Kalow’s fieldwork to develop a documentary is common in the collaboration in interdisciplinary modern anthropology (Seymour-Smith, 1986). Kalow’s central premise was to show the underlying causes of child homelessness and the day-to-day life of the runaways. Kalow’s fieldwork uncovered the elements of normalcy in the children’s lives rather than demonising the runaways through a focus on teen prostitution, drug use and adolescent alcoholism (Kalow, 1996, p.60). Both Kalow and Malinowski’s research endeavoured to remove unnecessary exoticism in their final publishing.
The process of conducting anthropological research can be a long and difficult task drawn out over an extended period with no success. Malinowski comments on the “laborious years” …show more content…
He reinforced the importance of developing a scientific method that included a thorough description the research process, much like the kind seen in the natural sciences research processes (Malinowski, 1922). He commented that the material should be “collected through minute, detailed observation" (1922 p.24). The information documented should be a “collection of ethnographic statements, characteristic narratives, typical utterance, items of folk-lore and magical formulae” (1992 p.24). Kalow, on the other hand, did not use scientific processes, but instead used camcorders and still photographs to document her experiences. She recorded random occurrences, parties, living conditions and more structured in-depth group and individual …show more content…
Kalow’s informants were mostly children aged around sixteen years old, who had histories of extreme physical and/or sexual abuse (1996). As the majority of children had suffered abuse at the hand of their parents or caregiver, many would not have been able or willing to gain parental consent to participate in the research and may have been too young to consent to the research themselves, making each informant extremely vulnerable to exploitation. As such, all of the informants were given the opportunity to ensure the final documentary was something they were willing to
The process of conducting anthropological research can be a long and difficult task drawn out over an extended period with no success. Malinowski comments on the “laborious years” …show more content…
He reinforced the importance of developing a scientific method that included a thorough description the research process, much like the kind seen in the natural sciences research processes (Malinowski, 1922). He commented that the material should be “collected through minute, detailed observation" (1922 p.24). The information documented should be a “collection of ethnographic statements, characteristic narratives, typical utterance, items of folk-lore and magical formulae” (1992 p.24). Kalow, on the other hand, did not use scientific processes, but instead used camcorders and still photographs to document her experiences. She recorded random occurrences, parties, living conditions and more structured in-depth group and individual …show more content…
Kalow’s informants were mostly children aged around sixteen years old, who had histories of extreme physical and/or sexual abuse (1996). As the majority of children had suffered abuse at the hand of their parents or caregiver, many would not have been able or willing to gain parental consent to participate in the research and may have been too young to consent to the research themselves, making each informant extremely vulnerable to exploitation. As such, all of the informants were given the opportunity to ensure the final documentary was something they were willing to