Cultural Anthropology Chapters 1 and 2 vocab

Cultural Relativism

the idea that we should seek to understand another person’s beliefs from the perspective of their own culture and not our own.

Deductive Reasoning

a type of reasoning from the general to the specific; the inverse of inductive reasoning. Deductive research is more common in the natural sciences than in anthropology. In a deductive approach, the researcher creates a hypothesis and then designs a study to prove or disprove the hypothesis. The results of deductive research can be generalizable to other settings.

Enculturation

the process of learning the characteristics and expectations of a culture or group.

Ethnocentrism

the tendency to view one’s own culture as most important and correct and as the stick by which to measure all other cultures.

Ethnography

the in-depth study of the everyday practices and lives of a people.

Hominin

Humans (Homo sapiens) and their close relatives and immediate ancestors.

Inductive Reasoning

a type of reasoning that uses specific information to draw general conclusions. In an inductive approach, the researcher seeks to collect evidence without trying to definitively prove or disprove a hypothesis. The researcher usually first spends time in the field to become familiar with the people before identifying a hypothesis or research question. Inductive research usually is not generalizable to other settings.

Paleoanthropologist

biological anthropologists who study ancient human relatives.

Participant Observation

a type of observation in which the anthropologist observes while participating in the same activities in which her informants are engaged.

Armchair Anthropology

an early and discredited method of anthropological research that did not involve direct contact with the people studied.

Cultural Determinism

the idea that behavioral differences are a result of cultural, not racial or genetic causes.

Cultural Evolutionism

a discredited theory popular in nineteenth century anthropology suggesting that societies evolved through stages from simple to advanced

Functionalism

an approach to anthropology developed in British anthropology that emphasized the way that parts of a society work together to support the functioning of the whole

Going Native

becoming fully integrated into a cultural group through acts such as taking a leadership position, assuming key roles in society, entering into marriage, or other behaviors that incorporate an anthropologist into the society he or she is studying.

Holism

taking a broad view of the historical, environmental, and cultural foundations of behavior.

Kinship

blood ties, common ancestry, and social relationships that form families within human groups.

Structural Functionalism

an approach to anthropology that focuses on the ways in which the customs or social institutions in a culture contribute to the organization of society and the maintenance of social order.

The Other

is a term that has been used to describe people whose customs, beliefs, or behaviors are “different” from one’s own