This document provides an overview of foundational figures and approaches in cultural anthropology. It discusses Franz Boas, considered the father of cultural anthropology, and his development of the theory of cultural relativism, which argued that cultures should be understood within their own contexts rather than being judged by Western standards. It also covers Boas' students Margaret Mead and Zora Neale Hurston and their influential ethnographic works on Samoan culture and African American communities, respectively. The document outlines different types of social scientific studies including ethnography, case studies, quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. It provides guidance on how to critically read and analyze social scientific studies by considering factors like the researcher, methodology, findings, and implications.

1. INT-450 • Cultural Anthropology • Topic 2a
Reading Social Scientific Studies

2. Social Scienti
fi
c Studies
Cultural
Anthropological
Studies
Sociological
Studies
Demographic
Studies
Psychological
Studies
Ex. Ethnography
Of Non-Western
Society
Ex. Gender and
Race Studies
Ex. US Census
Pew Research
Ex. Studies of
PTSD Victims

3. Who were the first cultural
anthropologists?

4. Frank Boas
1858 - 1942
Father of Cultural Anthropology
Challenged Western Centrism
Tax, S. (2021, December 18). Franz Boas. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franz-Boas

5. Classical Approach to Culture
Cultures all begin as primitive animist
Societies develop along a
fi
xed path
Developed cultures look like Western Culture
Western Culture became the benchmark

7. Animist
Primitive
Polytheist
Emerging
Developing
Native
American
INDIA CHINA
Islamic
Civilization
Christian
Europe
Monotheist
Muslim
Monotheist
Advanced
100%
80%
50%
30%
15%
GOAL

8. “The First Thanksgiving” Jean Ferris, 1932

9. Theory of
Cultural Relativism
Boaz theories that cultures develop
relative to the community’s history,
geography, and natural conditions
Tax, S. (2021, December 18). Franz Boas. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franz-Boas

10. Cultural Relativism
The view that various cultural practices and beliefs are best
understood in relation to their entire context.
(Howell & Paris, 2019, 56)

11. Margaret Meade
1901 - 1978
• Student of Frank Boaz
• 1928 Traveled to Samoa to study
how children were raised,
educated, and mature.

12. Coming of Age in Samoa
1928
• Research question: Is human
development biological, thus the
same as Western culture or is it
cultural, thus di
ff
erent?
• Found that social norms, such as
and gender norms and family are
driven by culture and
environment.

13. Zora Neale Hurston
1891 - 1960
• Student of Frank Boaz
• Born in Notasulga, AL
• Raised in Easton, FL
• 1925 Barnard, Columbia Univ. Was the only
Black student
• Boaz encouraged her to go down South
and write ethnography of African-American
Community

15. Zora Neale Hurston as an Ethno-photographer

16. Why do we need social
scientific studies?

17. Ethnography: Exegeting Culture
Culture INT-450 Student

18. Ethnography: Exegeting Culture
Culture Reader
Roles
Rituals
Artifacts
Use of Space
Language
INT-450 Student

19. Ethnography: Exegeting Culture
Culture Reader
Cultural
Biases
Type of Study
Roles
Rituals
Artifacts
Use of Space
Language
INT-450 Student

20. Ethnography: Exegeting Culture
Culture Reader
Cultural
Biases
Type of Study
Roles
Rituals
Artifacts
Use of Space
Language
Why should I believe
Her ethnographic study?
She’s biased!
INT-450 Student

21. Scienti
fi
c Methods compensate for our biases
Culture Reader
Cultural
Biases
Type of Study
Roles
Rituals
Artifacts
Use of Space
Language
INT-450 Student

22. What are the types of studies?

23. 1. Quantitative Study
• 100’s to 1,000’s participants
• Funded by big institutions
• Studies many topics
• Survey type Data

24. Examples
• Barna Research
• Pew Research
• Gallup poll
• Lifeway Research

25. Pew Research Study
Generation Z Looks a Lot Like
Millennials on Key Social and Political
Issues

26. Quantitative Studies
What can a quantitative study tell us?
What does a quantitative study miss?

27. 2. Qualititative Study
• Less than 100 participants
• Focused on a narrow topic
• Small research team
• Studies few topics in depth

28. Types of Studies
• Case Study
• Phenomenological Study
• Narrative Study (Life Story)
• Ethnographic Study
• Longitudinal

29. Case Study
A study bounded by time and space
Example: How a church disciples
new believers

30. Examples:
• Study of church growth
• Study of church dying!

31. Case Study
• Study of a village in rural Mexico
• Study of a church that helps immigrants
• Study of how a church disciples

32. Phenomenological
Focuses on a shared experience of
phenomena

33. Phenomenological
Examples:
• Suicide
• Near Death Experiences
• Healings
• Struggling with Aids

34. Emile Durkheim’s
study on Suicide
France, 1897
The
fi
rst methodological study on the
phenomenon
Crossman, Ashley. (2020). The study of suicide by Emile Durkheim. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/study-of-suicide-by-emile-durkheim-3026758

35. Four Types of Suicide
1. Egoist — prolonged sense of not belonging
2. Altruistic — Overwhelmed (i.e. burned out)
3. Anomic — Moral confusion, lack of purpose
4. Fatalistic — Feeling choked, sti
fl
ed, oppressed.
Crossman, Ashley. (2020). The study of suicide by Emile Durkheim. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/study-of-suicide-by-emile-durkheim-3026758

36. Narrative Study
Focuses on a few people
Gathers their entire story

37. Narrative Study
The success stories of Latina
Entrepreneurs in South Texas

38. Narrative Study
Stories of how 12 Muslim College
Students at GCU embraced Jesus

39. Ethnographic Study
Focus on a particular culture, society,
or people group in its entirety

40. The Coming of Age in
Samoa
A psychological study of primitive
youth (1928)
Margaret Mead

41. The Rebbe’s Army
Inside the world of Chabad
Sue Fishko
f

42. Longitudinal Study
• Studies one cohort over many years
• Ex. Study of 3 generations of immigrants
• Requires huge budgets and personnel

