Unit 4.

Approaches of Anthropological Research

Contents

4.0 Introduction
4.1 Holistic Approach
4.2 Ethnographic Approach
4.3 Emic and Ethic Approach
4.4 Comparative and Historical Approach
4.5 Summary
4.6 References

Learning Objectives

After reading this unit, you will be able to:

● discuss different approaches of anthropological research;
● understand how ethnographic approach is used in holistic study of society and
culture; describe how emic and etic approaches are important in ethnographic
research;
● understand the purpose of comparative and historical approaches in research; and
differentiate between comparative and historical approaches.

4.0 INTRODUCTION

Anthropology is a wide and diverse discipline which studies human biological and cultural
diversity around the world. In anthropological research, an anthropologist looks at similarity
and differences in social institutions, cultural beliefs, and communication styles.
Anthropological research is different from research in other allied sciences. Anthropologists
use different methods, tools, techniques and approaches to study society and culture. Many
a time terms like method, methodology, approaches and perspectives are not used in a
correct way. A method is defined as a way of conducting and implementing research,
whereas methodology is the science and philosophy behind all sorts of research (Adoms
John et.al., 2007).
Basically, a method is:
● a particular methodological tool such as a case study.
● is the line of thinking one adopts.
A perspective is how a thing is perceived or viewed. If we conceive an approach as a
procedure, perspective can be seen as a framework.
Anthropologists are engaged in empirical research as well as laboratory analyses and
archival investigations. They use theories, models and tools and techniques to conduct
research. Anthropologists adopt the following approaches to study human society and
culture:
 ● holistic approach
● ethnographic approach
● comparative approach
● historical approach.

4.1 HOLISTIC APPROACH

Anthropology is a holistic science. The holistic approach of Anthropology allows

understanding humankind in terms of the dynamic interrelationships of all aspects of human
existence. The holistic nature in anthropology is evidenced in a number important ways. The
anthropological research approach involves both biological and cultural (bio-cultural
approach) aspects of humanity. In a bio-cultural approach, human beings are viewed as
biological, social and cultural entities in relation to the environment. Thus anthropologists
study human life in totality.
Anthropology explores the entire panorama of the human issues and problems of the society
and culture. This focused approach is termed as a problem-oriented research approach. To
illustrate, one anthropologist may focus on marital patterns of tribals, another may
concentrate on farming and land use patterns. Despite the recent trends towards
specialisation, anthropologists persistently indulged in analysing their findings within a wider
cultural context. Moreover, when all the specialised aspects within the discipline are viewed
together, they represent a very comprehensive or holistic view of the human condition
(Ferraro and Andreatta, 2010). experience from human origins to contemporary forms of
culture and social life. Anthropological research is conducted around the globe on all
varieties of people wherever they may be found.
● Social anthropologists conduct research on different aspects of human experience,
for example, marriage, family, kinship, customs, beliefs, religion, language, art,
socio-economic conditions, tribes, rural people, conflict resolution, and livelihoods.
● Biological anthropologists conduct research on human adaptation, human genetics,
human palaeontology, health and nutrition, epidemiology and other biological aspects
of human beings.
In ethnographic studies anthropologists try to be holistic by integrating and studying all the
possible aspects of a culture in the total cultural context. Different aspects of culture and
society exhibit patterned interrelationships (e.g., political economy, social configurations,
religion and ideology).
Culture cannot be divorced from biology and adaptation, nor language from culture.
Contemporary societies cannot be understood without considering the historical and
evolutionary processes. Anthropologists such as Malinowski, Radcliff Brown, Margaret
Mead, Evans Prichard, Franz Boas, L.H. Morgan, and Ruth Benedict conducted their
research in a holistic perspective.
These days most anthropologists have become specialised and focused because the
information is so vast. The research is focused on particular issues and problems of the
society and culture. This focused approach is termed as a problem-oriented research
approach. To illustrate, one anthropologist may focus on marital patterns of tribals, another
may concentrate on farming and land use patterns. Despite the recent trends towards
specialisation, anthropologists persistently indulged in analysing their findings within a wider
cultural context. Moreover, when all the specialised aspects within the discipline are viewed
together, they represent a very comprehensive or holistic view of the human condition
(Ferraro and Andreatta, 2010).

