3 FIELDWORK AND ITS INTERPRETATION Theory without data is empty‚ but data without theory are blind. — C. Wright Mills FIELDWORK Anthropology distinguishes itself from the other social sciences through the great emphasis placed on ethnographic fieldwork as the most important source of new knowledge about society and culture. A field study may last for a few months ‚ a year‚ or even two years or more‚ and it aims at developing as intimate an understanding as possible of the phenomena investigated
Premium Anthropology Ethnography Participant observation
To view one’s own culture as the universal by which all others are judged would be ultimately subjective‚ as our perceptions of cultural differences are shaped largely by our immersion in our own culture. An ethnocentric approach stems from judging an alternate culture in relation to one’s own pre-conceived cultural values‚ held to be superior; the parallax phenomenon‚ the inability to escape our own biases‚ prevents objective analysis of different cultures. A cultural relativist maintains the post-modernist
Premium Culture Cultural relativism Anthropology
Why study Gifts? The anthropology of gifts has been mostly studied in the context of non-Western cultures. The important roles of gift giving were highlighted by classical anthropologists such as Malinowski‚ Mauss and Levi-Strauss. They stressed the significance of reciprocity and obligation suggested in gift exchange and that gift giving is a one practice of material expression that integrates a society. Gift giving is essential to the studies of many anthropological debates such as sociability
Premium Reciprocity Giving Gift
Outline of Crime and Custom in Savage Society Who wrote it? * Bronislaw Malinowski * Was born in 1884 in Krakow‚ Austria-Hungary (now Poland) but lived most of his life in Britain * Known as the Father of Social anthropology * Written in 1926 * He did not participate in the activities; he was an observer only * Takes place in the Trobriand Archipelago‚ an island near New Guinea that is inhabited by a Melanesian community * The island has many lagoons and is very swampy
Free Marriage Sociology Third World
Assess the usefulness of functionalist theories in understanding religion today (33 marks) There are a variety of different definitions of religion including substantive definitions‚ which refers to focusing on the content or substance of a religious belief such as God‚ functional definitions‚ which refers to religion in terms of the social or psychological functions it carries out for the individual and there are also social constructionist definitions which focus on how members of society actually
Premium
We’re All Human According to Brian Schwimmer‚ “kinship is constructed from a set of categories‚ groups‚ relationships‚ and behaviors based upon culturally determined beliefs and values concerning human biology and reproduction.” (Schwimmer‚ 1996) This definition resonates with me because it has the influx of the sociobiology and relativist perspective on the subject. Faubion describes kinship as “…illustrative of the constitution of intersubjectivity‚ of organized alterity…” (Faubion‚ 2001) which
Premium Anthropology Humans Religion
History of Sociological and Anthropological Thought Introduction -Social thought provides general theories to explain actions and behavior of society as a whole. -The broad arena of social thought encompasses sociological‚ political and philosophical ideas. -Classical social theory has generally been presented from a perspective of Western philosophy; the result is that it has often been seen as very Eurocentric. -Classical sociological theories are important not only historically‚ but also
Free Sociology
recreating social bonds and kinship it has a noticeable political aspect involved in it too . Trobriand Islanders do not have a specific word for exchange; exchange is rather seen as part of their reality. Within a capitalist economy the only form of exchange of exchange that is recognized is that of market exchanged which is based on supply and demand. According to Erikson (1995) The Trobriand Islanders recognize multiple forms of exchange. The first form is Gimwali ‚ which is market exchange . Pigs
Premium Sociology Marxism Capitalism
Incest is a word that is often misunderstood but universally considered taboo. While incest is listed as a criminal offense‚ many health care professionals have no clear idea of what constitutes incest or some incestuous acts are reportable by law. There are endless academic writings on the subject‚ yet may confuse rather than clarify because of lack of adequate definitions. Incest may be considered one of the only universal taboos‚ however‚ there is no uniformity as to which degrees are involved
Premium Marriage Family Consanguinity
Why is anthro important? Important to understand the diversity Important to be tolerant Important to be able to apply our knowledge Anthropological perspective What makes anthro unique Comparative: views humans across time and space (comparative method) Has many sub areas; past present or future anthropologist spend many years studying in different countries how people act allows others to compare ex‚ students researching product of ethnographic (generalizations based on comparative
Premium Anthropology Sociology Culture