Scientific theory building or humanistic interpretation?

Question

Should anthropological explanation be modeled on scientific theory building or humanistic interpertation?

Answer 1

Therein lies the question that has been plaguing anthropology, especially cultural anthropology and archaeology, for several decades.

Like so many "either/or" propositions, in this case, I personally feel that the choice lies in the gray area in between.  We as anthropologists should strive to follow the scientific method in spirit as far as possible while recognizing that the research we do is not amenable to the scientific method as practiced by researches in the "hard" sciences.  

We have a responsibility to accurately record and present our hard data.  How we interpret that data, on the other hand, is a more flexible arena.  I have seen interpretation coming from both the more positivistic "scientific" perspective and from the more humanistic perspective that were remarkably convincing, well-written, well thought-out work.  I have also seen interpretations from both angles that were disappointingly bad.  At this point in the development of the field, I think we have to recognize that there is a validity to both approaches, so long as we remain open to the possibility that we are wrong and make it possible for other scholars to critique our work and conclusions.

Answer 2

In my travels where I studied the matriarchy of the Zapotec I found that ignoring people's opinions on what their culture stood for was a much better way of getting a scientific sounding book, that made them look more confused than they really were; if anyone in the deveoping world tells you anything else, just tell them that you are a rich (and therefore Smarter) and that they are hated. That should shut them up good

. Please check out my book on Amazon.com, its called Into the Hearts of the Amazons: In Search of a Modern Matriarchy. I can also give you good advice on how to drive out tenants so you don't locked down by pesky rent control laws

Answer 3

Anthropology is a social science with scientific pretensions. The humanities departments are full of post-modern, relativistic nonsense. Is this what you want for anthropology. The scientific method would serve anthropology much better than subjective and biased " humanistic " determinations.