Check Your Progress 1

1) What is a holistic approach in Anthropology?
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4.2 ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH

Etymologically, the word “ethnography” originated from two Greek words ethnos (people)
and graphia (writing). Therefore Ethnography accounts for the written presentation of a
people or a population. Ethnography has its origins in the discipline of anthropology.
Ethnography means a systematic detailed study about a particular culture or society,
primarily based on fieldwork. Ethnographic research is conducted in the natural setting by
covering everyday activities of the subjects under qualitative investigation. It also attempts to
describe and interpret the symbolic and contextual meanings of the practices that are
conducted in the natural setting in every usual day. In anthropology, ethnography provides a
thick description of a particular community, society, or culture. During ethnographic fieldwork,
a researcher collects data that he/she analyses, describes and interprets in order to present
the ethnographic account. This written account may be in the form of an article, a book, or
film. The conventional ethnographic approach presumes cultures as whole units that can be
grasped or comprehended as such. Traditional ethnographers live in small communities and
study various aspects of their culture such as customs, behaviour, beliefs, social life,
economic activities, politics, and religion. Today for ethnographers a field could be a virtual
site, where people interact with each other every second. For example, they can conduct
ethnographic research in social networking sites which include Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp
and many other apps. An important aspect of ethnographic research is to develop the skill to
record the field data in a systematic way.
Ethnographic study requires a holistic approach (from holos meaning whole), as it is based
on the idea that none of the properties of a complex system, be it physical, biological or
social, can be understood and explained in isolation, but only if you consider all these
components together. The whole, the structure, is the one that determines the role and
importance of its parts (Bãlan, 2011).

The holistic ethnographic approach involves:

1) An overview of the environmental context of a society, its geographical location, climate,
vegetation and fauna (what in anthropology is called habitat). In this context, the local
knowledge of flora and fauna must be presented, under the name of ethno-botanical and
entomological notions, which are then explained and translated in terms of Western natural
sciences.
2) The description of material culture, i.e. the methods and means local people employed to
make a living, specific technologies, which are also called elements of infrastructure and
economic life, in the context of the fact that they are essentially determined by the
environmental conditions presented before.
3) The description of non-material culture, which is preceded by a history of the society in
question, to the extent that it can be reconstructed from data collected both on-site and from
other sources. The elements of nonmaterial culture are the spoken language, together with
its history and its dialects, social structures (family relations, the rules that establish the
status of individuals according to gender, age, membership of a particular clan, and the
criteria of association between individuals), explicit and implicit rules of social behaviour,
religious ideas and rituals, customs, ceremonial practices. Behind these more or less visible
elements, are the mental structures underlying them, such as the values that members of
the community share and ideas that constitute their general image of the world – which in
philosophical terminology is called Weltanschauung (literally, “worldview”) – and the “ethos”
of culture, as anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1973) names it. (Bãlan, 2011)

Geertz defined culture as “a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by

means of which men communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and
attitudes toward life” (Geertz, 1973). One culture’s ethos is the moral and aesthetic aspect of
life and is the force that determines all aspects of individual behaviour in that culture, the
values and ideas that together configure the motivation for all people’s actions: “a people’s
ethos is the tone, character, and quality of their life, its moral and aesthetic style and mood; it
is the underlying attitude toward themselves and their world that life reflects” (Geertz, 1973).
Ultimately the ethos is the underlying force that determines in every culture the specific way
of being human and configures all the actions and attitudes of its members, so that it was
always the subject of a special interest from the part of ethnographers. (Bãlan, 2011)
In ethnographic study, a researcher involves himself/herself in the field and lives with the
community under exploration and gathers extensive data in the field notes by using different
methods, tools and techniques. Some of these methods are discussed in detail in unit 11.
“Ethnography in practice has evolved from the classic approach, where it was assumed the
researcher could retain objectivity when exploring a new culture, to reflexive ethnography,
where the role and background of the researcher is included as an integral element of the
ethnographic undertaking” (Crowley-Henry, 2009).

