| Papers [1-15] of 100 :: [Page 1 of 7] | | Go to page : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 —> | Search results on "FUNCTIONALISM ANTHROPOLOGY": |
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Functionalism in Anthropology, 1994.
The theories, methods, major issues and impact of Bronislaw Malinowski, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown and Melvin Spiro.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 6 sources, $ 47.95
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From the Paper
"Functionalism is one methodology used by certain anthropologists, a methodology by which they explain the data they gather on different cultures. The functionalists have contributed much to the field of anthropology, and they have also addressed certain specific issues identified with their approach to the study of human cultures. Among the more important functionalist-oriented anthropologists are Bronislaw Malinowski and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown. The nature of functionalism will be considered in terms of its main concepts, current issues debated by scholars using this theoretical orientation, and problems addressed by the functionalists, all with an eye to assessing the value of this particular theoretical approach.
The social anthropologists took a different tack from the existing theoretical structure in the 1920s. Anthropologists at..."
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Field Projects in Anthropology, 2003.
An illustration of the benefits of field work in the anthropology field through field projects, as seen from the view of Crane and Angrosino's,"Field Project in Anthropology: Third Edition."
1,612 words (approx. 6.4 pages), 1 source, APA, $ 52.95
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Abstract
This paper is a thorough analysis of the benefits of field work to the anthropology field, especially to a student or ethnographer. It uses fourteen different field projects as guides for an aspiring anthropologist to use when beginning fieldwork. This paper demonstrates the importance of fieldwork to the anthropology field as a whole, as well as to the individual. All of Crane and Angrosino's projects are summarized, and their meaning is clearly outlined. Topics covered include how to approach, research, begin, continue, and conclude fieldwork in any culture. It provides a concise base from which to base ethnographic studies.
From the Paper
"Julia Crane and Michael Angrosino?s Field Projects in Anthropology (Third Edition) seeks to illustrate the benefits of fieldwork to the anthropology field. Fieldwork is unequivocally necessary for a student to gain anthropological perspective (Crane 1992: v). There are numerous ways that a student can approach fieldwork, and Field Projects shines light on several aspects of anthropological fieldwork through fourteen different projects. These projects characterize some of the more useful data-collection techniques and show students an array of ways to approach anthropological fieldwork (1992: vi)."
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Cultural Anthropology, 2002.
Examines some of the common constants in cultural anthropology and how they apply to the field of cultural anthropology.
650 words (approx. 2.6 pages), 2 sources, $ 26.95
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Abstract
There are distinct relationships between culture, maintenance systems, child rearing and ecology that, when observed from a detached view, provide a wealth of information about all of the communities (and all of their permutations) throughout the world. It is the assertion of this paper that these characteristics of a people, regardless of size or any other factor, are common throughout all peoples and is thus used as primary markers by anthropologists upon which to base their work. Therefore, this paper will demonstrate such relationships and how they apply to the field of cultural anthropology.
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Interpretive vs. Post Processual Anthropology, 2001.
An anthropology paper discussing the differences between processual and post processual anthropology..
1,397 words (approx. 5.6 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 46.95
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Abstract
This paper examines how many people believe processual and interpretive archaeology to be completely different schools of thought. By looking at the seven main concepts of processual archaeology and the eight main concepts of interpretive archaeology, the writer demonstrates how they go hand in hand as well as complement each other. The example used is the origin of agriculture.
From the Paper
"Though processual archaeology and interpretive archaeology appear to take different approaches to the study of the human past, they share a common end goal: to understand how societies came into being, how they developed and how they worked, all using data from the archaeological record. The two circles of thought each claim their distinctiveness from the other, but if we compare and contrast their main points, we will see how these two methods relate very closely. In other words, their main differences may just be in terms of scale of analysis. By examining the articles on the origins of agriculture (Redding; Richerson, Boyd, and Bettinger; Hayden; and Hodder) and the approaches of the authors in terms of processual vs. interpretive archaeology, we will see the strengths and weaknesses of each. Ultimately, this analysis will provide insight on how a combination of both fields may prove a more effective method for the study of the human past."
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Feminism and Anthropology, 2003.
A reflection on on the contributions of the feminist perspective to anthropology.
3,140 words (approx. 12.6 pages), 12 sources, MLA, $ 91.95
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Abstract
This paper examines how feminist anthropology emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century and attempted to combat the representation (or lack of it) of women in anthropological writing. It looks at how in doing so, it moved through several stages, from trying to redress the imbalance in ethnographic knowledge, through a critique of the theoretical praxis of anthropology to the uncertain place that it has at present. It examines the background to the feminist movement in anthropology and attempts to see it in historical perspective. It then analyses each of the stages of feminist anthropology and assesses their contribution to the broader subject.
From the Paper
"Feminist anthropology has allowed two great ethnocentric divides to be broken down. The first is that between nature/culture. Running through all the work of feminist anthropology is the rejection of the place women have been assigned as somehow preordained or organic. Fatima Mernissi shows that the passive role of the women in some Muslim societies, who is seen as potentially more sexually aggressive than the male, is a cultural construct: ?what is feared in Muslim marriage is the growth of the involvement between a man and a woman into the all-encompassing love, satisfying the sexual, emotional and intellectual needs of both partners.? Such as involvement would be seen as a direct threat to man's relationship with Allah."
