Anthropological Research

Process and Application

Edited by John J. Poggie Jr., Billie R. DeWalt, and William W. Dressler

Subjects: Anthropology
Series: SUNY series in Advances in Applied Anthropology
Paperback : 9780791410028, 334 pages, July 1992
Hardcover : 9780791410011, 334 pages, July 1992

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Table of contents

Tables and Figures

Preface

1. Anthropological Research: Process and Application

Introduction

II. Intracultural Variation

Introduction to Part Two

1. Culture, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms: Building and Testing a Model in a Specific Setting
William W. Dressler

2. Pattern Probability Models of Intracultural Diversity: Tobacco Smoking Among Shrimp Fishermen
Michael C. Robbins and Annette Kline

3. Intracultural and Intrasocial Variability as a Tool for Policy Making in Fisheries Development and Management
John J. Poggie, Jr.

III. Qualitative/Quantitative

Introduction to Part Three

4. Child Feeding During Diarrhea in North India: The Use of Complementary Methods
Margaret E. Bentley, Gretel H. Pelto, Lindsay H. Allen, Meenu Mathur, and Dijouratie Sanogo

5. Patients' Use of Freestanding Emergency Centers: A Multimethod Approach to Health Services Research
Barbara Rylko-Bauer

6. The Sociocultural Environment in the Genesis and Amelioration of Opium Dependence
Joseph Westermeyer

IV. Microlevel/Macrolevel

Introduction to Part Four

7. Society and Land Degradation in Central America: Issues in Theory, Method and Practice
Susan C . Stonic

8. Agrarian Reform and the Food Crisis in Mexico: Microlevel and Macrolevel Processes
Kathleen M. Dewalt And Billie R. Dewalt

9. Unwanted Children as a Consequence of Delocalization in Modern Kenya
Philip L. Kilbride

V. Methods for Special Purposes

Introduction to Part Five

10. "Practical History" and the Poarch Creeks: A Meeting Ground for Anthropologist and Tribal Leaders
J. Anthony Paredes

11. Domain Analysis of Lost Scenes from Roanoke, West Virginia: An Aid to Modeling in Historic Preservation
John M. Roberts And Ronald C. Carlisle

VI. Epilogue

Introduction to Part Six

12. Anthropological Research Methods and Applications: Taking Stock
Pertti J. Pelto

Notes and References

Contributors

Index

Description

The authors of this book share a common assumption about anthropology—that replicable and systematic procedures of data collection and analysis are essential requirements for building useful cultural theory. They view cultural theory as both an aid to understanding sociocultural phenomena, and as an aid in changing existing social conditions.

This book focuses on five specific themes representing a set of principles for conducting research: the importance of intra-cultural variation; the blending of qualitative and quantitative approaches; the search for micro/macro levels of generalization; the innovative matching of methodology to research problems; and the practical or applied merit of systematically generated and evaluated theory. It contributes to scientific anthropology and shows that the credibility and utility of anthropological research in policy matters is enhanced by scientific research methodology.

John J. Poggie, Jr. is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Rhode Island. Billie R. DeWalt is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. William W. Dressler is Associate Professor of Behavioral and Community Medicine at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.

Reviews

"The book will provide an important intellectual springboard for some of the new directions anthropology is taking at the present time. " — Robert Trotter, Northern Arizona University