Chapter 1: Thinking and Doing Anthropology

Comprehensive vocabulary terms from the introductory lecture on Thinking and Doing Anthropology, covering physical, cultural, archaeological, and linguistic branches.

Anthropology

The study of humankind in all times and places; derived from the Greek "Anthropos" (man) and "logy" (study).

Holistic perspective

The view that various parts of human culture and biology must be viewed in the broadest possible context to understand their interconnections and interdependence.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that the ways of one’s own culture are the only proper ones.

Culture bound

Theories about the world and reality based on the assumptions and values of one’s own culture.

Applied anthropology

The practice of using anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems.

Medical anthropology

A field that combines culture and biology with human health and disease studies to show connections between health and political or economic forces.

Physical Anthropology

Also known as biological anthropology; the systematic study of humans as biological organisms, focusing on evolution, primatology, adaptation, and forensics.

Molecular anthropology

The study of genes and genetic relationships.

Paleoanthropology

The study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, often taking a biocultural approach.

Biocultural approach

An approach that focuses on the interaction of biology and culture.

Developmental adaptations

Long-term body adaptations to the environment, such as the enlarged right ventricle of the heart among Quechua Indians of highland Peru.

Physical adaptations

Short-term biological changes in response to particular stimuli.

Forensic Anthropology

The identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes, including the determination of age, sex, stature, and race.

Primatology

The study of living and fossil primates, including ape behavior and skeletal comparisons between humans and other primates.

Cultural Anthropology

The study of customary patterns in human behavior, thought, and feelings.

Culture

A society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions used to make sense of experience and generate behavior.

Ethnography

A detailed description of a particular culture primarily based on fieldwork.

Participant observation

A research technique for learning a people’s culture through social participation and personal observation within a community over time.

Ethnology

The study and analysis of different cultures from a comparative or historical view to explain similarities and differences.

Archaeology

The study of human cultures through the recovery and analysis of material remains and environmental data.

Material culture

The physical remains of culture, such as tools, pottery, shelters, grave goods, and food waste products.

Bio-archaeology

The study of human remains to preserve and understand cultural and social processes of the skeleton.

Ethnobotany

The study of indigenous plant use among different cultures.

Zooarchaeology

The study of animal remains found at an archaeological site.

The Garbage Project

A study started by the Univ. of AZ in $1973$ that used archaeological methods to analyze modern waste, revealing that people underreport alcohol consumption.

Cultural Resource Management (CRM)

A branch of archaeology tied to government agencies for the protection of cultural resources threatened by construction or development.

Linguistic Anthropology

The study of human languages, including structure, history, and relationship to social and cultural contexts.

Discourse

Extended communication of a particular subject.

Hypothesis

An explanation or educated guess used to guide research.

Theory

An explanation of natural phenomena supported by a reliable body of data.

Doctrine

Also known as dogma; an assertion of opinion or belief formally handed down by an authority as true and indisputable.

Informed consent

The voluntary permission granted by people within a culture to be interviewed or filmed for research.

Reflexivity

The practice of anthropologists checking their own biases and presenting self-reflections along with their observations.

Globalization

Worldwide interconnectedness evidenced in global movements of resources, trade, labor, capital, information, and diseases.