Anthropology: The study of human societies

The study of human societies, their cultures, and their development is known as anthropology. The study of human physiological and biological features and how they manifest is another aspect of it. The study of social interactions in contemporary societies, or cultural anthropology, is the main topic of this essay. Since ethics defines who we are as humans, it is the moral standard that directs how one should act. This essay will cover fieldwork ethics as well as some social and cultural phenomena that cultural anthropologists should anticipate seeing while conducting fieldwork.

When conducting research on a different community, such as one in a developing country, ethics are crucial. One of the fundamental moral principles that a cultural anthropologist must observe is cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the ability of not judging other peoples culture by basing on your own. This means understanding those people’s culture on its terms without making any judgment. It is essential because it enables the anthropologist understand that no culture is superior to the other irrespective of his own culture. Moreover, cultural relativism helps in countering ethnocentrism by promoting the comprehension of social practices that are unaccustomed to different ethos, for example, eating creepy insects or genocides.

Additionally, the anthropologist should not interfere with the privacy, safety and the dignity of the people living in his or her area of study. Furthermore, as a cultural anthropologist, I have to ensure that both parties benefit from his or her work. It is also right that an anthropologist gets consent from the people in the underdeveloped sector of the world to go on with his research. However, there are some of the social or a rather cultural phenomenon that I might likely to encounter during the research such as “intervention” especially when conflict rises amongst themselves due to probably clash of views. The community members might have differences of opinion on what is being researched since it is affecting them as a community and it is the responsibility of the anthropologist to respect and consider all their points of view.