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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.
Example Traditions
 Ecological
Psychology
 Holistic Ethnography
 Ethnography of Communication
 Symbolic Interactionism
 Cognitive Anthropology
– Ethnoscience
– New Ethnography
Cognitive Anthropology
 Developed
by Goodenough and Frake
– Based heavily on linguistics
 Study
culture
– Mentalistic Terms
• Cultural categories
• Organizing principles
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
Implications
Do
not study behavior
Linguistics
–Relationships between words
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?”
Implications
 Compare
individual culture
– Then compare across cultures
 Focus
on Organizing principles
– Not on substantive aspects
 No
theory testing
Methodology
 Description
using participant’s
categories
 Cyclical
 Identify
symbols and relationships
 Hypothesis
testing
More Methodology
 Recording
 Natural
verbatim
settings
 Open-ended,
 Controlled
 Formal
descriptive questions
eliciting
analysis
Formal Analysis
Internal consistency
 Completeness
 Form
 Types:

–
–
–
–
domain analysis
taxonomic analysis
componential analysis
theme analysis
Applications
 Mentalistic
culture
 Few done in educational settings
 Two types:
– Description of culture
– Study of educational problems
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
Study of Educational Problems
 Reading
 College
process
students’ career choices
 Social-race
relations in school
Disclaimers
 Source
– Paper
– Presenter
 Qualitative
applications
– whole or part?