Our Products

The Human Relations Area Files’ mission is to promote understanding of cultural diversity and commonality in the past and present. To accomplish this mission, the Human Relations Area Files produces scholarly resources and infrastructure for research, teaching and learning, and supports and conducts original research on cross-cultural variation. Learn more about HRAF.

Our award-winning, membership-based eHRAF World Cultures database contains information on present and past aspects of cultural and social life for a worldwide sample of societies. The contents are organized by cultures and indexed at the paragraph level by HRAF anthropologists with unique subject identifier codes from the Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM), making it ideal for both exploratory, in-depth cultural research, and cross-cultural comparisons.

Learn more about database features, the cultures and subjects covered in our collection, and find membership and trial information for eHRAF World Cultures here.
eHRAF Archaeology is an award-winning online database covering the prehistory of a sample of archaeological traditions around the world. Designed to facilitate comparative archaeological studies, this database is organized into archaeological traditions by region. Like eHRAF World Cultures, each document within our collection has been subject-indexed by HRAF anthropologists using HRAF's Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM).

Learn more about eHRAF Archaeology, including the subjects and traditions covered in the database, and find membership and trial information here.
Teaching eHRAF is a free, open access, interdisciplinary teaching resource aimed at providing faculty with ideas about how to use the eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology online databases in their curricula. Our repository of eHRAF-based sample teaching syllabi covers a variety of topics focusing on general anthropology, general archaeology, medical anthropology, and research methods.

The eHRAF Workbooks are designed to complement any textbook or anthropology curriculum. Workbook activities are presented as PowerPoint slideshows that instructors can modify, share, and upload to Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, or a similar learning management system. Learn more about HRAF teaching resources for remote learning on our Teaching Online page.
Edited and compiled by Carol R. Ember, Explaining Human Culture is a searchable database summarizing cross-cultural research findings from over 1,200 studies. This unique service provides an interactive way for researchers to explore what previous cross-cultural research has uncovered about cultural universals and differences. In addition to searching past anthropological findings, we have also provided a series of topical summary modules authored by cross-cultural experts which offer a deeper look into selected cross-cultural topics of interest.

Explaining Human Culture is offered for free. No username or password is required.
Introducing Cross-Cultural Research, our cross-cultural course, makes an ideal companion to all of our products. In conjunction with our Basic Guide to Cross-Cultural Research, it offers colorful and engaging PDFs covering all aspects of cross-cultural research, from design to statistical analysis. Use these resources to brush up on your knowledge of cross-cultural research methodology from start to finish.

This Cross-Cultural Course is open access and available free of charge. No username or password is required.

You may also wish to refer to our Basic Guide to Cross Cultural Research.

Reviews and Testimonials

Learn more about why our members love HRAF by checking out our database reviews and testimonials from member faculty.