Applied anthropology

 

Introduction

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans and their behavior and their societies in the past and present. Applied anthropology is the application of anthropological theories knowledge and methods to asses and solve societal problems. Applied anthropologist often work for groups that initiate, manage and promote programs aimed at influencing the social conditions of humans. Applied anthropologists have qualifications they have to meet. Their work has impacted fields such as the education, health, business and also helped in the growth of developing countries. It has continuously maintained its relationship with anthropology. Applied anthropology has helped the society solve problems arising due to culture. It has become an important tool in solving problems and in the advancement of society.

Applied anthropology provides anthropologist with strategies that are used to help communities attain their goals. Applied anthropologists spend their time solving problems in unique ways in the institutions they are working for, they take up various roles such as; need assessors, impact assessors, planners and research analysts. Need assessor are applied anthropologists who collect data on programs which are aimed to help the public, planners are the applied anthropologists who contribute and participate in designing the future programs, research analysts consist of those applied anthropologists who interpret the research results for decision makers, impact assessors are applied anthropologist who specialize in the prediction of the effects of the policy or program (Van, 2002). All these types of specialized applied anthropologists are important in the field of applied anthropology.

Applied anthropologists can help community members achieve their goal by empowering the people in the community through education and organization. They do this because they believe with education the members of the community will be able to represent the community and action is likely to be taken. This way applied anthropologists serve as advocates in supporting the work of the communities (Kedia, & Van, 2005). Research show there was a time applied anthropologist were not that much popular, but as the employment of applied anthropologies increased during the early 1970s, they started holding high ranking positions as key decision makers on matters affecting the society (Descola, 2007). The rise in their ranks shows the effectiveness of the methods they use when doing and analyzing their researches.

Applied anthropological researches are mostly carried in situations where an agency wants solutions and well collected data for them to make an important decision impacting others. Applied anthropologists have to work within time constraints that are set by others (Kedia, & Van, 2005). They must be equipped with methodological tools to help them cope with the nature of their work. Tools such as ethnography which is defined as a systematic way of documenting and interpreting human culture that is present, interviewing skills, data collecting and coding, and a faster way of familiarizing themselves with the language of the locals. Applied anthropologists should also have good communication and writing skills (Ferraro, 2008). These requirements are important in making a good applied anthropologist.

Applied anthropologists are required to be have strong ethics since the reputation of their work depends on a very strong ethical policy. This is very challenging because the researcher must be able to put a balance between the interest of the one who commissioned the work and the community that is being evaluated (Kedia, & Van, 2005) Applied work often require many people since it is a collaboration with large groups such as communities and organizations. These anthropologists must consider the ethics of all parties involved. the guidelines to guide tem have been developed over time as a result of bad conduct and both the anthropologists and communities end up hurt.

 

 

`Applied anthropologists have helped in the alleviation of human problems in so many ways. They are working as full time employees and consultants in developing countries. Providing information about communities to agencies after a well carried out research on local communities to. These information helps agencies adapt projects and programs that local communities need, an example of these agencies is the World Bank and the United Nations development program. The most vital role of applied anthropologists in such institutions is to provide policy makers with information and knowledge on the ecological and cultural nature of people so that projects initiated will not face unexpected problems and also to minimize the negative impacts that the project or the program might have (Peoples, & Bailey, 2015). These applied anthropologists are playing an important role in the advancement of a developing country. Applied anthropologists who have specialized in development anthropology are helpful in this area.

Applied anthropologists are now taking up jobs in educational public and private institution. Their role in these institutions is to conduct a detailed observation of classroom interactions between the trainers and students, and observing how trainers are teaching people from various cultural groups. After conducting a detailed observation, they suggest on teaching styles that can be used according to local customs and needs of the students. An example is what is taking place in America due to migration the students in schools are becoming culturally diverse. Trainers and teachers are needing the expertise of applied anthropologists to help them in coming up with learning methods they can adopt to teach students from other cultural background (Peoples, & Bailey, 2015). Applied anthropologists who have specialized in the field of cultural anthropology are the ones likely to work in educational anthropology.

