Doug Foley

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Doug Foley studied public high school culture in North Town, Texas, from 1973–1974. In chapter 5 of Learning Capitalist Culture by Doug Foley, "Looking Back on the 70s," Foley addresses the successes of his work. Foley interviewed and relied on individuals for their stories. These stories provide insight into the culture, but because of self-image, social desirability, and memory being faulty, their stories may not be exactly accurate. Foley conducted more casual research through casual conversation. His formal interviews lasted three to four hours. He used structured interviews and a focused set of questions to maximize useful time and to create more personalized data that creates depth, clarity, and complexity in contrast to a survey. Interviews also require trust from the participants. There are power dynamics between the researcher and the participant that are evident, such as sexism and racism. While this can provide depth and detail, it may also have been costly and impractical to engage in such time-sensitive interviews. Foley also collected statistical data from the city, county, and the school to evaluate the state of North Town and compare its change from the 1970s to the 1980s. Foley studied for a sustained amount of time, with a proper sense of how right and wrong can drastically affect the fieldwork. Ethical considerations such as harming others' safety and privacy, informed consent, and anonymity are most common in anthropological fieldwork. Doug Foley violates the ethical concern of taking part in harmful events as he drinks with the students at a ritualistic bonfire that is held after every football game. These rituals did bring about social solidarity, and therefore, Foley was able to gain an insider perspective of the culture.

Doug Foley's Methods and Ethical Considerations in his ethnography Learning Capitalist Culture

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