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What Is the Goal of Cultural Anthropology
Also, by focusing on participant observation, the article “Chapter 1: A Dispute in
Donggo: Fieldwork and Ethnography” supposes that this method is more than just simply talking
to the people and additional systematic interviews in understanding cultural domains (Monaghan
& Just 1999). For example, before cultural anthropology can consider the controversy in
understanding cultural differences, anthropologists may have to step back and ask themselves the
question of race and how it relates to culture. If such an approach is embraced, then race will be
viewed as not being biologically meaningful. The question of “what is race” will, therefore, be
answered by focusing on the physical variations of people in a certain community (Fish 2008).
Secondly, this question may help to also concentrate on racial classifications are an important
part of comprehending people’s cultural differences.
In conclusion, the main goal of cultural anthropology is to understand cultural practices,
especially people’s beliefs, and practices, as well as their social and cognitive organization. The
bigger picture is that cultural anthropology studies people sharing common cultural systems,
which organize and shape the social and physical world around them. By doing so, cultural
anthropology interests itself in the manifestation of social behaviors of a community, particularly
how individual conduct is influenced by the habits of the group they belong to. In relation to this,
cultural anthropology is practiced as a way of documenting the full range of human cultural
adaptation and their achievements regardless of the underlying cultural diversities. With that in
mind, the best practice of cultural anthropology is participant observation since it allows active
living and participation in community activities, hence gaining a deeper understanding of
existing cultural systems and how they shape people’s first-hand experience.
