Window on Humanity Conrad Kottak Third Edition Chapter 2 Ethics and Methods © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Overview Anthropological ethics Research methods in anthropology – Multidisciplinary research in biological and archaeological anthropology – Ethnographic techniques – Survey research © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Ethics and Methods Ethics and anthropology – Proper relations with host nations, regions, and communities – AAA Code of Ethics Informed consent Collaborative relationships Inclusion of host country colleagues in planning, funding requests, and dissemination of results “Giving something back” © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

What would you do? Ethical Dilemmas 1.Pseudonyms or real names? 2.In the case of Malpractice 3.To medicate or not to medicate? 4.Granddaughter or Researcher? © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Multidisciplinary Approaches to Anthropology and Archaeology There are all sorts of specialized research interests topics and methods within physical anthropology and archaeology Scientists from diverse fields collaborate with anthropologists in the study of sites where fossils or artifacts have been found. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Palynology study of ancient plants through pollen samples Determine sites environment at the time of occupation © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Bioarchaeology Study of human skeletons to reconstruct physical traits, health status, diet Look for evidence of social status, diet, genetic differences © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Remote sensing (e.g., aerial photos, satellite imagery) Used to locate archaeological features as well as patterns of flooding and deforestation, with can then be examined on the ground Try to find footbaths, roads, canals, irrigation systems © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Primatology – Study of primates (apes, monkeys, lemurs) in zoos and natural settings – Data on primate social systems and behavior – Hypotheses about behavior that humans do or do not share with other primates and hominid ancestors © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Anthropometry Measurement of human body parts and dimensions Body mass and composition indicate nutritional status in living people © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Bone biology – Study of bone genetics; cell structure; growth, development, and decay; patterns of movement – Paleopathology – study of disease and injury in skeletons from archaeological sites – Forensic anthropology – recovery, analysis, and identification of human remains in legal contexts © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Molecular anthropology Genetic analyses to assess evolutionary relationships Ancient and contemporary populations, species Reconstruction of migration and settlement © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Paleoanthropology Study of early hominids through fossil remains © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Research methods in physical anthropology and archaeology © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Two Basic Field Work Strategies 1. Systematic survey – Gathers information on settlement patterns* (distribution of sites) over large areas – Researchers record the location, size, and approximate age of sites – Questions they ask: Where are sites located? How bid are they? What kinds of buildings? How old are the sites? *Distribution of sites within a region © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Two Basic Field Work Strategies 2.Excavation – Scientists recover remains by digging through layers of deposits – Sites are only excavated because they are endangered, or to answer specific research questions – WHY? © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Kinds of archaeology Experimental archaeology – replication of ancient techniques and processes – (e.g., tool making) Historical archaeology – use of written records (when available) as guides and supplements to archaeological research Classical archaeology – study of the literate civilizations of the Old World – (e.g., Greece, Rome, Egypt) Underwater archaeology – investigation of submerged sites – (e.g., shipwrecks) © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Dating the past Relative dating techniques – Provides a time frame IN RELATION to other strata or materials – Not absolute dates in numbers – Stratigraphy – science that examines the accumulation of sediments in layers (strata) – Principle of superposition © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Dating the past Absolute dating techniques – More precise dating of artifacts and fossils – Dates in numbers – Radiometric techniques – based on known rates of radioactive decay of elements – Examples: Carbon-14 ( 14 C) Potassium-argon (K/A) Uranium series ( 238 U) Thermoluminescence (TL) Electron spin resonance (ESR) © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Understanding Geological Time Answer the questions as you navigate through Understanding Geological Time. u/education/explorations/tour s/geotime/gtpage1.html © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Research methods in cultural anthropology – Cultural anthropology and sociology Share interest in social relations, organization, and behavior Sociology traditionally focused on large, industrialized Western nations – Questionnaires, collection of masses of quantifiable data – Reliance on sampling and statistical techniques Anthropology traditionally focused on small, nonliterate populations – Ethnographic techniques © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Ethnography Firsthand, personal study of local cultural settings Extended period of time in a given society or community Holistic approach – attempt to understand the totality of a particular culture © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Observation and participant observation Awareness and recording of details from daily events Establishment of rapport with hosts Participant observation – taking part in the activities being observed © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Conversation, interviewing, and interview schedules Various types of ethnographic interviews – Undirected conversation – Open-ended interviews focusing on specific topics – Formal interviews using a predetermined schedule of questions © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

The genealogical method Procedures used to discover and record connections of kinship, descent, and marriage Genealogy essential to social organization of nonindustrial societies Genealogical data help anthropologists understand current social relations and reconstruct history © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Key cultural consultants (key informants) Key cultural consultants (key informants) – people who can provide the most complete or useful information about particular aspects of life © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Life histories Reveal how specific people perceive, react to, and contribute to changes that affect their lives Illustrate diversity within a given community © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Local beliefs and perceptions versus those of the ethnographer Emic (native-oriented) approach – How local people perceive and categorize the world – what is meaningful to them – Emic perspective provided by cultural consultants (informants) Etic (science-oriented) approach – Emphasizes categories, explanations, and interpretations the anthropologist considers important © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Problem-oriented ethnography Investigate a specific problem (although they remain interested in the whole context of human behavior) Collection of data on range of variables (e.g., population density, environmental quality, climate, physical geography, diet, land use) © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Longitudinal Research Long-term study of a community, region, society, culture, or other unit, usually based on repeated visits Increasingly common Often conducted by research teams © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Team research multiple ethnographers conducting complimentary research in a given community, culture, or region © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Culture, space, and scale – Analyze the ongoing and inescapable flows of people, images, technology, and information that shape social life – Cultures cannot be located in bounded spaces – so-called local events are always influenced by wider information flows and experiences – Anthropologists increasingly study people in motion, traveling with them as they move from village to city, cross borders, or travel internationally © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.

Survey research – large-scale societies – Complement more traditional ethnographic techniques – Goal is to draw inferences about larger population – Considerably more impersonal than ethnography – Ethnography can be used to supplement, fine-tune survey research © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved.