The answer of easy Social anthropology assignment

3. Distinguish the concept ethnocentrism from cultural relativism in brief manner

cultural differences are far more prevalent than cultural universals. For example, while all cultures have
language, analysis of particular language structures and conversational etiquette reveal tremendous
differences. In some Middle Eastern cultures, it is common to stand close to others in conversation.
North Americans keep more distance and maintain a larger “personal space.” Even something as simple
as eating and drinking varies greatly from culture to culture. If your professor comes into an early
morning class holding a mug of liquid, what do you assume she is drinking? In the United States, the
mug is most likely filled with coffee, not Earl Grey tea, a favorite in England, or Yak Butter tea, a staple
in Tibet.

The way cuisines vary across cultures fascinates many people. Some travelers pride themselves on their
willingness to try unfamiliar foods, like celebrated food writer Anthony Bourdain, while others return
home expressing gratitude for their native culture’s fare. Often, people in the United States express
disgust at other cultures’ cuisine and think that it’s gross to eat meat from a dog or guinea pig, for
example, while they don’t question their own habit of eating cows or pigs. Such attitudes are an example
of ethnocentrism, or evaluating and judging another culture based on how it compares to one’s own
cultural norms. Ethnocentrism, as sociologist William Graham Sumner (1906) described the term,
involves a belief or attitude that one’s own culture is better than all others, and should therefore serve as
the standard frame of reference. Almost everyone is a little bit ethnocentric. For example, Americans
tend to say that people from England drive on the “wrong” side of the road, rather than on the “other”
side. Someone from a country where dog meat is standard fare might find it off-putting to see a dog in a
French restaurant—not on the menu, but as a pet and fellow patron’s companion. A good example of
ethnocentrism is referring to parts of Asia as the “Far East.” One might question, “Far east of where?”

A high level of appreciation for one’s own culture can be healthy; a shared sense of community pride,
for example, connects people in a society. But ethnocentrism can lead to disdain or dislike for other
cultures and could cause misunderstanding and conflict. People with the best intentions sometimes travel
to a society to “help” its people, because they see them as uneducated or backward—essentially inferior.
In reality, these travelers are guilty of cultural imperialism, the deliberate imposition of one’s own
ostensibly advanced cultural values on another culture. Europe’s colonial expansion, begun in the
sixteenth century, was often accompanied by a severe cultural imperialism. European colonizers often
viewed the people in the lands they colonized as uncultured savages who were in need of European
governance, dress, religion, and other cultural practices. A more modern example of cultural
imperialism may include the work of international aid agencies who introduce agricultural methods and
plant species from developed countries while overlooking indigenous varieties and agricultural
approaches that are better suited to a particular region.

Ethnocentrism can be so strong that when confronted with all of the differences of a new culture, one
may experience disorientation and frustration. In sociology, we call this culture shock.
4. explain the following terms with their examples in clear manner
 Artifacts
 Features
 Eco-facts

A standard philosophical definition of “artifact”—often assumed even when not explicitly stated—is
that artifacts are objects made intentionally, in order to accomplish some purpose (Hilpinen 1992, 2011).
This definition is rooted ultimately in Aristotle’s distinction between things that exist by nature and
things that exist by craft (Metaphysics 1033a ff., Nicomachean Ethics 1140a ff., Physics 192b ff.).
Those that exist by nature have their origin in themselves, whereas those that exist by craft have their
origin in the craftsperson—specifically, in the form of the thing as it exists in the mind of the maker.
Both Aristotle and his contemporary descendants are primarily concerned to distinguish artifacts from
objects that occur naturally, without any human intervention.

On this standard definition, artifacts must satisfy three conditions. They must be intentionally produced,
thus ruling out unintended by-products of intentional actions, such as the shavings that result from
woodcarving, as well as all naturally occurring objects, such as salamanders and stars. They must
involve modification of materials, thus ruling out naturally occurring objects even when used
intentionally for a purpose, such as sticks thrown to amuse your dog. And they must be produced for a
purpose. This rules out intentionally modified objects that are nevertheless not intended to accomplish
any further goal, such as the scraps produced when you intentionally, but for no particular reason, tear
up a piece of paper before throwing it away. Presumably, then, these three conditions are intended to be
individually necessary and jointly sufficient to distinguish artifacts from naturally occurring objects.

In linguistics, a distinctive feature is the most basic unit of phonological structure that may be analyzed
in phonological theory.

