Applied Anthropology Applied anthropology refers to the application of the method and theory of anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems.
etic/emic refer to two kinds of field research done and viewpoints obtained; from within the social group (from the perspective of the subject) and from outside (from the perspective of the observer).
Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one's own culture
Ethnography Ethnography is the systematic study of people and cultures. It is designed to explore cultural phenomena where the researcher observes society from the point of view of the subject of the study
Ethnology Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationship between them.
Holisim the theory that parts of a whole are in intimate interconnection, such that they cannot exist independently of the whole, or cannot be understood without reference to the whole, which is thus regarded as greater than the sum of its parts. Holism is often applied to mental states, language, and ecology.
Adaptation patterns of behavior which enable a culture to cope with its surroundings.
Anthropological Theory A set of
propositions about which aspects of
culture are critical, how they should
be studied, and what the goal of
studying them should be.
cultural ecology A theoretical position
in anthropology that focuses on the
adaptive dimension of culture.
culture and personality A theoretical position in anthropology that held that cultures could best be under stood by examining the patterns of child rearing and considering their effect on social institutions and adult lives.
Diffusion The spread of cultural elements from one society to another
Dominant Culture The culture with the greatest wealth and power in a society that consists of many sub cultures.
ecological functionalism A theoretical
position in anthropology that focuses
on the relationship between environment
and society.
Enculturation The process of learning
to be a member of a particular cultural
group
Ethnomedicine A focus within anthropology
that examines the ways
in which people in different cultures
understand health and sicknesses as
well as the ways they attempt to cure
disease.
ethnoscience A theoretical position in
anthropology that focuses on recording
and examining the ways in which
members of a culture use language
to classify and organize their cognitive
world
Functionalism A theoretical position in anthropology,
common in the fi rst half of the
20th century, that focuses on fi nding
general laws that identify diff erent
elements of society, show how they
relate to each other, and demonstrate
their role in maintaining social order
historical particularism A theoretical
position in anthropology associated
with American anthropologists of
the early 20th century that focuses
on providing objective descriptions
of cultures within their h
interpretive anthropology A theoretical
position in anthropology that focuses
on using humanistic methods,
such as those found in the analysis
of literature, to analyze culture and
discover the meaning of culture to its
participants
innovation An object or a way of
thinking or behaving that is new because
it is qualitatively diff erent from
existing forms.
norms Shared ideas about the way
things ought to be done; rules of behavior
that refl ect and enforce culture
plasticity The ability of human individuals
or cultural groups to change
their behavior with relative ease.
postmodernism A theoretical position
in anthropology that focuses on
issues of power and voice. Postmodernists
suggest that anthropological
accounts are partial truths refl ecting
the backgrounds, training, and social
positions of their authors.
subculture A group within a society
that shares norms and values signifi -
cantly diff erent fro
Symbol Something that stands for
something else. Central to language
and culture
symbolic anthropology A theoretical
position in anthropology that focuses
on understanding cultures by discovering
and analyzing the symbols that
are most important to their members.
Vaules Shared ideas about what is true,
right, and beautiful.
collaborative ethnography Ethnography
that gives priority to cultural
consultants on the topic, methodology,
and written results of fieldwork.
consultant A person from whom
anthropologists gather data. Also
known as an informant or sometimes
an interlocutor.
cultural relativism The notion that
cultures should be analyzed with
reference to their own histories and
values rather than according to the
values of another culture.
culture shock Feelings of alienation
and helplessness that result from
rapid immersion in a new and different
culture.
ethnology The attempt to fi nd general
principles or laws that govern cultural
phenomena
Human TerrainSystem/HTS is a United States Army,Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)support program employing personnel from the social science disciplines - such as anthropology,sociology, political science, regional studies and linguistics - to provide military commanders and staff with an understanding of the local population (i.e. the "human terrain") in the regions in which they are deployed.[1][2][3][4][5]
informed consent An aspect of fieldwork ethics requiring that the researcher inform the participants of the intent, scope, and possible effects of the study and seek their consent.
informant A person from whom
anthropologists gather data. Also
known as a consul
interlocutor Someone who takes part in a conversation, often formally or officially.
participant observation The fieldwork
technique that involves gathering cultural
data by observing people's behavior
and participating in their lives.
partner A person from whom
anthropologists gather data. Also
known as an informant or sometimes
an interlocutor
Racism The belief that some human
populations are superior to others
because of inherited, genetically
transmitted characteristics
Bronislaw Malinowski One of the most important 20th-century anthropologists. Father of modern Anthro research Bronislaw Malinowski (egocentric dick)
Franz Boas American[3] anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology".