According to Bãlan (2011), following are some of the famous ethnographic monographs:

The League of the Ho-de-no-or-nee or Iroquois (1851) by L.H Morgan,

Ethnologische Excursion in Johor (1875), by Russian naturalist Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay
The Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922) by Bronis³aw Malinowski,
Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) by Margaret Mead,
The Nuer (1940) by E.E. Evans-Pritchard,
Naven (1936) by Gregory Bateson,
Tristes Tropiques (1955) by Claude Lévi-Strauss,
The Lele of the Kasai (1963) by Mary Douglas,
The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual (1967) by Victor Turner,
The! Kung San: Men, Women and work in a Foraging Society (1979) by Richard B. Lee,
Urarina Society, Cosmology, and History in Peruvian Amazonia (2009) by Bartholomew
Dean (Bãlan, 2011).

In an ethnographic study different methods are used based on the topic and aim of the
research. Methods of the study are also dependent on the methodological positioning of the
researcher that enables him to answer the relevant research question(s).
Some of the methods, tools and techniques that are used in ethnographic studies are:
interview, observation, key informant, rapport building, questionnaire, Survey method focus
group discussion, life histories, field diaries, historical method, genealogical method,
participant observation.

According to Crowley-Henry (2009), “Given the variety of methods and data collection tools
open to ethnographers, ethnography can be malleable to suit a particular research agenda,
provided it is made clear how the researcher is using the approach in his/her particular
research undertaking”.
The underlying elements of ethnography are :
● the specificity of its study of a particular culture / subculture or population, and
● the use of observation in amassing field and contextual notes pertaining to that
culture / subculture or population (Crowley-Henry, 2009).

In ethnographic work the researcher lives with or close to the people being studied and
interacts with them on a day-to-day basis for a long period, usually a year or more. Fieldwork
approach for a long period of time allows the researcher to observe and examine all the
aspects of the cultural system, specially those aspects that cannot be addressed through
laboratory or survey research. In ethnographic research they gather data from an insider's
point of view (emic approach). Emic approach is simply the understanding of the study
host(s) from their own system of meanings or perceptions. As Malinowski (1922) pointed out
in this work that the goal of ethnography is “to grasp the native’s point of view to realize his
vision of the world” (Whitehead, 2005).

“Most anthropologists today point to Bronislaw Malinowski, author of such landmark

ethnographies as Argonauts of the Western Pacific (first published in 1922), as a kind of
founding father to ethnographic fieldwork, the practice of “participant-observation.”
Malinowski’s early twentieth-century ethnographies were written in a voice removed and
utterly unrevealing about the nature of the ethnographer and his relationship to people
studied. Since Malinowski’s time, the personal account of fieldwork has been hidden away in
notes and diaries” (Hoey, 2013).

Ethnography is also referred as a “thick description,” a term coined by anthropologist Clifford

Geertz in his book The Interpretation of Cultures (1973) to narrate this type of
anthropological research and writing. A thick description explains the behavior or cultural
event in question along with the context in which it occurs. Ethnographic description also
interprets the cultural events in anthropological terms. Such descriptions help readers to
better understand the internal logic of why people in a culture behave as they do and why
the behaviors are meaningful to them. This is important because understanding the
attitudes, perspectives, and motivations of cultural insiders is at the heart of anthropology
(Nelson, 2018).

“Good ethnography recognizes the transformative nature of fieldwork whereas we search for
answers to questions about people we may find ourselves in the stories of others.
Ethnography should be acknowledged as a mutual product born of the intertwining of the
lives of the ethnographer and his or her subjects” (Hoey, 2013). “Fetterman (1998) describes
the ethnographer as:

...interested in understanding and describing a social and cultural scene from the emic, or
insider’s, perspective. The ethnographer is both storyteller and scientist; the closer the
reader of an ethnography comes to understanding the native’s point of view, the better the
story and the better the science” (Crowley Henry, 2009).

