Need Help Writing a Paper?

Have Paper Masters custom write your project today!

  • 24/7 Customer Support
  • Free Plagiarism Check
  • Writing at Your Level
  • Writers All Have Advanced Degrees
  • Will Follow Specific Instructions
Need Help Writing a Paper?
Yes! Write My Paper!

Cultural Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology

Cultural anthropology research papers are custom written at Paper Masters to focus on any aspect of anthropology you need. A societies culture revolves around people and anthropological evidence reveals a tremendous amount of information. Have your project explicated by professional anthropoloy writers at Paper Masters.

Cultural anthropology is a subset of the larger discipline of anthropology, the study of humanity.

Cultural anthropology focuses on the following:

  • Cultural variation among humans
  • Notes that human beings acquire culture through the learning processes of socialization
  • People living in different places develop different cultures

Franz Boas (1858-1942) is considered to be the founder of cultural anthropology. Born in Germany, Boas immigrated to the United States and became a professor of anthropology at Columbia University. Among Boas' students were Margaret Mead and Zora Neale Hurston. Boas rejected the notion that all societies move through the same evolutionary stages, a theory that put Western Europe at the pinnacle of human achievement. Boas argued that each culture needed to be studied on its own merits.

One of the main tools of cultural anthropology is the ethnology. The anthropologist becomes a participant observer of a culture, immersing him or herself in the culture in order to gain intimate understanding of the culture on its own terms. Margaret Mead became famous for her ethnography of Samoa. Ethnography, as an expression of cultural anthropology, often narrow research into a few, or even one case within a culture. Detailed and complex descriptions of the culture and people emerge, with data collected through interviews, cultural artifacts, and the day-to-day living within the culture.

 

Cultural anthropology revolves around the social order or society. Social order involves the manner in which laws and rules are applied in the service of regulation and control. Various agencies and institutions are intimately involved in the concept of social order, including religion and government. In primitive societies and industrial giants as well, some construction is in evidence that reflects cultural concerns, beliefs, and values. Order enhances predictability, which is a desirable element with regard to both cognitive and emotional comfort. Though an occasional "surprise" might be appealing to most of us, we ordinarily prefer the ordinary - the usual, the expected. Thus, one function of order is to enable members of the social group to anticipate future events and plan for them based on past experiences. Additionally, order is important to society because it enhances the probability that both individual and group needs will be met. If one contrasts order with chaos, it is evident that the former is more likely to facilitate goal attainment than the latter. However democratic and individualistic a society may be, the need for concerted effort is acknowledged.

Within institutions and agencies and other groups, individuals are arrangement hierarchically with regard to the right to create and enforce policy. When a group of individuals is working collaboratively, the need for delineation of the statuses of various participants is critical to the success of the endeavor. Sometimes decisions must be made rapidly with no time available for consultation with each group member. Thus, the concepts of "boss" and "not-boss" are required at minimum. Typically, the hierarchy is considerably more complex.

But what happens if an individual is aware of the social order but refuses to honor it? He or she is likely to come into contact with control agencies. In some cultures, the disapproval of the group or castigation by one's peers is sufficient. In others, there is considerably greater structure and formality to the process.

Religion plays an important role in the control mechanism. Actually, its role is unique in that it serves a preventative function as well as a punitive one. Development of conscience or its equivalent made result in restraint before the fact, before the act. Thus, social order is important because it works for us most of the time. When there is social unrest, distress is predictable because our ability to predict and control our experiences is in jeopardy.

 

Related Research Paper Topic Suggestions

Anthropology - Paper Masters provides anthropology research paper topics such as cultural anthropology, African Civilizations, Ancient civilizations, the stone age, American culture and cultures around the world to help students.

Critical Race Theory - Critical race theory had its origins in the 1970s, developed out of the concern that race reform was not being affected as quickly as leaders and advocates of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Ethnographic Essay - An ethnographic essay is an essay that is about culture. English essays are available at Paper Masters.

Ethnographic Research - Paper Masters writes custom ethnographic research studies for graduate and undergraduate research papers.

Human Civilization - Human Civilization research papers discuss the complex society that people have created with social hierarchy, symbolic communication, and mastery over the physical environment.

Important Aspects of Each Culture - Important Aspects of Each Culture Research Papers explore a preview of an order placed on a diversity topic, with specific tasks that are needed to be included in the project.

Lila Abu-Lughod - Lila Abu-Lughod Research Papers examine one of the first female anthropologists that studies in Bedouin culture.

Lost Civilizations - Lost Civilizations research papers discuss the lost human civilizations through history.

Natural History - Natural History research papers discuss examples of natural history museums that draw thousands of visitors.

Organic Machine - The Organic Machine Research Papers discuss a book by Richard White that illustrates how human history and natural history are intertwined.

Paleolithic Age - The Paleolithic Age research papers discuss the time period of human prehistory when primitive stone tools were discovered.

Paleolithic and Neolithic - Paleolithic and Neolithic research papers discuss the lives, culture and economy of the Paleolithic and Neolithic people.

The Code of Hammurabi - The Code of Hammurabi research papers discuss the oldest legal text, and one of the oldest deciphered written texts, in human history.

The Stone Age - Stone Age research papers discuss the transition from early man's world history to the Bronze Age.

Tools of The Stone Age - Tools of the Stone Age research papers discuss how the development of tools lead to the development of human civilizations.

World Hunger - Research papers on world hunger discuss the food scarcity that has plagued countless societies throughout human existence.


Paper Masters

  • Custom Written Papers
  • 100% Plagiarism Free
  • 24/7 Customer Service
  • Guaranteed Confidentiality
  • Text us for a Quote Today!
    1-570-301-7456

This is a topic on
Cultural Anthropology Research Papers

Cultural Anthropology research papers examine a subset of the larger discipline of anthropology that focuses on cultural variation among humans, noting that human beings acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization.

Choosing a Topic:

Can't decide on a topic? Need ideas or inspiration for research in your field of study? Paper Masters provides topic suggestions to make your decision easier.

Paper Masters Site Search