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Political and Economic Anthropology, 2008.
This paper reflects on two chapters in Robert Lavenda and Emily Schultz's "Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology".
1,065 words (approx. 4.3 pages), 1 source, APA, $ 37.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that Lavina and Schultz in "Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology" see political anthropology as the study of power, political ideology, political economy, political organization, social stratification, social control and law, status and role and much later ideas of nationalism and hegemony. The author points out that, in 'economic anthropology', all societies are reported to show a form of material life that can be explained in terms of production, exchange or related material culture, which dictates the types of laws and political practices in that society. The paper states that the study of emergencies, crises or wars tells a good deal about matters of nationalism, hegemony and leadership as reactions of weakness to situations that are unpredictable, such as the strong instinct for 'communitas' that was seen when the United States experienced 9/11.
From the Paper
"Some anthropologists like to study how societies cope with unnatural situations or crises. For instance, if a society has known famine and starvation, or is in a climate that means food can be grown or found only for part of the year, there will be effort to save food for hard times. If the food supply is year-round and easily found, there will be less of this planning ahead. What is very valuable will be guarded by law that can mean tradable goods of high value or perhaps special religious items that no ordinary person is to touch."
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Medical Anthropology, 2006.
This paper examines the issues of health and disease and looks at medical anthropology.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 0 sources, $ 71.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses the different aspects of medical anthropology. The underlying theories of medical anthropology are discussed as well as the concept of health and disease, taking into consideration different culture-based paradigms depicting each one. Disease profiles of the different civilizations, from foraging nomads to empires are compared and contrasted.
From the Paper
"Though giving birth occurs naturally in women, the experience itself varies among women due to the great influence of cultural beliefs and the resources available within different societies. Depending on how a society values or perceives childbirth as a medical event, the process will differ according to who conducts it (e.g. physician versus community midwife), how it is conducted (e.g. through a cesarean operation or spontaneous, natural birth) and where it occurs (e.g. whether it is in a modern and well-equipped obstetric facility or at home)."
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Anthropology in Today?s World, 2002.
A study of the application of anthropology today.
930 words (approx. 3.7 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 33.95
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Abstract
This paper describes the relevance of anthropology in today?s world. The paper demonstrates that their discoveries and theories bear heavily on our understanding of our past and future, as illustrated by the recent discovery of Neanderthal violence also sheds light on man?s capacity for love and caring. The paper states that anthropology is defined as ?the science of the physical, cultural and social development of man, his evolution, behavior and geographic distribution from prehistoric times to the present.?
From the Paper
"Anthropology is sometimes viewed as a bit arcane as well, but even a quick glance at some of the aspects of anthropologists? work indicates immediately that anthropology is more relevant today than ever. Indeed, anthropologists are one of the only groups of intellectuals who are able to draw together the hard sciences and social sciences and develop cohesive and encompassing theories of history, sociology and understanding."
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Role of Race in Forensic Anthropology, 2005.
An examination of the importance of race in the study known as forensic anthropology.
4,320 words (approx. 17.3 pages), 6 sources, MLA, $ 114.95
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Abstract
This paper looks at arguments for and against the use of race as a defining factor in forensic anthropology. It explains that some schools of thought argue that race should not be a factor, but scientists should rather view a skeleton as an independent human being. It discusses how others explain that determining a person's race from the remains often assists in solving a crime or mystery. Specific biology data and graphs are included in this paper to help understand these concepts.
From the Paper
"All agree that all human beings belong to the same biological species, Homo sapiens, which means that all are capable of reproducing without barriers. In reality, however, people are restricted to those known to them when looking for a reproductive partner. As a result of this, in some areas, people of like characteristics tend to cluster together. Over time, then, geographic areas can vary even when the people who live in those areas all appear to be of the same ancestry. However, the issue of race also has important cultural and moral issues. In the past, human variation divided into ?races? was viewed as a given, which each race distinct from other ones (Shreeve, 1994). While anthropologists as a group did not support the use of these differences as a way to sort people into some who were better than others, the view assisted those who wanted to assert such claims, insist that the races should be kept separate, and commit any number of social abominations in the name of race, and especially, racial purity."
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Psychological Anthropology, 2005.
An analysis of psychological anthropology and how culture and personality intermix.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 4 sources, $ 71.95
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Abstract
This paper looks at psychological anthropology through many methods. It looks at the definition itself, how older and contemporary psychological anthropologists analyze their own work, and how personality and culture intermix. The paper looks closely at a few specific sub-categories, such as Freud, madness, and primitive cultures. The paper analyzes it in connection to personality, culture, emotion, madness and primitive cultures.