Whitehead (2005) describes the following attributes of ethnography: It is a holistic approach

to the study of cultural systems; It is a study of socio-cultural contexts, processes, and
meanings within cultural systems; It is a study of cultural systems from both emic and etic
perspectives; It is a process of discovery, making inferences, and continuing inquiries in an
attempt to achieve emic validity; It is an iterative process of learning episodes; It is an
open-ended emergent learning process, and not a rigid investigator controlled experiment; It
is a highly flexible and creative process; It is an interpretive, reflexive, and constructivist
process; It requires daily and continuous recording of fieldnotes; It presents the world of its
host population in human context (Whitehead, 2005).

Check Your Progress 2

2) What is the meaning of ethnography?

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3) What are the new fields of ethnographic research?

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4.3 EMIC AND ETIC APPROACH

A unique feature of anthropology is its emphasis on viewing another culture from the
perspective of an insider. From the beginning, anthropologists have made a distinction
between the emic approach and the etic approach. The terms emic and etic were coined by
linguist Kenneth Pike in 1954. For the research purpose anthropologists borrowed these
terms from linguistics. The emic approach (derived from the word phonemic) refers to an
insider’s view, which seeks to describe another culture in terms of the categories, concepts
and perceptions of the people being studied (Ferraro and Andreatta, 2010).
There is a fine line between the ethnographer’s insider and outsider point of view. The
fundamental rule of an ethnographer is to place him in an emic perspective.
By contrast, the etic approach (derived from the word phonetic) refers to an outsider’s view,
in which anthropologists use their own perceptions and concepts to describe the culture
under investigation. The terms ‘emic’ and ‘etic’ were not used in ethnography until the 1950s,
Malinowski first defined the emic perspective in his functional theory without using the word.

For an anthropologist an “emic” approach means to adopt a perspective “from inside” i.e. to
make a description of the behaviour, customs, ideas, beliefs (conscious or not), in terms of
an individual who behaves or has ideas similar to that of the subject. The anthropologist tries
to put himself in his subject’s shoes, in order to understand how he conceives things. In
contrast, an “etic” approach means an external description of the same behavioural or
conceptual elements, “from the outside”, i.e. in objective terms, from the perspective of the
researcher, and using concepts considered to be universal and culturally neutral (Bãlan,
2011).
A radically emic approach was taken by a group of U.S. anthropologists (known as
ethnoscientists) during the 1950s and 1960s. In an attempt to obtain a more realistic
understanding of another culture, these scholars insisted on the insider approach. More
recently in the school of interpretation of cultural anthropology in America has strongly
supported the emic approach in anthropological research. Clifford Geertz and others who
belong to the interpretive school hold that because human behaviour stems from the way
people perceive and classify the world around them, the only legitimate strategy is the emic,
or insider, approach to cultural description (Ferraro and Andreatta, 2010).
Romanian anthropologist Gheorghiþã Geanã also supported the emic approach. He writes
(2008), “Emic designates facts, beliefs, attitudes, understood in the way they are real and
meaningful for members of the studied culture”, while “etic designates phenomena that are
identified, described and assessed independently of the position towards them of the
members of the studied culture” (Bãlan, 2011).
“Most often, ethnographers include both emic and etic perspectives in their research and
writing. They first uncover a studied people’s understanding of what they do and why and
then develop additional explanations for the behaviour based on anthropological theory and
analysis. Both perspectives are important, and it can be challenging to move back and forth
between the two. Nevertheless, that is exactly what good ethnographers must do” (Nelson,
2018).
At the opposite end of the debate are the cultural materialists, best represented by Marvin
Harris. Starting from the assumption that material conditions determine thoughts and
behaviour (not the other way round), cultural materialists emphasise the viewpoint of the
ethnographer, not the native informant. There is no consensus on this issue: researchers
must make a decision about which approach to take when doing research (Ferraro and
Andreatta, 2010). For the last six decades there has been an ongoing debate among
anthropologists regarding the suitability of the approach to the scientific study of comparative
cultures.

Check Your Progress 3

4) Who coined the terms emic and etic?

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5) What is emic and etic approach in anthropology?

