Qualitative Field Research – Methods and Theory: The African Atlantic Research Team Reports

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reports on the African Atlantic Research Team (AART) of Michigan State University and its investigation of Cuba's distinct religious traditions as practiced in the eastern, Oriente region. The report emphasizes the Team's methodological approaches as these are related to propositions put forth by such research scholars as Emile Durkheim, Jurgen Habermas, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckman, and others. The paper discusses how AART members have listened to their field experiences and determined that academic sources do not fully conceptualize the components of Cuba's distinct religious traditions. The paper does not abdicate disciplinary guidance as the Team combines academic offerings with experiential field understandings to arrive at its research posture. As the founding director of the Team, I am responsible for insuring that our work represents the religious traditions’ best understanding as expressed within and by practitioners in a given context. This paper reports on this work.