Ways of working in the research

The research employed ethnographic, historiographic, analytic, quantitative, and co-creative ways of working.

Qualitative research, encompassing literature research, observation, conversation, participation as an observer, and co-operation, was used to archive repertoires of music, dance, text, and ritual, along with their histories. This approach also aimed to contribute to understanding the representation, interpretation, and evaluation of music. Techniques employed during the co-operation with specialists included joined examination of older literature, discussions on the provenance and history of specific phenomena, presenting to the specialists what had been said by others, and receiving feedback on the author’s constructions. The author’s role was primarily that of a participant observer, maintaining the position of an involved outsider who co-operated interculturally to archive and contribute to knowledge.

The level of knowledge and insight of a small number of local exegetes (functioning as possession cult leaders,  healers, and singers-dancers), and the way their ability to contextualise music within a broader framework, facilitated the collaborative uncovering of underlying principles in older cult and possession music, text interpretation, music and emotion, and the evaluation of music, dance, and performers. Collaborative work was conducted using dialogic methods aimed at achieving intersubjectivity. The research also explored the familiarity of these ideas about musical structure among the general public in Chibale and any correlation between these ideas and the experiences of ritual attendees.

Material gathered during the qualitative part of the research was compared with material collected in three surveys designed to investigate the experiences of those attending gatherings with music. Interviews were conducted with a substantial number of people representative of the population over 14 years of age, covering musical evaluation, song text interpretation and musical knowledge. This also shed light on possible ideas of structure in music, the way musical experiences were ordered, the way song texts were interpreted, and the way social themes were expressed in music and musical choices and behaviour.

Dialogic and self-research approaches evolved throughout the research. These developments led, among other outcomes, to the training of a small number of individuals in Chibale and surrounding areas to conduct research into culture, history, and related fields using digital tools. The gathered material was also transformed into new, often digital, forms of tradition for schools, special interest groups, specific projects, and local radio. The author’s responsibilities included securing funding, organising training, assessing research quality, and assisting in the design of innovative traditional forms. The project’s objective soon shifted, at the request of those involved, towards creating media productions rooted in and reflecting their ‘own culture’.

Methodology and working with a lack of insight

While research methodologies are important, an overemphasis on rigid adherence to prescribed methods can be counterproductive. The notion that following ‘the methods’ precisely guarantees research success seems unlikely, except perhaps in cases where the primary objective is methodological adherence itself. Success requires more than simply applying proper methods. Furthermore, when research benefits not only ‘science’ but also those directly involved, researchers are expected to offer more than just methodological compliance.

Latour¹Latour, Harman & Erdélyi (2011:79). mocks the epistemological fixation of social scientists:

The social sciences are obsessed by epistemological questioning in a way that no science, no real science is. You never have a chemistry class that starts with the methodology of chemistry; you start by doing chemistry. And the problem is that since the social sciences don’t know what it is to be scientific, because they know nothing about the real sciences, they imagine that they have to be listing endless numbers of criteria and precautions before doing anything. And they usually miss precisely what is interesting in natural sciences which is … a laboratory situation and the experimental protocol!

Most anthropologists will shun an experimental protocol or a laboratory situation simply because they deal not with chemicals, but with real human beings in concrete social situations. However, Latour’s observations are not without relevance to them. Given the nature of the research role that the anthropologist has, each encountered situation must be treated as a kind of laboratory situation, precisely because of the lack of insight, at that point, into the ‘chemistry’ of the situation. This lack of insight is at the heart of anthropological research. An ‘experimental protocol’ can be approximated –with respect for all involved– when the anthropologist introduces or elicits conjectures about the phenomena encountered and their possible coherence in such a way that some of those involved feel inspired to help or to co-operate in constructing better conjectures, or begin to do so independently.

For more details on the ways of working that were used in the research follow the links.

Ways of working for description

Ways of working for uncovering underlying principles

Ways of working for co-creation