Terminology Participant observation involvement of the researcher in the lives and activities of the people being studied Fieldwork

k extended period of close involvement spent by a researcher with the people being studied Culture shared understandings of patterns of social organisation, meaning, making and interaction. Cultural relativism- perspective which values all cultures values, beliefs, knowledge, and practises equally Ethnocentrism- perspective which values ones own cultural values, beliefs, knowledge and practises as inherently correct or superior to others Reductionism isolating and de-contextualising social phenomena and artefacts for study, reducing them to components Universals certain social phenomena which all humans share, such as the notion of kinship and gender Reciprocity activity of giving and receiving gifts Social Darwinism- model of social and cultural development based on the biological model supposed by Charles Darwin Ethnography - describes the method of study and documentation of living cultures Ethnology comparative analysis of social and cultural patterns to explain similarities and differences amongst societies Qualitative research- methodology which uses such things as observation and interviews to interpret and gain an understanding of social phenomena Quantitative research- methodology which seeks to measure social phenomena Paradigm- way of seeing and understanding the world, a worldview Emic - insiders perspective Etic- outsiders perspective