43. 3. Mixed Methods
• Involves surveys and interviews
and/or focus groups
• Example: Barna Studies

44. Trends in the Black Church
• Study conducted Apr - May, 2020
• 822 Black adult Churchgoers
• 1,083 Black US adults
• 293 Black pastors
• Interviews & focus groups

45. How to do we read Studies?

46. How to read social scientific studies
1. Who did the study?

47. Which study would you trust?

48. Climate change in the
Arctic: An Inuity Reality
Duane Smith
Published in Green Our World
Vol. XLIV, No. 2, 2007
UN Environmental Programme

49. Study of the effect of oil
drilling on Alaskan Sea Life
Conducted by Exxon Mobil
In Alaska North Slope
On September, 2018

50. Who did the study?
• For pro
fi
t company (ex. P
fi
zer)
• Government organization (ex. Pew)
• Non-pro
fi
t religious organization (ex. Barna)
• Non-pro
fi
t advocacy (ex. Environmental group)
• Academic Institution (ex. USC)

51. How to read social scientific studies
1. Who did the study?
2. When & where was the study done?

52. When/Where was the
study conducted?
• April - May, 2009?
• United States

53. How to read social scientific studies
1. Who did the study?
2. When & where was the study done?
3. Who was the focus of the study?

54. Who was the focus of the study?
• How many participants were there?
• How were they selected (criteria)?
• Ex. Age, gender, social status, race

55. How to read social scientific studies
1. Who did the study?
2. When & where was the study done?
3. Who was the focus of the study?
4. What kind of study was done?

56. What kind of study?
• Quantitative
• Qualitative (what type)?
• Narrative, Phenomenological
• Case, Ethnographic
• Grounded Theory
• Mixed-Methods

57. How to read social scientific studies
1. Who did the study?
2. When & where was the study done?
3. Who was the focus of the study?
4. What kind of study was done?
5. What was the research question?

58. What was the Question?
• What was (were) the central research questions
the researcher(s) asked?
• Look for the study’s purpose, and a question

59. How to read social scientific studies
1. Who did the study?
2. When & where was the study done?
3. Who was the focus of the study?
4. What kind of study was done?
5. What was the research question?
6. How was the study done (methodology)?

60. How was the study done?
• # of Surveys?
• # of Interviews?
• # of focus groups
• Field observations on site
• # Case studies of events or venues

61. How to read social scientific studies
1. Who did the study?
2. When & where was the study done?
3. Who was the focus of the study?
4. What kind of study was done?
5. What was the research question?
6. How was the study done (methodology)?
7. What were the
fi
ndings?

62. How to read social scientific studies
1. Who did the study?
2. When & where was the study done?
3. Who was the focus of the study?
4. What kind of study was done?
5. What was the research question?
6. How was the study done (methodology)?
7. What were the
fi
ndings?
8. What are the implications for ministry to this group?

63. What are the implications?
• What does this study tell you about culture?
• What implications did study describe?
• What implications for your ministry?

64. Where do I start?

65. Where do I start
1. Abstract — one paragraph summary of he study
2. Introduction or Executive summary — Usually summarizes the study and its
fi
ndings.

66. Where do I start
1. Abstract
2. Introduction or Executive summary
3. Read the table of contents or scan the headings

67. Where do I start
• Read the Executive Summary or Abstract
• Read the Conclusion at the end
• Skip the technical charts

68. Where do I start
1. Abstract
2. Introduction or Executive summary
3. Table of Contents or Headings
4. Findings— are described in one section after the methodology

69. What were the findings?
• Go to the section you are most interested in

70. Where do I start
1. Abstract
2. Introduction or Executive summary
3. Table of Contents or Headings
4. Findings
5. Implications — at the very end in the conclusion or just before

71. Where do I start
1. Abstract
2. Introduction or Executive summary
3. Table of Contents or Headings
4. Findings
5. Implications
6. Answer the questions — who, when, where, what, how, why…

72. Where do I start
1. Abstract
2. Introduction or Executive summary
3. Table of Contents or Headings
4. Findings
5. Implications
6. Answer the questions
7. Write your report — summarize the study concisely, and directly.

73. Write your report
• Introduce the study
• Answer the questions
• Select 1 or 2 graphics and embed a screen
shot. Explain the graphic.
• What are implications for ministry?
Pew Research Center. (24 May 21). Gen Z, Millennials more active than older generations addressing climate change.
https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/05/26/gen-z-millennials-stand-out-for-climate-change-activism-social-media-engagement-with-issue/ps_2021-05-26_climate-and-generations_00-01/

74. Cite! Cite! Cite!
• OMG please Cite!
• Always cite your studies
• Always cite the page #’s of graphics
Pew Research Center. (24 May 21). Gen Z, Millennials more active than older generations addressing climate change.
https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/05/26/gen-z-millennials-stand-out-for-climate-change-activism-social-media-engagement-with-issue/ps_2021-05-26_climate-and-generations_00-01/

75. Oh yeah, did I say “cite!” ?
Be sure to properly cite the report and any supporting sources you consult

76. What Palestinians
Really think of Hamas Trends in the Black Church Cumulative Gender
Discrimination
In Women
Bullying of Mexican
Immigrant Students “Being Hopi by Living Hopi”
Chapter 4 in the book
Indigenous Youth & Multilingualism
What Attracts and Engages
Young Adults & Teens to
Messianic Jewish Congregations?

77. Let’s Find a Study
Go to the GCU Library Journal Database and Search for Studies in our area of research