Social Anthropology - Substantive Focus and Practice

Substantive Focus and Practice

Social anthropology is distinguished from subjects such as economics or political science by its holistic range and the attention it gives to the comparative diversity of societies and cultures across the world, and the capacity this gives the discipline to re-examine Euro-American assumptions. It is differentiated from sociology, both in its main methods (based on long-term participant observation and linguistic competence), and in its commitment to the relevance and illumination provided by micro studies. It extends beyond strictly social phenomena to culture, art, individuality, and cognition . While many social anthropologists use quantitative methods (particularly those whose research touches on topics such as local economies, demography, human ecology, cognition, or health and illness), social anthropologists generally emphasize qualitative analysis of long-term fieldwork over quantitative analysis of surveys, questionnaires and brief field visits used by most economists or sociologists.