Download Scientific Method

ANT 270
Introduction to Biological
Anthropology
 Professor:
 Room
 Office
16 tenHoor
Hours: By appointment, ee- mail, dropdrop- in
 Graduate
ANT 270
Dr. Bindon
Dr. Bindon
 [email protected]
Teaching Assistant: Ms. Copeland
 [email protected]
 Office:
23A tenHoor
 Office
Hours: 9:00 – 9:30 and 11:00 to 12:00 noon,
Tuesday and Thursday
Anthropology

The study OF
strangers BY
strangers

The
HOLISTIC
study of man
Anthropology
 The
field of inquiry that studies human culture
and evolutionary aspects of human biology;
includes cultural anthropology, archaeology,
linguistics, and physical (or biological)
anthropology. (Jurmain et al.)
 Anthropology
is the study of differences and
similarities, both biological and cultural, in
human populations.
 Anthropology
is concerned with typical biological and
cultural characteristics of human populations in all
periods and in all parts of the world
Anthropological Concepts
 Two
unifying concepts that cut across all
of the subdisciplines and specialties
 Culture
Culture—
—uniquely
anthropological concept
that informs research in all subdisciplines
 Evolution
Evolution—
—change through time, whether in
social systems or organisms
 In
biological anthropology, the central unifying
paradigm, as for all biological sciences, is organic
evolution by natural selection
Culture
 Culture
is an important aspect of how humans
adapt to their environment
 Jurm ain
et al.: All aspects of human adaptation,
including technology, traditions, language, religion,
marriage patterns, and social roles. Culture is a set of
learned behaviors that is transmitted from one
generation to the next by nonbiological means.
 Culture
consists of the beliefs and ideas which
affect behavior and are transmitted by learning
 Culture
is imperfectly shared, leading to variations in
both beliefs and behavior within social units
 This
imperfect sharing is socially structured
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Science?
 Some
anthropologists deny the validity of
science for understanding others
 Post
modern approaches deny the ability to
scientifically understand the “other
other””
 The
best we can hope to do is to describe their
behavior
 The
Humanistic approach has emphases
on relativity, the understandings of
participants, and on meaning
Science
 Jurmain
is a body of knowledge gained through
observation and experimentation; from the Latin
scientia,, meaning knowledge
scientia
 The Scientific method is a research method whereby
a problem is identified, a hypothesis (or hypothetical
explanation) is stated, and that hypothesis is tested
through the collection and analysis of data
 If


Science is a technique for evaluating competing
explanations given current knowledge
It asserts that there are regularities in behavior
and biology that can be discovered
Terminology
the hypothesis is verified, it becomes a theory
 Scientific
testing involves the precise repetition of an
experiment or expansion of observed data to provide
verification; the procedure by which hypotheses and
theories are verified, modified, or discarded
Science

et al. (focus on data):
 Science
Physical Anthropology
according to Jurmain et al.
 Study
of human biology in the framework of
evolution.
 Subfields:
 Paleoanthropology:
 Hypothesis:
 Jurmain
et al. A provisional explanation of a phenomenon.
Hypotheses require verification
 Provisional statement of relationship between facts ---usually
usually a
“because
because”” statement
 Anthropometry:
human evolution
measurement of body parts
 Genetics:
gene structure and action and the patterns
of inheritance of traits from parent to offspring
 Primatology:
 Theory:
 Jurmain
et al. A broad statement of scientific relationships or
underlying principles that has been at least partially verified
 Broad explanatory statement that has been subjected to testing
and falsification and found to be accurate given current
knowledge
Physical Anthropology
 Seeks
to answer two of the most fundamental
questions about humanity
 Osteology:
study of nonhuman primates
study of skeletons
Course Resources
Course Web Site
 Where
 How
did we come from (human origins)
do we differ from one another (human variation)
 Human
Origins
http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant270
 Paleoanthropology:
 Primatology:
 Human
Fossil Man
Behavior and Anatomy
Variation
 Patterns
of variability: Race versus ethnicity
Adaptation
 Forensic Anthropology
 Human
 The
history of anthropology is the history of the
study of human variation
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Grading
My Background
 U.C.
Berkeley: A.B. (honors) in anthropology
 Senior
project on enamel hypoplasia and Harris (or
growth arrest) lines in California Indians
 Penn
State: M.A., Ph.D.
 Master
Master’’s
project on the effect of tetrahydrocannabinol
on thermoregulation in man
 Doctoral dissertation on genetic and environmental
influences on the morphology of Samoan adults in
Hawaii and American Samoa
How do these topics fit with the
goals of Physical Anthropology?
 All
are in pursuit of understanding human
variation
 Skeletal
variation caused by the interaction of
genes and the environment, specifically
nutritional and disease stress
 Physiological variation in response to
environmental stress as it is affected by the
ingestion of substances
 Morphological variation within a population
based on genetic and environmental variation
 Subsequent
20+ years studying Samoans
Investigated
the effect of rapid culture
change leading on obesity, diabetes,
heart disease
Surveyed topics from infant feeding to
childhood and adult diet to genes to
the effect of stress on the health of
adults
work remains in this vein
Other Work
Effects
of stress on health
Mississippi
Stress
Local
Tribe of Choctaw Indians
associated with diabetes symptoms
African American Community
New
techniques for measuring stress show
association with blood pressure
Multi
Multi--ethnic
Looking
hotel workers in Hawaii
at blood pressure among workers
in resorts on the island of Hawai’
Hawai’i and in
Honolulu
Biocultural Research
I
have slowly learned over the years how to
integrate cultural measures with biological
measures to produce a better understanding of
human processes
 Not
the addadd- on a social measure or two approach of
most biological anthropologists
 Biocultural
evolution (Jurmain): The mutual,
interactive evolution of human biology and
culture; the concept that biology makes culture
possible and that developing culture further
influences the direction of biological evolution; a
basic concept in understanding the unique
components of human evolution
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