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Notes: Anthropological and Sociological Bases of Behavior
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Apuntes, Program
PART I- Introduction to Anthropology
●What is Anthropology?
●Brief History of Anthropology
●Subject- matter and Scope of Anthropology
●The Sub-Fields of Anthropology
●Contributions of Anthropology
●The Relationship of Anthropology to Other Disciplines
PART II- Theories in Sociocultural Anthropology
●Evolutionism
●Diffusionism
●Historical Particuralism
●Structuralism
PART III- Research Methods in Sociocultural Anthropology
●The Scientific Method
●Identification of Research Problem
●Research Design
●Data Collection methods/ Strategies in Anthropology
●Data Analysis
●Research Report Writing and Dissemination
PART IV- The Concept of Culture
●The Concept Culture
●Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
●Language and Culture
●Culture and Its Influence on People’s Behavio
, Part I - Introduction to
Anthropology
What is Anthropology?
Although the science of anthropology studies all human societies across time and space, it has
conventionally been accepted to associate anthropology primarily with the examination of traditional, non-
Western cultures and indigenous communities.
Basic definitions:
• Anthropology is the study or science of mankind and humanity
• Anthropology is a broad scientific discipline dedicated to the comparative study of human as a group,
from its first appearance on earth to its present stage of development
Its impossible to consider the human being outside of society
We come from the same form of life than any other living creature!
In a more specific term:
• Anthropology is science which investigates the strategies for living that are learned and shared by
people as members of human social groups
• Examines the characteristics that human beings share as members of one species (homo sapiens) and
the diverse ways that people live in different environments
• Analyses the products of social groups: material objects (tools, clothes, houses, etc) and nonmaterial
creations (beliefs, values, practices, institutions, etc)
It should be further stressed that anthropology focuses on…
1) The origin of humans
2) The evolutionary development of humans
3) Human physical, biochemical and cultural variations
4) The material possessions and cultural heritages of humans
Anthropology seeks to explain how and why people are both similar and different through examination
of our biological and cultural past and comparative study of contemporary human societies
Anthropology has a strong affinity with natural sciences as well. In fact, anthropology is well known by
the aspect of it which is mainly concerned with the biological / physical dimensions of mankind as a
biological being in group context. Hence, it may be inappropriate to say that anthropology is only a social
science, It is also a natural science, not in the sense that it deals with the natural phenomenon or man as
an individual entity per se, but in the sense that one of its main interests is to study man and man’s
behaviour as a product of the natural processes, and in the context of the animal kingdom
, Misconceptions about Anthropology
Four misconceptions about Anthropology:
1. Anthropology is limited to the study of “primitive” societies
2. Anthropologist only study the rural people and rural areas
3. Anthropologist are only interested in the study of far away, remote exotic communities living isolated
from the influences of modernisation
4. Anthropology wants to keep and preserve primitive, defiant cultual practices in museums and
anthropologists are advocates of defunct, obsolete culture
Historical overview of Anthropology
• The fact of the incredibly diverse and at the same time essentially similar nature of humans over
time and space have intrigued curious-minded people over centuries
• The history of anthropological thought is replete with many and varied ideas, some of which often
were wild extremes resulting from ethnocentric attitudes
They used to think there are different societies and cultures because one is better than the other but
now the belief is that the simply took different paths but there is no evaluation (not better or worse)
• Before anthropology attained the status of scientific discipline curious-minded persons from
ancient to medieval times have speculated a lot about the issues and problems that concern
anthropologists today
• The present academic anthropology has its roots in the works and ideas of early anthropologists
such as Franz Boas, Bronisław Malinowski, and Margaret Mead, who played pivotal roles in shaping
the discipline and establishing its methodologies and theoretical frameworks.
The founder of cultual anthropology was the English scientist Edward Burnett Tylor
He adapted Charles Darwin’s theory of biological evolution to the study of human societies
The first anthropologists were motivated by the need to understand the phenomena of the new
tribes / societies appeared in the world. They realised there are other / different societies.
• By the mid-1900, however, anthropologists attempted to discover universal human patterns and the
common bio psychological traits that bind all human beings
• This approach is called athnology
• Ethnology aims at the comparative understanding and analysis of different ethnic groups across
time and space
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