AN APPROACH TO THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF FARMING AS A CULTURALLY STRUCTURED TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEM (PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN

This dissertation seeks to present, apply, and evaluate an anthropological approach to the study of farming as a kind of cultural system. The approach builds on Goodenough's conceptualization of the phenomenal and ideational orders of culture. These orders are described and linked through a continual probing of decision making. The researcher constantly seeks alternatives to behavior, the criteria for selecting among alternatives, and the principles whereby information is channeled. This approach was used to produce an ethnography of a Pennsylvania German dairy farming system in Southeast Pennsylvania. Pre-fieldwork preparation included working on one of the community's farms for 16 months. Data collection during fieldwork was via: structured interviews on the physical and social resources of each farm; participant observation of the main activities performed to raise cows and crops; taking photographs; and interviews with retired farmers and farm-related professionals. Participant observation was critical to obtaining high quality data. The approach was found to be well-suited to studying the culture of farming. It enabled the incorporation of a wide range of data into one coherent pattern, and it promoted the study of relationships within the system and with the environment. This is a pioneer ethnography of dairy farming. No studies of dairy farming in any field were found to describe both the farmer and the farming, the phenomenal order of things, events, and activities and the ideational order to values, principles, and standards. This study exemplifies the value a micro level study of individuals and specificities has for describing what a group of farmers actually know, think, and do in operating their farms. This dissertation also outlines an approach to and methods for studying the culture of farming, and it shows the potential anthropology has for contributing to Farming Systems Research studies in technologically developed as well as in less developed societies. The dairy farming system described is a stable system committed to good farming practices today AND tomorrow. Knowledge of this type of system is essential for evaluating alternatives for development or change.