Flashcards
Anthropology—Methods of Investigation
Cards in this deck (18)
- 1EthnographyCollecting and recording specific data about the cultures of specific peoples
- 2EthnologyExplaining the past and present diversity of cultural systems in the world
- 3SynchronicDescribing culture in a snapshot of time without looking at its past
- 4DiachronicStudies the changes in a culture over time
- 5Ethnographic MethodsInclude ethnographic fieldwork and ethnohistoric research
- 6Ethnographic FieldworkCollecting data by studying and interviewing living members of that society
- 7Ethnohistoric ResearchStudying a peoples culture by looking at written accounts and other historic records
- 8InterviewingCollecting cultural data by questioning. Can be either structured or unstructured
- 9Recall EthnographyAn attempt to reconstruct cultural systems that have since disappeared by interviewing older subjects of that culture
- 10Participant ObservationA method of collecting cultural data that focuses on interacting with the people and being involved in the activities of their culture while also making observations
- 11Issues with Field ResearchStereotyping
Defining Role and Rapport
Identifying and Interviewing Consultants - 12Ethnic StereotypingPreconceived generalizations concerning a group of people
- 13Role and RapportWhat position the anthropologist fills: nuisance, comedian, child, danger or threat, etc. Rapport means how accepted the person becomes so that they can build a working relationship
- 14ConsultantIs an informant—a member of society who provides helpful information to the fieldworker. A key consultant is particularly knowledgable about a subject that the fieldworker is interested in
- 15Culture ShockThe feelings of anxiety and uncertainty when placed in an entirely different cultural setting
- 16Cross-Cultural ComparisonsA way of testing a hypothesis in a synchronic way that will compare societies from all over the world to either support or refute the claim
- 17Controlled ComparisonsThe comparisons of historical documented changes in societies throughout time and the conclusion of general cultural patterning or a supported/refuted hypothesis
- 18InteractionHow humans and nature mutually affect one another