Anthropology 101
This is the scientific and humanistic study of human beings.
What is Anthropology?
This is a type of research that measures and counts phenomenon with numbers.
What is quantitative research?
This is a method of collecting information where a researcher asks someone questions to learn about their experiences, opinions, or knowledge on a specific topic.
What is an interview?
This is when anthropology studies how people interact with the environment. It looks at how different cultures use and take care of natural resources, and how people's beliefs, traditions, and changes in culture affect the planet.
What is environmental anthropology?
Everything people make, do, or believe—this phenomenon is constantly changing over time and varies even within the same society.
What is culture?
This is a type of research which describes and understands experiences with words.
What is qualitative research?
This research method involves the researcher becoming part of the group they're studying, observing and sometimes participating in activities to learn about the culture or behaviors of the group; also known as "deep hanging out."
What is participant observation?
This branch of anthropology studies past human societies through material remains (objects they left behind, like tools, pottery, and architectural ruins).
What is archaeology?
This is when researchers go into real-world settings to study people, places, or things where they actually live or occur, instead of just working in a lab.
What is fieldwork?
These are the written observations a researcher makes about what they see, hear, and experience while studying a group of people.
What are field notes?
This branch of anthropology examines how humans adapt biologically over time and across different physical and social environments.
What is biological anthropology?
This word can refer to a type of research where people are studied in their everyday lives to understand their culture--or it can refer to the final report, like an article or book, that explains the findings.
What is ethnography?
This is the relationship a researcher builds with the people they are studying, which helps make the research process more comfortable and trustworthy.
What is rapport?
This branch of anthropology studies how people use language, how languages change over time, and how the way we speak affects culture and relationships.
What is linguistic anthropology?
What is triangulation?
This is the "lens" by which good ethnographic researchers design and conduct their research: it is the principle that a culture must be understood on its own terms rather than an outsider's standard.
What is "cultural relativism"?