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Gender, Family, and Work in Maryland’s Blue Crab Fishery: A Pilot Research Proposal

Michael Paolisso, Anthropology

Engage in the preliminary ethnographic research needed for NSF proposal development for research on women's involvement in family enterprises and household decision making in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The study analyzes participant observation and interviews with men and women working in the soft shell crab industry of Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore.  A survey will be developed and distributed to the study population.  The Seed Grant award will allow the project investigators to carry out successful ethnographic research, which will enhance understanding of the household-level economic strategies employed by watermen families in Maryland, with a particular focus on gender roles and knowledge.   This research provides a baseline data set that can be used to identify follow up issues to be addressed through larger scale research supported by extramural funds.