Republic of the Philippines

PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY

Goa, Camarines Sur

College of Education

Module 1: Cultural Anthropology

Course Code: SSED10 Week No./Date: Week 1/ August 16-20, 2021

Course Title: Socio-Cultural Anthropology Professor: Ralph C. Navelino
Section: BSED-SS3A Term: 1st Semester 2021-2022

A. Introduction

Anthropologists across the subfields use unique perspectives to conduct their research. These
perspectives make anthropology distinct from related disciplines — like history, sociology, and psychology —
that ask similar questions about the past, societies, and human nature. The key anthropological perspectives
are holism, relativism, comparison, and fieldwork. There are also both scientific and humanistic tendencies
within the discipline that, at times, conflict with one another.
This module explores the Anthropological perspectives and its application to the different fields of social
sciences.

B. Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. explore the Anthropological perspectives;
2. examine the development of four fields of Anthropology and its application in social science; and
3. create Anthropology Paper Plan.

C. Learning Content

INTRODUCTION

It is rather hard, if not impossible, to answer the question of how long anthropology has existed.
Should social scientists consider anthropology the detailed descriptions appearing in the work of ancient and
medieval historians—which deal with the culture of certain ethnic groups, such as their death rites, eating
habits, and dressing customs—just as they consider the fieldwork reports based on long-term participating
observations published in the twenty-first century? Although it is not easy to find the unambiguous answer to
this question, it is obvious that no work in history of science can lack a starting point, which helps its readers
pin down and comprehend its argumentation. During the mid-1800s anthropology first appeared as a "new"
independent discipline in the fast-changing realm of social sciences.

Anthropological Perspectives:

A. HOLISM
Anthropologists are interested in the whole  of humanity, in how various aspects of life
interact. One cannot fully appreciate what it means to be human by studying a single aspect of our
complex histories, languages, bodies, or societies. By using a holistic approach, anthropologists ask how
different aspects of human life influence one another. For example, a cultural anthropologist studying
the meaning of marriage in a small village in India might consider local gender norms, existing family
networks, laws regarding marriage, religious rules, and economic factors. A biological anthropologist

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 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Goa, Camarines Sur

studying monkeys in South America might consider the species’ physical adaptations, foraging patterns,
ecological conditions, and interactions with humans in order to answer questions about their social
behaviors. By understanding how nonhuman primates behave, we discover more about ourselves
(after all, humans are  primates)! By using a holistic approach, anthropologists reveal the complexity of
biological, social, or cultural phenomena.
Anthropology itself is a holistic discipline, comprised in the United States (and in some other
nations) of four major subfields: cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, linguistic
anthropology, and archaeology. While anthropologists often specialize in one subfield, their specific
research contributes to a broader understanding of the human condition, which is made up of culture,
language, biological and social adaptations, as well as human origins and evolution.

B. CULTURAL RELATIVISM
The guiding philosophy of modern anthropology is cultural relativism—the idea that we should
seek to understand another person’s beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their culture rather
than our own. Anthropologists do not judge other cultures based on their values nor do they view
other ways of doing things as inferior. Instead, anthropologists seek to understand people’s beliefs
within the system they have for explaining things.
The opposite of cultural relativism is ethnocentrism, the tendency to view one’s own culture as
the most important and correct and as a measuring stick by which to evaluate all other cultures that
are largely seen as inferior and morally suspect. As it turns out, many people are ethnocentric to some
degree; ethnocentrism is a common human experience. Why do we respond the way we do? Why do
we behave the way we do? Why do we believe what we believe? Most people find these kinds of
questions difficult to answer. Often the answer is simply “because that is how it is done.” People
typically believe that their ways of thinking and acting are “normal”; but, at a more extreme level,
some believe their ways are better than others.
Ethnocentrism is not a useful perspective in contexts in which people from different cultural
backgrounds come into close contact with one another, as is the case in many cities and communities
throughout the world. People increasingly find that they must adopt culturally relativistic perspectives
in governing communities and as a guide for their interactions with members of the community. For
anthropologists, cultural relativism is especially important. We must set aside our innate ethnocentric
views in order to allow cultural relativism to guide our inquiries and interactions such that we can learn
from others.

C. COMPARISON
Anthropologists of all the subfields use comparison to learn what humans have in common,
how we differ, and how we change. Anthropologists ask questions like: How do chimpanzees differ
from humans? How do different languages adapt to new technologies? How do countries respond
differently to immigration? In cultural anthropology, we compare ideas, morals, practices, and systems
within or between cultures. We might compare the roles of men and women in different societies, or
contrast how different religious groups conflict within a given society. Like other disciplines that use
comparative approaches, such as sociology or psychology, anthropologists make comparisons between
people in a given society. Unlike these other disciplines, anthropologists also compare across societies,
and between humans and other primates. In essence, anthropological comparisons span societies,
cultures, time, place, and species. It is through comparison that we learn more about the range of
possible responses to varying contexts and problems.

D. FIELDWORK
Anthropologists conduct their research in the field with the species, civilization, or groups of
people they are studying. In cultural anthropology, our fieldwork is referred to as ethnography , which
is both the process and result of cultural anthropological research. The Greek term “ethno” refers to
people, and “graphy” refers to writing. The ethnographic process involves the research method of

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 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Goa, Camarines Sur

participant-observation fieldwork: you participate in people’s lives, while observing them and taking
field notes that, along with interviews and surveys, constitute the research data. This research is
inductive: based on day-to-day observations, the anthropologist asks increasingly specific questions
about the group or about the human condition more broadly. Often times, informants actively
participate in the research process, helping the anthropologist ask better questions and understand
different perspectives.