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4.4 COMPARATIVE AND HISTORICAL APPROACH

Anthropology is a comparative and integrated discipline. Anthropological research examines

all societies, simple and complex. Anthropological research has two purposes:
● to collect and record descriptive data about a particular society and culture. Also
called ethnography.
● to do a comparative study of different cultures (cross-cultural comparison). Also
called ethnology.

In a comparative approach, a research anthropologist studies a culture or society at two

different points of time. Recognizing that the cultural system of a people is constantly
changing, anthropologists have divided studies into two parts:
● studies that describe a culture at one period in time (synchronic study).
● studies that describe the changes in culture of a people over time (diachronic study).

In the earlier sections we have discussed how anthropologists collect data on society and
culture using fieldwork methods and conduct ethnographic studies. However, anthropologists
are not interested in merely describing particular cultural systems and the range of variability
they display. They are also interested in attempting to explain why these differences exist. In
other words, anthropologists are interested in making generalisations of cultural systems.
And generalisations cannot be made based on the study of a single society. For this type of
research anthropologists use the comparative method to study generalisations among many
societies in a systematic way. Comparative method is the method of the comparison
between different societies, groups or social institutions. The objective of this method is to
investigate whether and why the societies under observation are similar or different in certain
aspects.

Ethnology is a branch of social cultural anthropology that conducts research on comparative

study of different cultures. Cross-cultural comparison refers to the method of studying
cultural phenomena across cultures of the identical period. In this particular branch, a
researcher collects descriptive data from different societies and then analyses, interprets,
and compares the results of ethnography. These data are used to compare and contrast and
to make generalisations about society and culture.

The history of cross-cultural comparison dates back to the late 19th century when E B Tylor
and LH Morgan who developed unilineal evolution theory also called cultural evolution (the
idea that cultures evolved in a progressive manner, from simple to complex). In anthropology
this is the first systematic ethnological theory to explain diversity among peoples of the
world. However, there were some serious methodological problems in this early comparative
research which resulted in the abandonment of this approach. Later this approach was
modified by G. P. Murdock who stated that Culture and its peculiarities cannot be adequately
understood simply by studying single cultures. Cultures should be compared with one
another in order to interpret the similarities and differences across various cultures.

Historical Approach
Historical approach refers to studying a phenomenon in historical sequence and hence it
facilitates comparison across time. Franz Boas, “the father of American anthropology,” is the
founder of historical approach. Boas pointed at the limitations of comparative method and
suggested using comparisons within a small well-defined geographical area. Historical
method is primarily concerned with the past and attempts to trace the past as a means of
understanding the present.
History is the study of the past and nobody can negate history. Boas was of the notion that
each and every culture has its own separate past and each culture is “one of a kind”— that
is, different from all others. Each society and culture has its own particular set of
circumstances such as geography, climate, resources and particular cultural borrowing.
Because each culture was affected by almost everything that had happened to it in the past,
and because different things had happened to different cultures, each culture is unique.
Evans Prichard has also emphasised on the importance of historical approach in
anthropology. He argued that the functioning of society cannot be understood without
understanding its history. Hence, if anybody wants to study the origin and development of
society and culture and how its social institutions have evolved, a historical approach is the
only option.
The historical method has been definitely influenced by principles of biological evolution.
This method studies social institutions in the background of human history. History of Human
Marriage written by Westermark presents an excellent example of study in historical method.
This excellent piece of work describes the gradual evolution of the institution of marriage.
In the early 20th Century American historical approach, which was a reaction to the
deductive approach, began under the leadership of Franz Boas. According to Boas,
anthropology was on the wrong path. He was of the view that rather than dreaming of large,
all-encompassing theories to explain why particular societies are the way they are, Boas
want to put the discipline on a sound inductive footing; that is, Boas planned to start by
collecting specific data and then move on to develop general theories (Ferraro and
Andreatta, 2010).
In this way in anthropological research deductive and inductive approaches developed. The
main differences between the deductive and inductive approach is given.

Deductive Approach Inductive Approach

Research starts from a research question or Research starts without a hypothesis and
hypothesis, and then involves collecting involves collecting data.
data.

