Social Science Inquiry

Ethnocentrism

Belief that one’s own culture is superior to others.

Cultural Relativism

Understanding a culture on its own terms without judgment.

Enculturation

Process of learning cultural norms and practices.

Norms

Shared rules for behavior.

Symbols

Objects, words, or actions with culturally recognized meaning.

Values

Deeply held cultural beliefs about what is good or desirable.

Structure vs Agency

Humans are creative, but possibilities are limited by structural realities of everyday life.

Participant Observation

Immersing oneself in a setting or culture to observe and participate in daily life.

Ethical Considerations

Protect subjects by keeping them unidentifiable; secure fieldnotes and interview materials.

Informed Consent

Ensures subjects understand the study, risks, benefits, and that participation is voluntary.

Companionate Marriage

Marriage based on love and personal choice.

Arranged Marriage

Marriage as a social obligation and commitment to the larger group.

Patrilineal Descent

Kinship traced through the father’s line.

Matrilineal Descent

Kinship traced through the mother’s line.

Endogamy

Marriage within a specific group.

Exogamy

Marriage outside one’s group.

Polygyny

Marriage of one man to multiple women.

Polyandry

Marriage of one woman to multiple men.

Monogamy

Marriage of two people.

Foraging

Subsistence strategy based on hunting, fishing, and gathering.

Pastoralism

Raising livestock for food (meat, milk, blood).

Horticulture

Cultivation of plants for subsistence through non‑intensive land use and labor.

Agriculture

Cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies for intensive land use.

Industrialized Agriculture

Corporate‑run farms relying on mechanization, producing food on a mass scale.

Carrying Capacity

Maximum population size an environment can sustain with available resources.

Food Norms

Standards for appropriate consumption within a social group.

Food Security

Focus on who controls food production, distribution, and consumption.

Food Sovereignty

Right of people to define and control their own food systems in socially just, ecological ways.

Economy (Anthropological Definition)

Cultural adaptation to the environment.

Production

How necessities are produced.

Distribution

How produced goods are distributed among people.

Reciprocity

Exchange of goods and services (generalized, balanced, negative).

Redistribution

Goods collected from members of a group are reallocated in a different pattern.

Market Exchange

Markets bring goods together for the purpose of exchanging them.

Consumption

Buying, eating, or using a resource, food, commodity, or service.

Commodity Chains

Steps a product takes from raw material to finished product and consumer.

Globalization

Increasing interconnectedness of people, economies, and cultures worldwide.

Triangle Trade/Transatlantic Slave Trade

Historical trade linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Neoliberalism

Economic philosophy emphasizing free markets, privatization, and deregulation.

Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs)

IMF/World Bank policies requiring economic restructuring in exchange for loans.

Flexible Accumulation

Corporate strategies like outsourcing/offshoring to maximize profit.

Time-Space Compression

Globalization reduces perceived distance due to faster communication/transport.

Uneven Development

Unequal distribution of globalization’s benefits.

Core/Periphery

Wealthy “core” nations exploit poorer “periphery” nations.

Neocolonialism

Economic/political/cultural pressures used to control other countries.

Bands

Small kinship‑based groups, highly egalitarian, competitiveness not acceptable.

Tribes

Indigenous groups organized around villages/kin groups, mostly egalitarian, decentralized power.

Chiefdoms

Autonomous political unit built around kinship networks under a paramount chief.

State

Centralized government with authority to make laws and use force.

Egalitarian

Society where all members have equal access to resources/power.

Ranked

Society with status ranking but relatively fair resource distribution.

Stratified

Society with sharp divisions in wealth, power, and prestige.

Hegemony

Domination by consent.

Agency

Ability of less powerful individuals/groups to question, challenge, or resist norms.

Social Movement

Movement rooted in political economy to change political and economic conditions.

Sovereignty

Full right and power of a governing body to govern itself.

Ethnomedicines

Systems of health and healing rooted in culturally specific norms and values.

Biomedicine

Health system rooted in specific knowledge and values, culturally defined.

Social Construction of Illness

Experience of being sick, beyond just symptoms of disease.

Medicalization

Human conditions/problems defined and treated as medical conditions.

Globalization Effects on Health/Medicine

Spread of diseases, practices, and pharmaceuticals across borders.

Medical Migration

Movement of healthcare professionals across countries.

Brain Drain

Emigration of trained professionals from poorer to wealthier countries.

Medical Pluralism

Coexistence of multiple medical systems in a society.

Structural Violence

Social structures that harm individuals by preventing basic needs.

Socialization for Scarcity

Normalization of limited resource access.

Global Health Disparities

Unequal health outcomes due to social/economic/political inequalities.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Language shapes thought and perception.

Standard Languages as Prestige Languages

Certain dialects valued more highly and associated with power.

Language Ideology

Beliefs about language that justify social hierarchies.

Paralanguage

Nonverbal elements of communication like tone, pitch, gestures.

Codeswitching

Alternating between languages or dialects depending on context.

Social Indexicals

Linguistic features pointing to social identities or relationships.