What are the most important aspects of culture that anthropologists are interested in?

The study of humankind

Anthropology is the holistic study of people and cultures in every corner of the globe, from prehistoric times to the present day.

Anthropologists are interested in anything and everything having to do with humans, including our biology, languages, evolution, migrations, technology, economics, politics, social organization, arts and religions.

Anthropology's major fields of study

Archaeologists seek to understand the lives of people in the past by studying the things they left behind.

Biological anthropologists study the origin and evolution of the human species and how human populations adapt biologically to different environments.

Cultural anthropologists explore the lifeways of communities around the world today.

Linguistic anthropologists focus on the nature, structure and evolution of language, and the critical role it plays in the human experience.

Characteristics of anthropology

Anthropology is a distinctive field of study and perspective on humanity. It is characterized by the following elements:

• Holistic. Anthropology seeks to explore every facet of an issue or topic, making it inherently interdisciplinary.
• A global perspective. Anthropology compares cultures in order to make generalizations and develop theories that apply to all societies in all times and places.
• Evolutionary. Anthropology seeks to discover the origins of humanity and human institutions, and how people and cultures change over time.
• Study of culture. Anthropology explores the learned and shared bodies of knowledge that humans have developed to adapt to their environments.
• Biocultural. Anthropologists study biological as well as cultural factors, seeking to discover relationships between “nature” and “nurture.”
• Fieldwork. Anthropology relies on gathering information through extended periods of intense empirical investigation, which include observation of behaviors, excavation of artifacts and interaction with the peoples of the world.
• A natural science, a social science and one of the humanities. As the anthropologist Eric Wolf said, it is “the most scientific of the humanities and the most humanistic of the sciences.”
• Respect for human diversity. Ruth Benedict, one of the founders of American anthropology, said the mission of anthropology is “to make the world safe for human differences.”

NPS photo

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans and their cultural, social, biological, and environmental aspects of life in the past and the present. Cultural anthropology is one of four areas of study in the broader field of anthropology (archeology, physical or biological anthropology, and linguistics being the other three). Cultural anthropologists specialize in the study of culture and peoples’ beliefs, practices, and the cognitive and social organization of human groups. Cultural anthropologists study how people who share a common cultural system organize and shape the physical and social world around them, and are in turn shaped by those ideas, behaviors, and physical environments.

Cultural anthropology is hallmarked by the concept of culture itself. While many definitions of “culture” have been offered and discussed in the academic literature for 100 years, a simple, yet complete definition of culture is “the knowledge people use to live their lives and the way in which they do so” (Handwerker 2002). The National Park Service uses an equally simple definition of culture in its guidelines for cultural resource management: “a system of behaviors (including economic, religious, and social), beliefs (values, ideologies), and social arrangements.”

Cultural anthropology is distinguished by the research methods employed in the study of human cultures. First among a wide suite of qualitative and quantitative methods is “participant observation,” a practice of living and participating within a community and gaining a deep understanding of the cultural system by active first-hand experience and participation in daily life. Participant observation is more than simply talking to people however, and is accompanied by systematic interview techniques using one-on-one interviews with cultural experts, focus groups, questionnaires, and surveys, as well as a variety of methods for exploring cultural knowledge and cultural domains.

Handwerker, W. Penn, 2002 "The Construct Validity of Cultures: Cultural Diversity, Culture Theory, and a Method for Ethnography". American Anthropologist 104(1):106-122.

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