Hybrids of Method

Hamilton, Lindsay; Taylor, Nik

doi:10.1057/978-1-137-53933-5_8

Cited by 21 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This involves taking part in social life as it occurs, so as to form longstanding relationships with participants, giving the basis for an understanding of the depth and complexity of human society and culture. Ethnographers are increasingly completing observations of human relationships with non-human animals, within ‘multispecies ethnography’ methods [ 26 , 27 ]. Despite this, ethnographic methods are not frequently employed in the study of animal welfare, though Adelman and Thompson identify this as a key area for the future development of equestrian social science [ 17 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Ethnographic Account of the British Equestrian Virtue of Bravery, and Its Implications for Equine Welfare

McVey

2021

Animals

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This article describes the virtue of bravery in British equestrian culture and suggests that riders’ tactics for bolstering bravery may have negative implications on equine welfare. These observations are based on 14 months of ethnographic research among amateur riders and the professionals who support them (n = 35), utilising participant observation and Dictaphone recordings. Riders suffering from ‘confidence issues’ could be belittled and excluded. Instructors’ approaches towards bolstering bravery involved encouraging riders to ‘get tough’—on both themselves and on their horses. Narrative theory is employed in this article to show that riders could demonstrate their own bravery through describing the horse as defiant. Alternate narrative possibilities existed, including describing the horse as needy patient and the rider as care provider. Riders were critically aware that veterinary diagnoses could be sought or avoided in line with riders’ own dispositions. ‘Diagnoses-seeking’ behaviours could be judged negatively by others and seen as evidence of unresolved fearfulness. In conclusion, the British equestrian cultural orientation towards bravery can be associated with stressful or painful training techniques, delayed or missed diagnoses of physiological pathologies, and poor training outcomes. Programs that aim to help riders to develop confidence without instilling a sense of ‘battle’ with the horse, and without ridiculing the rider, are likely to have positive implications on equine welfare and human safety.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Ethnographic Account of the British Equestrian Virtue of Bravery, and Its Implications for Equine Welfare

McVey

2021

Animals

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“…We human subjects are those who decide what and how to collect data and how to present it, and this inevitably involves representation; a representation that is more difficult when those we represent are not human and often share a tiny amount or nothing of our language (Sanders and Arluke, 1993). We observe, record, speak and write and it is unsurprising, therefore, that most usually what we find begs ‘the obvious question, where are the animals themselves in this research?’ (Hamilton and Taylor, 2017: 2). There are also ethical questions raised – even if we manage to represent animals in our research, what do those represented (either individually or collectively) actually gain from our enquiries and academic outputs?…”

Section: Animalising Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Rather, it considers some of the ways in which conducting research with and about dogs alters both the data you obtain and the ways in which you understand the data collection process. The article moves through, first, a discussion of the ‘animal turn’ in sociology and sociological resistance to it (Cudworth, 2011a; Peggs, 2012; Shapiro, 2002; Whatmore, 2006; Wilkie, 2015); and, second, the animal turn in methodology (Charles, 2016; Taylor, 2012), in particular, in ethnography (Hamilton and Taylor, 2017) before discussing the methods used in this project and some of the practices and events that emerged.…”

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confidence: 99%

Now, where were we?’: The highs and lows of hunting data with a research pack

Cudworth

2018

Journal of Sociology

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The boundaries of the social have been stretched by recent scholarship in sociological animal studies. Social theory has been challenged by the posthuman turn (Cudworth, 2011a;Peggs, 2012; Taylor and Signal, 2011), and empirical work on families and households, popular culture, rurality, work and even sleep has begun to open up to the presence of the myriad other creatures that make up social worlds (respectively Charles, 2016;Cole and Stewart, 2014;Wilkie, 2010;Coulter, 2015; Hsu 2017). Much of this research, almost inevitably, relies on standard practices in both sociological research and in the representation of non-human beings and things. That is to say, non-human animals are included via humans talking and writing about them. We may include other animals in our projects, but we do so predominantly through standard human-centred methods.This paper reflects on a piece of research characterised by such contradiction and thereby considers the difficulties and possibilities of more-than-human methods, specifically ethnography. The data which provides the scaffolding for the empirical reflections is drawn from two sources: field notes observing interactions between "packs" of dog and human walkers and interviews with those living with dogs. What was methodologically distinctive, was that the majority of interviews were 'go-along' or 'walk and talk' where the researcher and two of the dogs-of-her-heart walked with human interviewees and their dog(s), allowing for observations of human/dog and dog/dog interactions also to be recorded.Other interviews were undertaken at interviewees' homes or in public places where the interviewees' animal companions were present. In addition, there was a period of intensive immersion -an ethnographic diary kept for a calendar year in the London field site which recorded events, interactions and routines of dogs, humans and other beings and things in

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“…Over the last decade or so there has been greater inclusion of other animals in sociological research and some – within and without the discipline – have argued there is a need to take ‘nonhuman animals seriously, treating them as aware actors on the social stage’ (Birke, 2011: xx; see also, for example, Cudworth, 2016; Coulter, 2016; Gillespie, 2018; Hamilton and Taylor, 2017; Nibert, 2003; Peggs, 2013; Philo and Wilbert, 2000; Emel and Wolch, 1998). In this article we extend this focus by considering how animal companions themselves are at risk of violence when living in households with TNB people where abuse is present.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Being together really helped’: Australian transgender and non-binary people and their animal companions living through violence and marginalisation

Rosenberg

Riggs

Taylor

et al. 2020

Journal of Sociology

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This article explores the intersections of human and animal lives in the context of violence and marginalisation. It draws on two studies, the first involving a sub-sample of 23 open-ended survey responses completed by transgender and non-binary (TNB) people taken from a larger study exploring the intersections of animal- and human-directed violence, and the second involving eight interviews with TNB people focused on the meaning of animal companionship. Together, the findings suggest that animal companionship can be a protective factor for TNB people experiencing marginalisation and/or distress, whether in the context of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) or in the context of other forms of intra- or inter-personal points or adversity. The findings suggest that animal companions can provide TNB people with comfort and non-judgemental emotional interactions in the face of DVA and other life stressors. However, the risk of violence directed towards animals must also be considered. The article concludes with discussion of the implications for DVA service provision and research.

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Hybrids of Method

Cited by 21 publications

References 20 publications

An Ethnographic Account of the British Equestrian Virtue of Bravery, and Its Implications for Equine Welfare

An Ethnographic Account of the British Equestrian Virtue of Bravery, and Its Implications for Equine Welfare

Now, where were we?’: The highs and lows of hunting data with a research pack

‘Being together really helped’: Australian transgender and non-binary people and their animal companions living through violence and marginalisation

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