Data is collected through observation, Data is collected through unstructured

interviews, and other methods. informal observation, conversation, and
other methods.

Data collect is likely to be quantitative data, Data collected is likely to be qualitative, or

or numeric information, such as : non-numeric data, such as:
● the amount of land in relation to the ● recordings of myths and
population conversations
● the numbers of people with ● filming of events.
particular health problems.

Most anthropologists combine deductive and inductive approaches and quantitative and
qualitative data to varying degrees.
“In the early years, ethnographers were interested in exploring entire cultures. Taking an
inductive approach, they generally were not concerned about arriving with a relatively narrow
predefined research topic. Instead, the goal was to explore the people, their culture, and
their homelands and what had previously been written about them. The focus of the study
was allowed to emerge gradually during their time in the field. Often, this approach to
ethnography resulted in rather general ethnographic descriptions. Today, anthropologists are
increasingly taking a more deductive approach to ethnographic research. Rather than
arriving at the field site with only general ideas about the goals of the study, they tend to
select a particular problem before arriving and then let that problem guide their research”
(Nelson, 2018).

Check Your Progress 4

6) What is a comparative method?

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7) What is the historical method?

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4.5 SUMMARY

Anthropology is a holistic and comparative study of humankind. The anthropological

research approach involves both biological and socio-cultural (bio-cultural approach) aspects
of humanity. In bio-cultural research, human beings are viewed as biological, social and
cultural entities in relation to the environment. Anthropologists study human life in totality.
Anthropology as a comparative discipline concerns similarities and differences of human
diversity in the world. Anthropologists engage in empirical research as well as laboratory
analyses and archival investigations. While conducting research they use theories, models
and tools and techniques. To study human society and culture,anthropologists adopt the
following approaches: holistic, ethnographic, comparative and historical. Historical method is
concerned with the past and attempts to trace the past as a means of understanding the
present. Anthropological research has two purposes: to collect and record descriptive data
about a particular society and culture (ethnography). to compare and record different
cultures (ethnology). A unique feature of anthropology is that its research emphasises on
viewing another culture from the perspective of an insider.

4.6 REFERENCES
Adams, J., Khan, H. T., Raeside, R., & White, D. I. (2007). Research Methods for Graduate
Business and Social Science Students. India: SAGE publications.
Bãlan, S. (2011). Ethnographic Method in Anthropological Research. Romania: Pro
Universitaria Publishing.
Crowley-Henry, M. (2009). Ethnography: Visions & Versions. In J. Hogan, P. Dolan & P.
Donnelly (Eds.), Approaches to Qualitative Research: Theory & its Practical Application
(pp.37-63). Ireland: Oak Tree Press.
Fetterman, D. M. (1998). Ethnography: Step-by-step (Applied Social Research Methods).
Stanford University CA: Sage Publications.
Ferraro, G., & Andreatta, S. (2010). Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective. Canada:
Nelson Education. Retrieved from: https://epdf.tips/
queue/cultural-anthropology-an-applied-perspective.html
Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. London: Fontana Press.
Hoey, B. A. (2013, November 02). What is Ethnography? [Blog post]. Retrieved from:
http://www.brianhoey.com/General%20Site/general_defnethnography.htm
Hogan, J., Dolan, P. and Donnelly, P.F. (eds) (2009) Approaches to Qualitative Research:
Theory and Its Practical Application. Cork: Oak tree press.
Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise
and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea. London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul LTD.
Mason, J. (2017). Qualitative Researching. London: Sage.
Nelson, K. (2018) Doing Fieldwork: Methods in Cultural Anthropology. In N. Brown, L.
Tubelle & T. Mcllwraith (Eds.), Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology.
Arlington: American Anthropological Association. Accessed on January 14, 2019. Retrieved
from: https:// courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-culturalanthropology/chapter/fieldwork/
Whitehead, T. L. (2005). Basic Classical Ethnographic Research Methods. Maryland:
Ethnographically Informed Community and Cultural Assessment Research Systems Working
Paper Series.