social anthropology
Studying human societies
Social anthropology is the branch of anthropology that studies human societies and cultures, particularly their social structures, kinship systems, rituals, and belief systems.
The field emphasizes fieldwork and participant observation—living among the people being studied.
Social anthropology is the preferred term in Britain; American scholars more often say cultural anthropology, though the distinction has blurred.
Research conducted on location
- thick descriptionContextually rich ethnographic analysis
- informantsPeople providing secret intelligence
- interviewsFormal evaluative conversations
- cultural relativismUnderstanding norms within their context
reflexivity · rapport · field notes · case study · life history · immersion · research ethics · positionality
State of being related
- ritualsCeremonial repeated practices
- taboosSocially proscribed practices
- beliefsAccepted truths, personal
- valuesPrinciples held worthwhile
norms · traditions · mythology · symbols · cosmology · worldview · ethos · folklore
Division into distinct levels
- institutionsEstablished organizations or practices
- communityCollective of connected people
- classGrouping by shared traits
- casteInherited social division
status · role · norms · sanctions · power · hierarchy · lineage · clan
Analysis through underlying systems
- functionalismTheory emphasizing purposes and roles
- postmodernismSkepticism toward universal truths
- cultural relativismUnderstanding norms within their context
- agencyPower to act
fieldwork
Research conducted on location
- thick descriptionContextually rich ethnographic analysis
- informantsPeople providing secret intelligence
- interviewsFormal evaluative conversations
cultural relativism · reflexivity · rapport · field notes · case study · life history · immersion · research ethics · positionality
kinship
State of being related
- ritualsCeremonial repeated practices
- taboosSocially proscribed practices
- beliefsAccepted truths, personal
values · norms · traditions · mythology · symbols · cosmology · worldview · ethos · folklore · ceremonies
stratification
Division into distinct levels
- institutionsEstablished organizations or practices
- communityCollective of connected people
- classGrouping by shared traits
caste · status · role · norms · sanctions · power · hierarchy · lineage · clan · tribe
structuralism
Analysis through underlying systems
- functionalismTheory emphasizing purposes and roles
- postmodernismSkepticism toward universal truths
- cultural relativismUnderstanding norms within their context
social anthropologypsychology
Study of mind, behavior
cognitive psychology · neuropsychology · neuroscience · economics · behavioral economics
social anthropologyeconometrics
Statistical analysis of markets
statistical analysis · psychometrics · clinical trials · hard science
social anthropologypaleoanthropology
Science of ancestral human remains
archaeology · forensic anthropology · primatology · human evolution
social, society, associate, association, sociable, antisocial, socialize, socially, unsocial