Anthropology

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/9870

This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Anthropology.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

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Browsing Anthropology by Author "Hoeppe, Götz"

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    Biodiversity Citizen Science Data Production Through iNaturalist: An Anthropological Exploration
    (University of Waterloo, 2023-05-04) Xu, Alice; Hoeppe, Götz
    iNaturalist is a common mobile application used in biodiversity citizen science projects and education. The application lets laypeople of all levels of expertise submit species ‘observations’ that can include correlating photo and audio data. All iNaturalist observations are publicly available and can be utilized by professionals in environmental organizations, researchers, academics, and park rangers. By drawing on participant observation at citizen science events hosted by the environmental charity EcoSpark, interviews with academics as well as professionals working for federal and provincial government institutions, it appears that the movement of data from the laypeople to the researchers and professionals can involve acts of giving and taking as well as an abundance of activities that spurn hope and trust for biodiversity citizen science involvement. As explicit anthropological engagement with biodiversity citizen science remains an area for ripe exploration, this thesis thus aims to embark on an anthropological exploration of a sample of iNaturalist users in Ontario, their perspectives, and the data production activities that engage them in biodiversity citizen science efforts.
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    Bird Monitoring and New Media: An Anthropological Exploration
    (University of Waterloo, 2019-01-25) Moscovitch, Mallory; Hoeppe, Götz
    As the diversity of new media increases, people have more choices than ever before to select between various media for specific uses. In this thesis, I draw from my own research to look at the ways that bird monitors associated with the rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge, Ontario, share or keep their observation records of birds in the digital age. I conducted participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and survey fieldwork from May – September 2018. In chapter one, I highlight how the proliferation of digital media provides users with novel choices of which medium to select for specific uses. In the following chapter, I unravel this further to reveal that bird monitors choose to use a diversity of media and I explore how this accords with the expectations of the rare Charitable Research Reserve. I suggest that while some bird monitors share their observation records in accordance with expectations, some share in other ways, or choose not to share at all, keeping their records without sharing. In the discussion of chapter two, I emphasize the joint role that media and exchange play in the context of eBird. I argue that eBird produces a kind of fame, or at least recognition, that may increase one’s credibility as a bird monitor or discredit them through instances of bird species misidentification. It is my hope that this research and the insights that might be gleaned from this study have practical applications for the rare Charitable Research Reserve and other organizations that engage the public in the digital age. Furthermore, I hope that this research might meaningfully contribute to the growing body of literature on the interaction between humans and technology.
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    Exploring the Temporalities of the Patient-Doctor Relationship Throughout the Lifespan Using an Anthropological Lens
    (University of Waterloo, 2024-09-24) Manning, Wynne Caitlin; Hoeppe, Götz
    This thesis explores the temporalities of patient-doctor relationships. Existing studies of patient-doctor relations have been largely made by non-anthropologists who assess patient-doctor encounters and relations at shorter timespans. How longer timespans matter to these social relations has been analyzed less. This thesis proposes a qualitative approach that uses interviews and diaries by participants to document their experiences with their doctors and the healthcare system in Ontario. Adopting this approach for an exploratory study of 19 participants suggests that age, gender, ethnicity, and educational status affect how patients experience the temporalities of their interactions with medical doctors.
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    Making Sense of Video Instruction: An Ethnomethodological Analysis of Following a YouTube Croissant Making Tutorial
    (University of Waterloo, 2021-01-18) Panton, Marissa; Hoeppe, Götz
    With the use of video instruction becoming more prevalent, this thesis looks at the methods learners use to navigate video tutorials through an ethnomethodological lens. As ethnomethodology is concerned with the way members of society, together, make sense of everyday situations, the way users make sense of video instruction, compared to other mediums of instruction, is an important ethnomethodological question. Using auto-ethnographic video recordings and multi-modal transcription methods, this thesis looks at an instance of a learner using a video tutorial to learn how to make croissants by hand. The auto-ethnographic methods used in this project are designed to attempt to mitigate issues of bias and representation often associated with this form of research, by using various iterations of participant-observation tools. As well, to ethnomethodologically examine the data captured, a multi-modal transcription scheme has been devised, using aspects of established schemes, but with features that are unique to this project. Many of the tasks completed by the learner involve methods of measurement that are either numerical and involve the use of scales or embodied, involving the culturally skilled human body. Acknowledging embodied forms of measurement more comprehensively will benefit studies of video-mediated instructions as well as the production of such instructions.