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Ethnography
In-depth study of one culture
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Ethnology
Cross-cultural comparison
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Compartitive method
Ethnology, Human Relations Area File
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Ethnocentrism
Each culture thinks their ways are correct (human universal)
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Scientific Approach
Hypothesis, testable, flexible, repeatable
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Holistic Perspective
The broadest context in which everything in cultural anthropology can be comprehended
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Cultural relativism
An individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood in terms of his or her own culture.
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Postmodernism
Theoretical perspective that is humanistic not scientific, it is impossible for anyone to have objective and neutral knowledge of another culture
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Components of culture
- Cognitive Processes - ideas, knowledge, symbols, standards, values
- Behaviors - gestures, body movement, manners, social interactions, play, work
- Material creations - artifacts, features
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Enculturation
The process of learning one's culture while growing up in it
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Integrated culture
All parts of a culture are intermingled
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Ideal vs. real
- Ideal - what people believe they should do
- Real - what people can be observed to do
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Race
- Biologically - a group within a species that shares a cluster of genetically determined traits
- Culturally - a social construct based on perceived cultural differences
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Vitamin D hypothesis
UV radiation synthesizes Vit. D in skin cells, areas of little UV radiation selected for depigmented skin
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Ultraviolet radiation
Part of the electromagnetic energy from the sun that is not visible to the human eye
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Homogeneous cultures
Cultural group that shares most ideas, values, knowledge, behaviors, and artifacts.
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Innovation (invention)
Something totally new (something new that is created based on items or ideas that already exist)
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Subculture
Smaller group within a larger cultural complex that shares behaviors, attitudes, artifacts, etc.
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Ethnicity
A type of subculture characterized by members sharing a culture of origin, often one originating in another country
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Folate hypothesis
Darker skin colors protect against the destruction of folate, folate promotes neural tube development
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Race as a social construct
- Within group variation is greater than between groups
- - Ex. genetic variation is greater among “Asians” than between
- “Asians” and “Caucasians”
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Heterogeneous cultures
Cultural group that shares only a few components, typical of large societies such as states, where there are many subcultures such as ethnic groups
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Diffusion
The borrowing and exchange of items or ideas between cultures
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Microculture
The smallest subgroup within a culture that shares specific cultural features such as values or behaviors
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Skin color cline
- Cline - The variation of a biological trait along a geographic continuum
- Human skin pigments show distribution along a cline from the equator north and south
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Melanin
A pigment in the outer layer of the skin, responsible for skin color and blocks UVB from damaging lower layers of the skin
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Ethics
A system of moral principles
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Culture shock
Feelings of homesickness, disorientation, helplessness, and frustration that occur after exposure to an unfamiliar culture
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Rapport
A harmonious relationship
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Life histories
Long-term information
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Ethnographic film
Film dealing with ethnography
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Reflexive (narrative) ethnography
An approach to fieldwork that focuses on the personal experiences and perspectives of the ethnographer, as well as the voices of the native members of a culture
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Life shock
A sudden unexpected experience that causes one to faint, become hysterical, or vomit, more likely to occur in an unfamiliar setting
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Formal and informal interviews
- Formal - ethnographic research method where planned, scripted questions are asked of informants
- Informal - ethnographic research method using open-ended questions that allow informants to talk about what they deem important
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Nisa
A member of the African !Kung San peoples of the Kalahari Desert
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Participant observation
The process of an anthropologist doing ethnographic fieldwork
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Fieldwork
Learning about another culture by participating in their culture for extended periods of time
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Principle consultant/key informant
An ethnographic interview subject who has been selected by judgement sample; a knowledgeable native who plays a major role in teaching the ethnographer about the informant's culture
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Genealogical method
The ethnographic method of recording information about kinship relationships using symbols and diagrams
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Photography
A large part of ethnography
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Monograph
The reporting of data gathered during ethnographic fieldwork
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Descriptive linguistics
The part of anthropological linguistics that focuses on the mechanics of language
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Morphology
Form - words from sounds
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Historical linguistics
The study of the history of languages, including their development and relationship to other languages
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Sociolinguistics
A subfield of linguistics that analyzes the relationship between language and culture with a focus on how people speak in social context
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silent language: kinesics, proxemics, cultural time,
ritualized phrases, material culture
- Kinesics - The use of body to communicate, gestures, posture, and facial expression
- Proxemics - The study of the use of space in communication
- Cultural time - How time pertains to a culture
- Ritualized phrases - Words or phrases that have meanings other than the formal ones they represent
- Material culture - Artifacts and features of a culture
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Phonology
The general study of the sounds used in human speech
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Syntax
The manner in which minimum units of meaning (morphemes) are combined
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Ethnolinguistics
A field of study in linguistics that analyzes the relationship between a language and culture
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Displacement
The ability of humans to communicate symbolically about distant time and place
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Phoneme
The smallest unit of sound in speech that will indicate a difference in meaning
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Morpheme
The smallest combination of sounds in human speech that carry a meaning
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Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
A hypothesis about the relationship between language and culture that states that language constructs perceptions
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