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Cognitive Anthropology

Cognitive Anthropology. A Qualitative Research Tradition. Qualitative Research Traditions. Characterized by: assumptions about human nature and society focus of the study methodology. Jacob, E. (1987). Qualitative Research Traditions: A Review, Review of Educational Research, 57(1), 1-50.

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Cognitive Anthropology

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  1. Cognitive Anthropology A Qualitative Research Tradition

  2. Qualitative Research Traditions • Characterized by: • assumptions about human nature and society • focus of the study • methodology Jacob, E. (1987). Qualitative Research Traditions: A Review, Review of Educational Research, 57(1), 1-50.

  3. Example Traditions • Ecological Psychology • Holistic Ethnography • Ethnography of Communication • Symbolic Interactionism • Cognitive Anthropology • Ethnoscience • New Ethnography

  4. Cognitive Anthropology • Developed by Goodenough and Frake • Based heavily on linguistics • Study culture • Mentalistic Terms • Cultural categories • Organizing principles

  5. Assumptions • Culture • “Cognitive organizations of material phenomena” • Groups have unique system for perceiving and organizing the world • Cultural knowledge reflected in language • Semantics • Organized • Related

  6. Implications • Do not study behavior • Linguistics • Relationships between words

  7. Focus • Description of organization of cognitive system • 2 questions: • “What material phenomena are significant for the people of some culture?” • “How do they organize these phenomena?”

  8. Implications • Compare individual culture • Then compare across cultures • Focus on Organizing principles • Not on substantive aspects • No theory testing

  9. Methodology • Description using participant’s categories • Cyclical • Identify symbols and relationships • Hypothesis testing

  10. More Methodology • Recording verbatim • Natural settings • Open-ended, descriptive questions • Controlled eliciting • Formal analysis

  11. Formal Analysis • Internal consistency • Completeness • Form • Types: • domain analysis • taxonomic analysis • componential analysis • theme analysis

  12. Applications • Mentalistic culture • Few done in educational settings • Two types: • Description of culture • Study of educational problems

  13. Description of Culture • Study of school settings • Sex Role culture w/in school • Teacher’s images of knowledge • Behavior b/w teachers and students • Categories of play b/w boys at recess

  14. Study of Educational Problems • Reading process • College students’ career choices • Social-race relations in school

  15. Disclaimers • Source • Paper • Presenter • Qualitative applications • whole or part?

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