Ethnology

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ethnology

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is Ethnology known for?Understanding human diversity, challenging ethnocentrism, and informing global policy
2. What is the academic discipline?Comparative study of human societies and cultures, a subfield of anthropology
3. What is the core methodology?Synthesis and comparison of ethnographic data from multiple cultures
4. How do ethnologists learn about a culture?They spend a long time living with people in a community. They observe everyday life, talk with many people, and record stories and histories. This careful work helps them understand how a culture works.
5. Why do ethnologists compare cultures?By comparing cultures, they find shared ideas and unique differences. This helps us see how humans solve problems the same way or in different ways. It also shows how cultures can learn from each other.

Cultural Relativism: The principle that an individual person's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture.
Ethnocentrism: Evaluating other cultures according to the standards and customs of one's own culture.
Holism: The anthropological perspective that cultures are complex wholes that cannot be fully understood by analyzing only one part.