IV. Anthropology and Other Social Sciences

Anthropology shares certain interests and subjects of study with other fields of social science, especially sociology, psychology, and history, but also economics and political science. Anthropology also differs from these fields in many ways.

Like sociology, anthropology involves the study of human society and culture. But anthropology began as the study of small-scale tribal societies, large-scale chiefdoms, and ancient civilizations, and later moved to include global-scale societies. Sociology, on the other hand, has always emphasized the study of modern and urbanized societies. Anthropology involves the comparison of different societies in order to understand the scope of human cultural diversity. Sociology, on the other hand, frequently examines universal patterns of human behavior.

Anthropology also examines certain aspects of human psychology. Anthropology studies how people become enculturated—shaped by their culture as they grow up in a particular society. Through enculturation, people develop culturally accepted ideas of what behavior is normal or abnormal and of how the world works. Anthropology examines how people’s patterns of thought and behavior are shaped by culture and how those patterns vary from society to society. By contrast, psychology generally focuses on the universal characteristics of human thought and behavior, and studies these characteristics in individual people.

The study of history is also a part of anthropology. In its formal sense, the term history refers only to periods of time after the invention of writing. Anthropologists often study historical documents to learn more about the past of living peoples. Historical archaeologists, who specialize in the study of historical cultures, also study written documents. But all anthropologists primarily study people, their societies, and their cultures. Historians, on the other hand, primarily study written records of the past—from which they cannot learn about human societies that had or have no writing. See also History and Historiography.

In addition, anthropology examines some topics also studied in economics and political science. But anthropologists focus on how aspects of economics and politics relate to other aspects of culture, such as important rituals. Anthropologists who specialize in the study of systems of exchange in small-scale societies may refer to themselves as economic anthropologists.

• Introduction
• Key Concepts
• Fields of Antrhopology
• Anthropology and Other Social Sciences
• Understanding Human Diversity
• Research Methods
• Documenting and Presenting Research
• Ethical Concerns
• History of Anthropology
• Anthropology Today