Different Types of Anthropology

Different Types of Anthropology

Anthropology- the study of human nature, human society and human history

Applied Anthropology- using information gathered from the other anthropological specialties to solve practical cross-cultural problems

Cultural Anthropology- the specialty of anthropology that shows how variation in the beliefs and behaviours of the members of different human groups is shaped by sets of learned behaviours and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society-that is, by culture

Paleoanthropology- the search for fossilized remains of humanity's earliest ancestors

4 subfields of Anthropology

Archaeology- the study of the human past involving the analysis of material remains left behind by earlier human societies

Biological (Physical) Anthropology- The specialty of anthropology that looks at human beings as biological organisms and tries to discover what characteristics make us different from, and similar to other organisms

Linguistic Anthropology- the specialty of anthropology concerned with the study of human languages

Socio-Cultural Anthropology- focuses on learned behaviours and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society (what we learn about in this class)

Methodology in Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Comparative Approach- Anthropology compares different cultural settings (not western focused. Even if we study our own culture, there are still subcultures. Having another point of view from the inside

Ethnography- an anthropologist's written or filmed description of a particular culture

Ethnology- the comparative study of different cultures. It is a synonym of socio-cultural anthropology

Fieldwork- an extended period of close involvement with the people in whose language or way of life anthropologists are interested, during which anthropologists ordinarily collect most of their data

Methodology- anthropology focuses more on the qualitative aspect, but sociology focuses more on the quantitative way of life. Through fieldwork and participant observation, anthropologists get immersed in a specific group of peoples' everyday life and try to understand their point of view from the other side

Participant Observation- the method anthropologists use to gather information by living as closely as possible to the people whose culture they are studying while participating in their lives as much as possible

Key Definitions

Ethnocentrism- it is the act of judging other peoples' cultures from one's own cultural standards (cultural racism)