Obcość i swojskość w badaniach terenowych
Strangeness and familiarness in field research

Author(s): Andrzej Sarnacki SJ
Subject(s): Human Geography, Studies of Literature, Epistemology, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Methodology and research technology
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: epistemology; extraneousness; research assumptions; field work
Summary/Abstract: The present article deals with the issue of the research perspective related to the problem of perception, alienness and assumptions that are made in contemporary research. The author refers to his own research on violence in the cultural context, conducted in Colombia. Preparation of the research process requires the ability to anticipate, keep distance and maintain discipline in applying the method. The availability of test data is verified at the location and requires flexibility. In Latin American countries, the fact of being a priest makes it much easier to reach people and groups that are otherwise insular. In research and data interpretation, there are always questions that have their reference points in epistemology. Today, the awareness of personal conditioning reaches the dangerous dimensions of extreme individualism and ideological correctness. This is possibly the biggest problem facing a researcher of cultural phenomena today. Meanwhile, group membership does not have to determine the correctness of perception and the assessment of the situation. Familiarness comes from participating in a shared experience that is both universal and individual.

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