Doing Field Projects

13 Sensory Observation

Research that focuses on sensory observations is not common in anthropology, in part because we lack a common vocabulary for such descriptions. Nevertheless, documenting one’s detailed sensory observations can prove to be valuable ethnographic data. In this chapter you will identify an event in which you will document your sensory observations (other than sight). You will produce your own specialized vocabulary, test it out, and then use it to document your event. You will reflect on the ways these sorts of observations can aid the ethnographer as well as on the challenges in gathering such data.

Learning Goals

1. Establish a baseline methodology for documenting the senses other than sight in an ethnographically informed manner.
2. Critique your methods.

You will not find an overabundance of readings on sensory anthropology, although the field has been expanding of late. Paul Stoller’s The Taste of Ethnographic Things: The Senses in Anthropology (1989) was a step in the direction of rectifying the problem, followed up with his Sensuous Scholarship (1997). Meanwhile, The Varieties of Sensory Experience, edited by David Howes (1991), showcased numerous efforts to advance research in the area. You will find additional resources listed at the end of this chapter, and you can consult them when casting about for ideas.

Sensory anthropology is still not fully incorporated into mainstream ethnography for two reasons. First, language to describe sensory experience ...