12:00 Section September 16‚ 2012 Grasping Different Life Anthropologists are consistently trying to understand different cultures and the way people think‚ act‚ and feel. Some experience the different cultures through filed studies‚ living amongst the people allowing them to study and act like one of them. For others‚ this involves studying historical content and observing the people from a higher vantage point. This technique allows them to study their actions from a distance‚ but Clifford
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Anthropology Study Guide 1.) The Nacirema excerpt is written by Horace Miner from the etic or outside perspective describing a ‘backward’ culture with weird beliefs and rituals. The purpose of this essay is to address some critical questions and desire at the heart of anthropology. How do we understand other people who are strange‚ odd‚ and different. Why do people do what they do. How do we know our descriptions are accurate? 2.) Cultural relativism vs ethnocentrism cultural relativism
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The Phrase “comparative method” refers to the method of comparing different societies or groups within the same society to show whether and why they are similar or different in certain respects. Both Montesquieu and Auguste Comte‚ often regarded as the founders of sociology‚ used or recommended ‘comparison’ to establish and explain both differences and similarities between societies. The comparative method was for long considered the method par excellence of sociology. According to Andre Beteille
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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
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The Trobrianders 1. “The social and cultural system in which we live in determines who we define as kin.” Describe the a) economic; b) political/power‚ c) moral obligations kin have toward one another in this society. Since the Trobriand society follows a strict belief in matrilineage‚ the relationship between the mother and her family as well as the father and his family is very important. Economically‚ the status of a person in the family‚ would often determine how many items he receives‚ and/or
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After the father decorates his child with shells‚ if he intends to give his child a necklace‚ he must first provide them with tortoise earrings. The male and female earrings vary by decoration‚ but are almost the same. Like everything else in the Trobriand culture‚ there is a way to tell the families stature by the earrings. It depends upon the amount of shells that are in the child’s ear‚ so the more tortoise shells a child has‚ it shows that the child’s family is of that much greater wealth or
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Formal vs Informal Education We all think we know about education as being the one imparted in schools around the country. This system of education‚ devised by the government and based upon a curriculum is called the formal system of education. However‚ in most countries‚ there is also an informal system of education that is totally different from school education and has nothing to do with the strict curriculum and other obligations found in formal education. There have always been long standing
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What was the significance of Malinowski ’s Discussion of the Kula? It is widely accepted that Malinowski was the founder of true anthropological fieldwork and this is a view shared by many anthropologists. An example of one such anthropologist was Adam Kuper. In 1973 Kuper undertook the writing of an analysis of the complete history of social anthropology in which he speaks comparatively highly of Malinowski. "Malinowski has a strong claim to being founder of the profession of social anthropology
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Where does Malinowski’s conceptualization of participant-observation sit in the landscape of modern anthropological fieldwork? A primary objective of the modern ethnographer is to glean insights into the ways people relate to and interact with one another and the world around them. Through participant-observation‚ Malinowski (1922) offered a valuable tool with which to uncover these insights and understandings‚ the ethnographer. The ethnographer as research tool has become the basis of much modern
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com/definition/english/gift [accessed: 4 December 2013]. It is this definition that has found itself at the centre of anthropological debate. Bronislaw Malinowski first coined the term ‘pure gift’ whilst conducting his ethnographic research in the Trobriand Islands. A ‘pure gift’ according to Malinowski was ‘an act in which an individual gives an object or renders a service without expecting a return’ (1922: 176). This was heavily criticised by revolutionary theorist Marcel Mauss in his most famous
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