Applied anthropologists are being hired by firms as consultants, thus creating an employment opportunity called corporate anthropology. When carrying out international trade people from different cultural heritage conduct trade with each other. These corporate anthropologists are hired to advise executive and sales personnel’s on how to conduct themselves and what to expect when carrying out business with other people who are culturally different from them. Applied anthropologists are also working in the private companies because of their skills such as good listening and observation skills. They observe and analyze how workers understand the functionality of office machines. They are also hire to observe and come up with conclusions on how the attitude of the manager affect worker’s performance (Peoples, & Bailey, 2015). This is evidence that applied anthropologists are applying their skills to solve problems affecting the society in the field of business.

Another rapidly growing field in the field of applied anthropology is medical anthropology. Medical applied anthropologists are mostly trained in cultural and biological anthropology. They search for the interactions between human health and cultural beliefs and practices. They also study disease transmission cycles and patterns, and how a particular group of people adopt to diseases such as malaria. Since transition of viruses and bacterial is influenced by the food the people eat, their sanitation and sexual behaviors. Applied anthropologists in this field work together with epidemiologists with the goal of identifying the cultural practice that facilitate the spread of diseases. These anthropologists also study the different culture and their beliefs on how to treat illnesses and also asses the ability of their traditional healers on the capability of healing diseases. With this information they are able to help hospitals and agencies offering medical services to offer effective health care solutions (Peoples, & Bailey, 2015). Applied anthropology is important in solving medical problems caused by some cultural practices. Anthropologists in the field of linguistic anthropology can are useful when trying to understand cultural belief because of their knowledge on languages.

Applied anthropology is viewed as the fifth subfield of anthropology but that is not the case. All applied anthropologists have undergone training in one or more subfield of anthropology, this means than an applied anthropologist can engage in applied work in any of the four subfields as long as the work is about solving a certain problem in an organization. Anthropologists have grown to become very important to the government, public corporations and the private sector. This is because they have been trained to be keen observers, they know how to record data properly, they are able to understand and analyze human behavior in every setting lastly they are able to learn and understand different cultural beliefs (Peoples, & Bailey, 2009). They are one of the key major problem solvers globally

Applied anthropology is not a discipline in itself, but it is firmly grounded on the on the theories and methods of anthropology, therefore, it is correct to say that applied anthropology has helped in the advancement of anthropology. It is not possible to make theories of applied anthropology, therefore applied anthropology goes hand in hand with anthropology since all attempts to separate these two disciples have failed completely, and appear misguided. Applied anthropology is related to anthropological theories in three ways. The first way is through the prediction of an impact of a proposed program or project, the second way is through giving recommendations. Lastly is through application of an anthropology theory in a situation where results may have a particular outcome (Benedict, 1967). Applied anthropology is dependent on anthropology and therefore they cannot be separated. Applied anthropology is for the development of anthropology as a discipline

Conclusion

Applied anthropology has become an important tool in solving problems arising in the society. Applied anthropologists have helped in providing solutions to problems arising in the education sector such as how to teach students from different cultural backgrounds collectively. They have also helped in the advancement of developing countries by carrying out adequate research on how to help and approach communities living in such countries without creating a negative impact. They have also helped in the business word by advising companies executives on how to trade with people from other cultures. They have teamed up with epidemiologist to find solutions to diseases' that are transmitted due to cultural practices. These applied anthropologists require certain skills in order for them to be able to carry out their work effectively. Applied anthropology cannot be separated from anthropology since it requires the theories and methods of anthropology in its process. It has continuously continued to help and advance the society by provided well planned solutions to matters affecting it.

 

 

Reference

Benedict, B. (1967). The Significance of Applied Anthropology for Anthropological Theory. Man, 2(4), new series, 584-592. doi:10.2307/2799341

Descola, P. (2007). On anthropological knowledge. Social Anthropology, 13(1), pp.65-73.

Ferraro, G. P. (2008). Cultural anthropology: An applied perspective. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Kedia, S., & Van, W. J. (2005). Applied anthropology: Domains of application. Westport, Conn: Praeger.

Peoples, J. G., & Bailey, G. A. (2009). Humanity: An introduction to cultural anthropology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Peoples, J. G., & Bailey, G. A. (2015). Humanity: An introduction to cultural anthropology.

Van, W. J. (2002). Applied anthropology: An introduction. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.