Introducing Cross-Cultural Anthropological Research
Lectures
Introduction to Cross-Cultural Anthropological Research
Carol Ember introduces viewers to the course and to core course concepts about cross-cultural anthropological research, including its purpose, basic assumptions, a brief history, and the pros and cons of different types of cross-cultural comparisons–including worldwide comparisons, within-region comparisons, and diachronic comparisons (comparisons of a culture or cultures across time).
Research Strategy Examples from Primary Instructors
Types of Cross-Cultural Comparisons: Illustrations from Carol Ember’s Comparative Research
Discusses examples of the various kinds of cross-cultural comparisons researchers commonly conducted using examples from Carol Ember’s own research. Carol Ember is a cultural anthropologist who has been conducting research for her entire career. She is the President the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University which produces eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology, finely subject-indexed online databases of ethnographic and archaeological texts used for conducting cross-cultural comparisons.
Research Strategy Examples from Guest Instructors
Examples of search strategies are provided by Alexandra Brewis Slade, Amber Wutich, and Eleanor Power.
Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Ethnographic Fieldwork
In addition to using online ethnographic databases like eHRAF, some researchers create collaborative teams in which anthropologists at different field sites independently collect data at each site and go on to pool this data together to enable cross-cultural comparisons. Guest speaker Alexandra Brewis Slade introduces viewers to designing and running such studies for comparing across ethnographic field-sites.
Collecting Cross-Cultural Data
Guest speaker Amber Wutich discusses the basics and pros and cons of collecting cross-cultural data using a number of different strategies including: secondary datasets, one investigator collecting primary data in a few sites, and collaborative researchers collecting primary data. The focus is on collaborative data strategies.
International Ethics
Guest speaker Alexandra Brewis Slade discusses the ethical considerations involved in conducting cross-cultural research–particularly when working in teams of researchers collecting data across multiple field-sites.
Suggested Reading
Chapter 1 in Ember/Ember 2009 or Logic of Cross-Cultural Comparisons Review
Additional Reading
Since this course mostly covers secondary comparisons using ethnography, the additional reading is on primary comparisons.
Johnson, A. (1991). Regional comparative field research. Behavior Science Research, 25(1-4), 3-22.
Forkel, R., List, J. M., Greenhill, S. J., Rzymski, C., Bank, S., Cysouw, M. & Gray, R. D. (2018). Cross-Linguistic Data Formats, advancing data sharing and re-use in comparative linguistics. Scientific data, 5(1), 1-10.
Munroe, R. L., & Munroe, R. H. (1991). Comparative field studies: Methodological issues and future possibilities. Behavior Science Research, 25(1-4), 155-185.
Social Network Strategies
Social Network Analysis - Part 1: Introduction
Social Network Analysis is a set of data analytic techniques used in representing and describing network data, such as groups of interconnected cultures, human social networks, and so on. In this video, guest speaker Eleanor Power introduces the basics of social network analysis, including when to use social network analysis, key concepts involved, and examples of well-known studies in the literature which have employed social network analysis and related techniques. This is Part 1 of 4.
Social Network Analysis - Part 2: Representing Networks
Guest speaker Eleanor Power delves into key topics involved in social network analysis including types of networks, representing social networks in the form of matrices, and distinctions between socio-centric and ego-centric network approaches. This is Part 2 of 4.
Social Network Analysis - Part 3: Describing Networks
Guest speaker Eleanor Power discusses various metrics used in describing the structure of networks quantitatively. This is Part 3 of 4.
Social Network Analysis - Part 4: Modelling Networks
Guest speaker Eleanor Power discusses advanced topics in social network analysis, including limitations of analyzing social network data using classic statistical techniques and alternative statistical analyses which may be more appropriate. This is Part 4 of 4.