Distinctive features are grouped into categories according to the natural classes of segments they
describe: major class features, laryngeal features, manner features, and place features. These feature
categories in turn are further specified on the basis of the phonetic properties of the segments in
question.[1]

Since the inception of the phonological analysis of distinctive features in the 1950s, features
traditionally have been specified by binary values to signify whether a segment is described by the
feature; a positive value, [+], denotes the presence of a feature, while a negative value, [−], indicates its
absence. In addition, a phoneme may be unmarked with respect to a feature. It is also possible for certain
phonemes to have different features across languages. For example, [l] could be classified as a
continuant or not in a given language depending on how it patterns with other consonants.[2]

Eco facts Sometimes you stumble across tidbits of information that seem like they cannot possibly be
true, but the more you think about it the more you realize it can very well be true. Facts like that can
easily inspire you to learn more or make changes to reverse the impact of a negative fact or spread the
word and encourage a positive practice that makes the word a better place. With this in mind we decided
to share 5 eco facts we were surprised to learn and the inspiration we pull from these truths
5. differentiate nuclear family from extended family by putting example

The main difference between a nuclear and extended family is degrees of relationships. In a nuclear
family, the unit consists of two parents and their direct offspring. In an extended family, the family
consists of this nuclear core as well as non-immediate family members like grandparents, aunts, uncles,
or cousins generally sharing resources. This distinction does not mean that children in a nuclear family
don't have grandparents or aren't emotionally close to their grandparents. However, there is a degree of
separation in which the parents are responsible for all child-raising decisions. In an extended family,
non-immediate family members can sometimes be as influential in a child's life as their parents, since
space, time, and resources are all shared by the entire extended family.

6. write down the basic social anthropology model of ethnicity in spite of the difference in scholar
view

Social anthropologists seek to understand how people live in societies and how they make their lives
meaningful. Anthropologists are concerned with such questions as:

 how societies are organized;

 the relationship between values and behaviour;
 why people do what they do.

View all our Social Anthropology courses for more information.

Anthropology in practice
Because of its focus on behaviour, organization and meaning anthropology is used in a number of
contemporary settings.
Companies such as Google and Intel, for example, use anthropologists to understand how people interact
with technology.
Anthropological approaches are increasingly used in the health sector to redesign the patient experience.
Participant observation

Studying anthropology gives you an insight into what makes people tick and the centrality of culture in
motivating social action. Anthropology is based on the study of actual societies over an extended time
frame through what is called participant observation.

As anthropologists turn their attention to more sophisticated social contexts, such as state bureaucracies,
for example, anthropological studies increasingly shed light on how complex social systems are created,
established and maintained.

Social Anthropology emerged in the era when European states had colonial empires. Although there has
been much debate about the ways in which the colonial context might have compromised
anthropological research, at least one of the major aims of the founders of the discipline remains central
to anthropology today: the comparative study of the different forms of human social life and cultural
experience.
Our recent work

Recent work carried out by members of the department examines the: 

way concepts of race, ethnicity and nation enter into recent genomic research about the ancestry of Latin
American populations;

comparative analysis of the concept of the value and what it means for the transnational economy today. 

Obviously the world we live in today has changed, and anthropology has changed with it. A
communications and transport revolution has made the world a smaller place, and international
migration has made ‘western’ societies multi-cultural. Yet 'globalisation' does not seem to be making the
world we live in less culturally diverse.

Anthropology is sometimes seen as the study of the strange customs and beliefs of other peoples, but
one of the principal goals of anthropology is, in fact, to make the familiar strange. People born in any
society become accustomed to seeing their way of doing things as ‘natural’ and ‘normal’.

Applications

Contemporary social anthropology tackles an enormous variety of topics, ranging from the social
implications of the new reproductive and information technologies through the analysis of the social
meanings of consumer behaviour to the study of violence, poverty and the means for resolving conflicts
and alleviating human suffering.

7. discuss the theory of ethnicity and similarities and difference

An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on similarities,
such as common language, ancestral, social, cultural, or national experiences. Unlike other social groups
(wealth, age, hobbies), ethnicity is often an inherited status based on the society in which a person lives.
In some cases, it can be adopted if a person moves into another society. Membership of an ethnic group
tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage, ancestry, origin myth, history, homeland, language or
dialect, symbolic systems such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, art, and
physical appearance. Ethnic groups, derived from the same historical founder population, often continue
to speak related languages and share a similar gene pool; they may be grouped as ethno-linguistic groups
(e.g. Iranian peoples, Slavic peoples, Bantu peoples, Turkic peoples, Austronesian peoples, Nilotic
peoples, etc.) By way of language shift, acculturation, adoption..