Notes

Cultural acquisition takes place through enculturation and acculturation. Enculturation is the process of learning your own culture which begins at birth. The cultural norms that a person learns through the enculturation process determine his or her behavioral patterns and perceptions. These practices dictate how we relate and function not only in our culture but also how we relate to and engage other cultures. Acculturation is the process of learning about other cultures that are not the cultures that most influenced our formative years. This is a process that can take place many times throughout the life of an individual as we engage people from other cultures in our own communities and in other locations. An individual's beliefs and practices may be challenged or encouraged as a result of the interactions with other cultures.
Cultural anthropology is the description, interpretation, and analysis of similarities and differences in human cultures. It is a diverse discipline encompassing a wide variety of topics related to human beings. Cultural anthropologists often differentiate themselves by referring to areas of specialty such as economic anthropology, urban anthropology, or anthropology of religion, to name just a few.

The anthropological perspective refers to an approach to social research that seeks to understand culture from the point of view of the people within that cultural context. Ethnographic fieldwork is anthropology’s hallmark research method, based on the anthropologist’s direct experience in a culture.
The term anthropology is extraordinarily broad because the discipline as a whole encompasses several distinct but related modes of research.

TERMS
anthropological perspective: The approach to social research that seeks to understand culture from the point of view of the people within that cultural context.
anthropology: The holistic study of humankind.
applied anthropology: The branch of anthropology in which practitioners use anthropology in the service of particular social concerns.
archaeology: The subfield of anthropology focused on the study of material artifacts to understand a people’s culture and society, usually in the past.
cultural anthropology: The subfield of anthropology focused on the description, interpretation, and analysis of similarities and differences in human cultures.
cultural other: A term used to refer to the subjective experience of difference at the cultural level; identifying “us/me” and “them/you” through cultural symbols and markers.
ethnoarchaeology: An approach to archaeology that combines the analysis of material life with information taken from contemporary populations.
ethnographic fieldwork: Anthropology’s hallmark research method, based on the anthropologist’s direct experience in a culture.
ethnographic interviews: Purposeful, documented conversation with research participants that may be formal or informal.
ethnography: (1) A rich description and analysis of a culture that includes the anthropologist’s experience of “being there”; (2) the method of research involving firsthand fieldwork, participant observation, and other qualitative data.
excavation: A rigorous method of extracting artifacts from underground; the primary data collection method of archaeologists.
focus groups: A type of interview in which small groups of people are asked to discuss a particular topic while the anthropologist takes notes.
globalization: The integration of economies, political systems, societies, and culture into a larger community on a global scale.
holistic understanding: The view that all parts of human life—from birthing practices to the economy to warfare to art—are interconnected.
life history: An interview or series of interviews that document the trajectory of a single life.
linguistics: The subfield of anthropology devoted to the study of language.
mapping: Diagramming geographical space or human interpretation and use of space.
participant observation: An approach to research that combines participation and observation in various ways to optimize understanding of the culture being studied.
physical (or biological) anthropology: The subfield of anthropology devoted to the study of human anatomy, nonhuman primates (primatology), and human origins.
primatology: The study of nonhuman primates.
qualitative research methods: Interpretive approaches that use participant observation, interviews, document analysis, and other methods to understand the nature and meaning of phenomena.
quantitative research methods: Measurement-based approaches that rely on mathematics, statistics, and hypotheses for producing and interpreting data.
rapid ethnographic assessment procedures (REAP): The time-compressed use of focus groups, ethnographic interviews, mapping, and other methods within a framework of participant observation.
rapport: A relationship of conversational ease with individuals and groups.
survey: A standardized set of questions applied to numerous individuals or places.