Problems of Doing Fieldwork - Beals in Gopalpur
From KstructIB
[edit] What was the topic Beals chose and why did he choose it?
Beals chose to compare two neighbouring villages in India, with one being irrigated and the other unirrigated. He chose to do this because of all the differences he noted from village to village during his membership in a volleyball team. He noticed that some had families who were growing in size while others were shrinking in size, and some were dependant on cash, whereas others still used the barter system. He found these differences interesting and wanted to explore them.
[edit] Where, when and with who did he do his fieldwork?
Gopalpur, India, between September 1958 and March 1960, with his wife Constance (and soon, his new born child).
[edit] Why did he choose this particular area?
Beals wanted to work in the in this region because it was 100 miles from the nearest modern city, and because it was, until just recently, a part of the Kingdom of Hyderbad, it had been little influenced by the modern world. Beals believed that this area would be ideal to obtain an accurate picture of the similarities and differences between villages. What problems did he have finding the ‘right’ village?
Beals only spoke Kanarese so it was difficult for him to stay in a village where another language was spoken. Also, he was being warned by missionaries etc that him and his wife would soon suffer from a number of diseases if they stayed there, and his wife was ill as it was, so they needed to be close to a hospital. And then, when Beals and his wife settled in Yadgiri, they were told they had to move again. Also, Beals had ‘specifications’ towards what kind of village he wanted to stay in.
[edit] Why did Gopalpur seem ‘perfect’?
He chose Gopalpur because it met his specifications; it had irrigated land, its population was approximately 500, it was close to an unirrigated village, and everyone spoke Kanarese. Also to his advantage was that it was only 2 miles from a large village within which there was a dispensary. What practical difficulties did they have with and without servants?
Without servants, they realised that they could not carry out everyday tasks, such as getting water, making fire, and preparing food. When they employed Tamma as their servant, they found that he would spend his time with relatives or spreading gossip about them to others.
[edit] What was his wife’s ‘sickness’?
She was pregnant and was suffering from morning sickness.
[edit] Why where Beals and his wife not accepted at first?
Beals was not trusted because the villagers of Gopalpur were not used to foreigners, and believed Beals would do things such as drop an atomic bomb on the village, or carry the village to America by airplane, or steal and eat young children. His wife, on the other hand, was constantly being told how to cook, keep house, and dress and began to become frustrated.
[edit] What were the problems of moving house?
Firstly, Beals did not want to leave his house. And secondly, the new house was in a terrible state, with the ceiling beginning to rot and the house being infested by scorpions to mention just a few problems. Tamma disappeared for a long time to collect much needed materials for the house, and soon, many villagers turned up at their house demanding clothes which Beals and his wife did not have to give them.
[edit] How were they slowly accepted?
They slowly began to meet people such as their new landlady and neighbour, and, as they started going out into the village in search of food, they began to acquire friends and supporters. Beals says that this is because him and his wife were beginning to be viewed as a valuable resource.
[edit] Why did they ‘take sides’?
First of all, most of their new-found friends belonged to one faction, so they inevitably sided with their friends. Also, when The Crook and the Thug resorted to violence against Tamma, Beals decided he was going to take action against them.
[edit] What problems did they have with field assistants?
They had to go through three field assistants before finding some which proved helpful. The first field assistant was very well suited to the job according to Beals, but had to leave after only a few months to become a fireman. The second assistant was well educated but had ‘no taste’ for fieldwork, and argued with Beals. The third assistant was more professional than Beals and therefore could not work as an assistant. However, after these three assistants, the Beals managed to find some very good field assistants.
[edit] What language problems did they have?
Beal’s main problem was that his Kanarese was not very good, and he was used to people who spoke fluent English. When he arrived in Gopalpur, however, he found that very few people spoke English, and that he would have to learn Kanarese. He also wasted a lot of time taking grammar lessons which did not benefit him very much.
==What problems did they have with notes/information-gathering/government sources?==
What the Beals regretted was not taking a video camera or tape recorder and therefore were unable to record everything they did and/or saw. Also, although Constance kept an excellent journal, Alan found that he left many gaps in his. Also, although they tried to keep an objective state of mind, it was inevitable that some of their interpretation of events was bias. Another problem was encountered when they tried to obtain information from one hospital, as the director thought that they were trying to find out whether or not some patients received favoured treatment and refused them information. They also could not perform a series of medical examinations on some inhabitants of the village due to a lack of adequately trained medical personnel and funding. Government records were difficult to handle due to a series of translations, and much was lost due to these translations.
==In what ways was Gopalpur similar to and different from surrounding villages?==
It was different in that it was a small village that was dependant on neighbouring communities for goods and services. Also, the variety of people there was quite unique; for example, the saltmakers and stoneworkers living there had brought their own cultures into the village; and this gives Gopalpur its own structure of social arrangements. The ecology of the area, as well as its environmental conditions, were different, as were aspects of is infrastructure such as its distance from the road, the town of Yadgiri and its accessibility in general. Its similarities to surrounding villages included its relationships and ties with the surrounding villages and towns. These include the fact that the people with authority (such as the government officials) having a uniform influence on the village of Gopalpur and all of the other villages in the region. This influence affects trade relationships and economic ties, intervillage visiting and marital relationships, and pilgrimage centres, markets and towns. In what ways did they suffer from ‘reverse culture shock’?
When they returned to the States, they found they were not used to the ‘coldness’ of the people there. People seemed to be doing everything in a rush, and were not staring, brushing against them and admiring them like they had been used to in Gopalpur. They missed the ‘simple’ things that they were used to in Gopalpur, and could not understand how people could separate the natural processes of eating, quarrelling, sleeping together etc from earth and flesh.
Compare the problems faced by the Beals with their baby and those faced by Wendy Schottman when she spent three months with her 14-year old baby daughter among the Baatombu of northern Benin in 1989.
The Beals do not make much mention about the problems they faced with their daughter Robin, but what they do mention is that the Gopalpur people made sure that they let them know what they thought of them. The village people thought that Robin should not be allowed to cry, she was not to eat foods regarded as dangerous, and she was obliged to have an expensive naming ceremony. Schottman also faced similar problems, with the locals telling her not to hit her child and that she wanted to eat when Schottman knew that she didn’t. Another problem Schottman had was with the locals making ‘jokes’ such as saying “Give me your baby. I’m going to go home with her” which she felt very uncomfortable about. Schotmann also had many problems with her daughter in terms of looking after her; nappies were not at her disposal, Iza was always ‘exploring’ around the area and Schottman was constantly worried, and she does not have the advantage that the local women have of older, more experienced women looing after her baby at times.
Compare these problems with those faced by Chagnon as a lone male and by Weiner both with and without her daughter.
Chagnon’s main problems were that when he first entered Yanomamo society, he did not yet speak the language, and they were not what he expected them to be. It also took Chagnon a long time to adapt to the environment and the lack of hygiene that he was not used to. He was also angry at the fact that the Yanomamo wanted to share all of his food. As Chagnon was alone, he felt lonely at times but found that he could make no real friends; all of the Yanomamo who he befriended ended up using him to their advantage.