From the Paper
" Psychological Anthropology: A Universal Process Psychological anthropology is an attempt to discover the dynamics of group differences, often via means of close observation and study of a particular theme or culture. It combines the attributes of psychology and anthropology in an endeavor detect similarities between human beings in personal, social and cultural settings. Many scholars have defined their field using distinct nuances, as cater to their brand of craft, but underlying all psychological anthropology is a cultural analysis that aims to discover inherent qualities within us all. Bourguignon (1979), a psychological anthropologist, spent time analyzing the link between classic anthropology--in which scholars studied primitive cultures--and elements of psychology, such as Freud's psychoanalysis of the psychology of childhood development--or the issues of childhood projecting into adulthood."
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The Folk Sector in Medical Anthropology, 2006.
A review of medical anthropology based on the folk sector.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 5 sources, $ 71.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses the topic of medical anthropology based on the folk sector. The paper reviews rites of passage, culturally based views on mental illness and treatment, as well as culturally based diseases and their treatments.
From the Paper
"The profession of medical anthropology has been around as long as mankind, but according to Janzen was initiated in the 1950's and gradually gained popularity and momentum in the 1960s and 1970s. The American Anthropological Association's journal, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, defines medical anthropology as a field of medicine which: Include[s] all inquiries into health, disease, illness, and sickness in human individuals and populations that are undertaken from the holistic and cross-cultural perspective distinctive of anthropology as a discipline--that is, with an awareness of species' biological, cultural, linguistic, and historical uniformity and variation. "
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Museum Anthropology, 2007.
This paper discuses the impact of new technologies on the practice of museum anthropology.
1,610 words (approx. 6.4 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 52.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that new technologies are impacting the practice of museum anthropology by making possible a more accurate interpretation of what ancient objects are really saying, by removing long-held misconceptions, and by enabling museum anthropologists to get much closer to the real story told by these silent artifacts. The author points out that the invention of photography has made possible different kinds of exhibitions, while the invention of x-rays, combined with sophisticated computer analysis of these x-rays, has made possible a more informed understanding of what exhibit artifacts really mean. The paper relates that archaeologists, anthropologists, engineers, mathematicians and computer scientists are working together at the ancient site of Tiwanaku, Bolivia, to develop a large, subsurface surveying project that will attempt to identify artifacts before they are actually collected.
From the Paper
"Yet this was just the beginning of the ways in which technology would shape and frame the discourses engaged in by museum anthropologists. While the possibility of collections of photographs made possible a particular kind of exhibition, more recent advances have made possible a deeper insight into what the exhibitions actually mean. For example, the Krapina Neanderthal fossil bone collection was found in August, 1899, in caves in Croatia. It has long been thought that the collection was a relic of an ancient group of hominids that died out because they were weaker than other groups."
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A Discussion and Semiotic Anthropology Of the Salem Witch Trials, 2002.
This paper addresses the history and the events of the Salem Witch Trials from the perspective of Semiotic Anthropology.
1,650 words (approx. 6.6 pages), 10 sources, $ 62.95
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Abstract
This paper addresses the history and the events of the Salem Witch Trials from the perspective of Semiotic Anthropology. Here, the question of the witchcraft trials is examined as a form of social control for a people, specifically women, who had no other element of control.
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Environmental Anthropology, 2002.
Examines this relatively new subset of applied, cultural anthropology.
3,600 words (approx. 14.4 pages), 19 sources, $ 127.95
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Abstract
Examines this relatively new subset of applied, cultural anthropology. Use in assisting government and private enterprises of environmental policy development and program planning. Need to assess and interpret the relationship between a community and its environment and the consequences of change. Social research methodology. Historical perspective. Current research. Table of Contents.
From the Paper
"Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Historical Perspective 3
Overview of the Paradigms and Current Research 13
Conclusion 17
References 19
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Introduction
Anthropology deals with the production and utilization of knowledge pertinent to human cultural and social action within the confines of specific historical and environmental situations and cross-cultural interactions. One area in which it excels, however, has to do with understanding and interpreting cultural diversity in the communal setting and the interaction and sometimes conflict between intercultural and/or inter-population conflict.
Environmental anthropology (formerly known as cultural ecology) and ..."
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Darwinian Anthropology and Evolutionary Psychology, 2002.
This paper compares and contrasts the two major views of the cultural development of humans: Darwinian Anthropology and Evolutionary Psychology.
1,720 words (approx. 6.9 pages), 10 sources, MLA, $ 55.95
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Abstract
The writer explores the similarity between the two theories in that each acknowledges the evolutionary mechanisms for behavior that have been inherited. The rest of the paper highlights the ways in which the theories diverge: Darwinian Anthropology feels these are secondary to modern cultural influence while Evolutionary Psychology feels they are primary in explaining how and why we behave as we do.
From the Paper
"Many feel that a combination of the two theories is a viable solution to the differences and weaknesses we have found. While this is not a direct comparison of our two original theories, it is important to look at ways in which they could coexist. These coevolutionary theories combine the study of current adaptations in current culture to help understand the evolution of mechanisms which initially drive the culture. The inverse is also true; studying the mechanisms of evolution in the human mind helps to understand why we behave as we do in modern society."
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