Definition

1. Noun:
   • The branch of anthropology that provides scientific description of individual human societies: Descriptive anthropology focuses on the systematic observation, documentation, and detailed recording of the customs, practices, and social structures of specific human groups. It is concerned with providing an objective, factual account of a society as it is observed.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Her fieldwork in descriptive anthropology resulted in a comprehensive monograph about the tribe's kinship system.
  • The course on descriptive anthropology requires students to produce detailed ethnographic notes.

Advanced Usage

• As a methodological approach: Descriptive anthropology is often contrasted with theoretical or interpretive anthropology, as it emphasizes empirical data collection over broad comparative analysis or theory-building.
  • His work is firmly rooted in descriptive anthropology, offering a rich dataset for other scholars to interpret.

Variants and Related Words

• Ethnography (n): A closely related term, often used synonymously. Ethnography typically refers to both the process of descriptive fieldwork and the written product (an ethnography) that results from it.
  • Modern ethnography builds upon the foundations of descriptive anthropology.

Synonyms

• Ethnography: The scientific description of peoples and cultures with their customs, habits, and mutual differences.
• Ethnology (Note: This is a related but distinct field): The branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them.

Noun

1. the branch of anthropology that provides scientific description of individual human societies