ethnologist

Studies human societies

An ethnologist is a scholar who studies and compares human cultures, particularly their origins, characteristics, and distribution.

While ethnographers gather data through fieldwork with specific communities, ethnologists analyze and compare findings across cultures to identify broader patterns: The ethnologist compared marriage customs across several Pacific Island societies.

culture

traditions

Long-established customs passed down

ritualsCeremonial repeated practices
ceremoniesFormal observances with ritual
folkloreInherited cultural narratives

mythology · kinship · beliefs · cosmology · taboos · customs · heritage · mores · norms · values

methodology

fieldwork

Research conducted on location

informantsPeople providing secret intelligence
interviewsFormal evaluative conversations
fieldnotesOn-site written observations

qualitative · cross-cultural · transcription · coding · immersion

society

kinship

State of being related

clanRelated group sharing ancestry
lineageDescent from progenitors
casteInherited social division

tribe · stratification · institutions · community · indigenous · aboriginal · chiefdom · moiety · descent · exogamy

specializations

sociolinguistics

Study of language variation

ethnologist

traditions

fieldwork

kinship

sociolinguistics

ethnologist

Opposites

Categories

Family