other social and natural sciences study people anthropology is holistic and integrative comparative method interest in culture holistic and and integrative studies all aspects of human existence interested in how interrelated parts of society work together how they came into existence comparative method interested in culture attempts to explain similarities and differences among people in the context of humanity as a whole culture learned patterns of thought and behavior acquired by people as members of society participant observation gather data by personally questioning people and observing behavior while living in their society biological anthropology study of human biology within framework of evolution and human culture learned shared symbolic cultural anthropology studies human behavior and culture uses comparative method living people and their cultures ethnography ethnology linguistic anthropology studies how language evolved historical relationships between languages internal structure of languages archaeology recover and analyze remains 2 approaches to study of culture ideational perspective adaptive perspective ideational perspective culture as ideas shared knowledge sees symbols and meaning as shaping human behavior cid 127 material culture is reflection of ideas shared cultural meanings and has symbolic content adaptive perspective result from responses to fulfilling the material parameters of life food reproduction and shelter system includes technology economic organization settlement patterns forms of social grouping and political institutions interactions between human social and cultural factors and ecological settings ideational symbolic communicated message of power means to gain and maintain prestige adaptive allowed food redistribution give away surplus insure help in times of future shortage forestall violence scientific method in archaeological inquiry use hypotheses and explanation for existing data and explanations theory systematic explanation for existing data used to make predictions about what to expect from new data hypothesis specific testable statement about something cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127