Applied anthropology

Applied anthropology refers to the application of the method and theory of anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems. In Applied Anthropology: Domains of Application, Kedia and Van Willigen define the process as a "complex of related, research-based, instrumental methods which produce change or stability in specific cultural systems through the provision of data, initiation of direct action, and/or the formulation of policy". More simply, applied anthropology is the praxis-based side of anthropological research; it includes researcher involvement and activism within the participating community.

The American Anthropological Association (AAA) website describes anthropology as a focus on "the study of humans, past and present. To understand the full sweep and complexity of cultures across all of human history, anthropology draws and builds upon knowledge from the social and biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences." Thus, the field is divided into four subareas: sociocultural anthropology, biological (or physical) anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology. Because a central tenet of the anthropological field is the application of shared knowledge and research about humans across the world, an anthropologist who specializes in any of these areas and enacts research into direct action and/or policy can be deemed an "applied anthropologist". Indeed, some practical problems may invoke all sub-disciplines. For example, a Native American community development program may involve archaeological research to determine legitimacy of water rights claims, ethnography to assess the current and historical cultural characteristics of the community, linguistics to restore language competence among inhabitants, medical anthropology to determine the causality of dietary deficiency diseases, etc.

Applied anthropologists often work for nonacademic clients, such as governments, development agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), tribal and ethnic associations, advocacy groups, social-service and educational agencies, and businesses. It is also not uncommon for an anthropologist to initiate activist work surrounding his or her own area of study; frequently, sociocultural anthropological studies begin as mere research inquiries that blossom into community advocacy projects, and even new specialized NGOs.

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