Fields of Anthropology:

1. Biological (or physical) anthropologists carry out systematic studies of the non-cultural aspects of
humans and near-humans.  Non-cultural refers to all of those biological characteristics that are
genetically inherited in contrast to learned.  Near-human is a category that includes monkeys, apes,
and the other primates as well as our fossil ancestors.  The primary interest of most biological
anthropologists today is human evolution--they want to learn how our ancestors changed through time
to become what we are today.  Biological anthropologists also are interested in understanding the
mechanisms of evolution and genetic inheritance as well as human variation and adaptations to
different environmental stresses, such as those found at high altitudes and in environments that have
temperature extremes. 
2. Cultural (or socio-cultural) anthropologists are interested in learning about the cultural aspects of
human societies all over the world.  They usually focus their research on such things as the social and
political organizations, marriage patterns and kinship systems, subsistence and economic patterns, and
religious beliefs of different societies.  Most cultural anthropologists’ study contemporary societies
rather than ancient ones.  Through the 19th and most of the 20th centuries, the peoples who primarily
interested cultural anthropologists were those who lived in small-scale, isolated societies with cultures
that were very different from each other.
3. Linguistic anthropologists study the human communication process.  They focus their research on
understanding such phenomena as the physiology of speech, the structure and function of languages,
social and cultural influences on speech and writing, nonverbal communication, how languages
developed over time, and how they differ from each other.  This is very different from what goes on in
an English or a foreign language class.   Linguists are not language teachers or professional translators.
Most anthropological linguistic research has been focused on unwritten, non-European languages. 
Linguists usually begin their study of such a language by learning first hand from native speakers what
its rules are for making sounds and meaning from those sounds, including the rules for sentence
construction.  Linguists also learn about different regional and social dialects as well as the social
conventions of speaking the language in different situations.
4. Archaeology is interested in recovering the prehistory and early history of societies and their cultures.  
They systematically uncover the evidence by excavating, dating, and analyzing the material remains left
by people in the past.  Archaeologists are essentially detectives who search through many thousands of
pieces of fragmentary pots and other artifacts as well as environmental data in order to reconstruct
ancient life ways.  In a sense, this makes archaeology the cultural anthropology of the past. 
Archaeology is also related to biological anthropology in its use of the same methods in excavating and
analyzing human skeletal remains found in archaeological sites.

Application of Anthropology in Social Sciences:

SOCIOLOGY: Sociology and anthropology have highly influenced each other and in their broadest senses are
one and the same. Social anthropology as a branch of sociological studies devotes itself to primitive societies.

EDUCATION: Throughout the world, anthropologists have considered the importance of applying the tools of
anthropology to the study of education. It advances anti-oppressive, socially equitable, and racially just solutions
to educational problems through research using anthropological perspectives, theories, methods, and findings.

BUSINESS AND COMMERCE: Anthropologists within the university system study the anthropology of business in an
effort to understand business culture and operations. In addition, actual advice-giving to businesses can extend
outside of the academic field. Corporations sometimes hire anthropologists to help answer questions about how to
market to consumers or to help them understand and develop a productive company culture.

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 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Goa, Camarines Sur

SOCIAL POLICY: Anthropologists also have an impact on the development and understanding of social policy,
broadly defined as governmental policies like public housing programs and other social services. When social policies
are developed, they're generally designed to have to have the biggest positive effect. However, without research
into the human experience of these policies, the true consequences could be hard to assess. As you might guess,
governments and other organizations responsible for public policy may not always have the objectivity necessary to
interpret the impact of their own policies on the community. Anthropologists, on the other hand, are trained to
recognize their own bias and use methodologies that help them dig into social policies' real impacts on people. They
aim to question assumptions and to widen their focus so that they take into account all aspects of the human
experience.

D. Learning Activities and Assessment Tasks

Task 1. Q & A: Answer the following questions in two to three sentences only regarding the Cultural
Anthropology.

1. What are the different Anthropological Perspectives?

3. What are the applications of anthropology in social science?

4. How can anthropology influence social policy?

Task 2. Anthropology Paper Plan: Create an Anthropology Paper Plan highlighting your preferred topic in
cultural anthropology. The outline format included Title, Objectives, Literature Review, Methodology, Personal
Rationale and Bibliography.

Scoring Rubric:

Criteria 4 3 2 1
Background Helps reader to
Appropriate range Inadequate range Insufficient range
understand the
but lacks details in and missing and detail
case; all important
some areas. important details. provided.
details included.
Writing Quality Some Inconsistent,
Concise, consistent Needs significant
inconsistencies rambling, unable to
writing. editing.
across document. comprehend.
Format Included all Included all Used a different
Did not include
sections and sections but some format but did not
required sections
formatted format justify in cover
or use a format.
consistently. inconsistencies. letter.

E. Assignment: Answer the following question in two to three sentence only.

1. How cultural Anthropology differs from sociology?

2. What are the origins of cultural anthropology?

3. Identify the different theories of cultural Anthropology

F. References:
Shultz, Emily & Lavenda, Ed. (2009). Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition. Oxford UP
Incorporated

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 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Goa, Camarines Sur

Kottak, Conrad (2012). Mirror for Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. McGraw-Hill

Lewis, Elizabeth (2019, April 08). An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology.

https://www.thoughtco.com/cultural-anthropology-4581480

Prepared by: Reviewed by: Approved:

RALPH C. NAVELINO JOAN A. MONFORTE, PhD MARITA S. MAGAT, PhD

FACULTY PROGRAM DIRECTOR DEAN

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