Dear vasalos-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
YOURDICTIONARY.COM, which derives its information from databases
containing “The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,
Fourth Edition” clearly explains the differences in these
professions/scientific studies:
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY: The scientific study of the development of
human cultures based on ethnologic, ethnographic, linguistic, social,
and psychological data and methods of analysis.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/c/c0800800.html
SOCIOLOGY: The study of human social behavior, especially the study of
the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human
society. Analysis of a social institution or societal segment as a
self-contained entity or in relation to society as a whole.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/s/s0528000.html
PSYCHOLOGY: The science that deals with mental processes and behavior.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/p/p0635700.html
ECONOMICS: The social science that deals with the production,
distribution, and consumption of goods and services and with the
theory and management of economies or economic systems.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/e/e0031600.html
HISTORY: A chronological record of events, as of the life or
development of a people or institution, often including an explanation
of or commentary on those events.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/h/h0219800.html
As you can see, Cultural Anthropology focuses almost exclusively on
the origin and makeup of a particular culture itself, rather than the
peoples' finances, history or state of mind. While he most certainly
depends on data from the other sciences/studies in order to make his
own professional assertions, a Cultural Anthropologist rarely diverts
his focused attention to matters beyond the analysis of that which
bears cultural significance. As you know, history involves economics
to some degree because the ever-changing state of our economy becomes
a new part of our history with the passing of each day. In like
manner, psychology shares a common interest with sociology, that of
human behavior. History and economics focus on establish facts and
the trends that can be projected from those facts (lessons learned
from the past). While not necessarily interested in the economic or
historical value of the facts themselves, the Cultural Anthropologist
is able to analyze them in order to better understand or predict
changes in culture. The same applies to the behavioral sciences as
well. Certain behaviors are indicative of certain future behaviors, or
in fact, certain past behaviors. A Cultural Anthropologist needs to
know about these behaviors, but frankly, he could care less about what
was going through a cannibal’s mind while he was eating his neighbor.
He is merely interested in knowing that he does it, understands
how/why it is done, and finds out as much as he can about the origin
of the ritual so he can have a basis for predicting future
possibilities. If he is permitted to observe our lifestyles, he is
perfectly content to do his own thing and let the historians write the
books about us while the shrinks try to figure out what we must have
been thinking at the time.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
YOUR DICTIONARY
http://www.yourdictionary.com/
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
ECONOMICS
HISTORY |
