.

The digital anthropologist could also use the virtual site to identify group members to meet in real life, or to find ways to meet groups of people in real life to compare online and offline behaviors. Finally, the anthropologist could simply observe how members of a group interact with each other and their devices in real life through the use of technology. In this case, the sites might be in the same room (in the case of a conference where many are connected online with each other during the event and afterwards), or spread out in bedrooms, boardrooms, offices, kitchens and living rooms all over the world.

External Links

Hanging out and hanging about Insider/outsider research in the sport of boxing Kath Woodward. Open University, UK.

Abstract

This article offers reflection on the relationship between the researcher and the field of research, within the sport of men's boxing, which is strongly characterized by polarized oppositions: between winning and losing, success and failure, women and men and, perhaps most importantly for the researcher, `insiders' and `outsiders'. It is this interrelationship between `insiders' and `outsiders' and the embodiment, not only of the practitioners of the sport but also the embodied presence of the researcher, which is used here to explore methodological questions about the research process and debates about how the researcher is situated in relation to the research site, by addressing questions about ontological complicity that are implicated in the distinction between `hanging out' and `hanging about' at the gym and as part of the culture of boxing.

Serial Hanging Out: Rapid Ethnographic Needs Assessment in Rural Settings. Jaspal S. Sandhu, P. Altankhuyag and D. Amarsaikhan.

Ethnography Essentials: Designing, Conducting, and Presenting Your Research By Julian Murchison

References

  1. Deep Hanging Out