Trobriand islands SW Pacific in Solomon Sea; attached to Papua New Guinea area 170 square miles (442 square kilometers)
Baffinland An island of eastern Nunavut, Canada, west of Greenland and south of the Queen Elizabeth Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in the world. Studied by Franz Boas
Edward Burnett Tylor English anthropologist regarded as the founder of cultural anthropology. His most important work, Primitive Culture (1871), influenced in part by Darwin's theory of biological evolution, developed the theory of an evolutionary, progressive relationship from primitive to modern cultures.
Lewis Henry Morgan American ethnologist and a principal founder of scientific anthropology, known especially for establishing the study of kinship systems and for his comprehensive theory of social evolution.
-All societies progress through stages
-Justifies European Rule
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and 1970s
Edward Said was a Palestinian American literary theorist and public intellectual who helped found the critical-theory field of post colonialism.
call system The form of animal communication
composed of a limited
number of sounds that are tied to
specifi c stimuli in the environment
code switching Moving seamlessly and
appropriately between two diferent
languages.
conventionality The notion that, in
human language, words are only arbitrarily
or conventionally connected
to the things for which they stand
lexicon the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge.
morpheme The smallest unit of language
that has a meaning.
phoneme The smallest significant unit
of sound in a language.
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis The hypothesis
that perceptions and understandings
of time, space, and matter are
conditioned by the structure of a
language.
secret societi
sociolinguistics The study of the relationship
between language and culture
and the ways language is used in
varying social contexts.
syntax A system of rules for combining
words into meaningful sentences
semantics The system of a language
that relates words to meaning.
universal grammar A basic set of
principles, conditions, and rules that
form the foundation of all languages.
agriculture A form of food production
in which fields are in permanent
cultivation using plows, animals, and
techniques of soil and water control.
efficiency(in food production) Yield
per person per hour of labor
invested.
foraging Fishing, hunting, and collecting
vegetable food.
horticulture Production of plants
using a simple, nonmechanized
technology and where the fertility
of gardens and fi elds is maintained
through long periods of fallow
hunting and gathering a society in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals
globalization The integration of
resources, labor, and capital into a
global network.
industrialism The process of the
mechanization of production
nomadic pastoralism A form of pastoralism
in which the whole social group
(men, women, children) and their animals
move in search of pasture.
pastoralism A food-getting strategy
that depends on the care of domesticated
herd animals.
peasants Rural cultivators who produce
for the subsistence of their
households but are also integrated
into larger, complex state societies.
population density The number of
people inhabiting a unit of land (usually
given as people per square mile
or kilometer).
productivity Yield
per person per unit of land
sedentary Settled, living in one place.
subsistence strategies The pattern of
behavior used by a society to obtain
food in a particular environment.
swidden cultivation a plot of land cleared for farming by burning away vegetation.
transhumant pastoralism A form of
pastoralism in which herd animals
are moved regularly throughout the
year to diff erent areas as pasture becomes
available
anthropology The scientifi c and
humanistic study of human beings
archaeology The subdiscipline of
anthropology that focuses on the
reconstruction of past cultures based
on their material remains.
biological anthropology The subdiscipline of anthropology
that studies people from a biological
perspective, focusing primarily on
aspects of humankind that are
genetically inherited.
cultural anthropology The study of
human thought, behavior, and lifeways
that are learned rather than
genetically transmitted and that are
typical of groups of people.
culture The learned behaviors and
symbols that allow people to live in
groups; the primary means by which
humans adapt to their environment;
the ways of life characteristic of a
particular human society
emic Examining societies
using concepts, categories, and
distinctions that are meaningful to
members of that culture.
linguistic anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life.