Using Cultural Domain Analysis to Examine Andean Social Roles
Journal Title: Anthropology – Open Journal - Year 2016, Vol 1, Issue 1
Abstract
To better understand the relationships between social stress and human physiology one must examine what components of a society are socially stressful. The research reported here is based on analysis of free list data collected as part of a larger project aimed at uncovering the elements of Andean culture and society that are socially stressful. The research was conducted using the methods of cultural domain analysis to gather information from Andean highland farmers about potential areas of social stress. To measure social stress one must understand the sociocultural areas where being incongruent with societal expectations can create a potentially stressful experience for an individual. Social stress was operationalized in Andean society based on Andean cultural notions of reciprocity and community participation. These areas were analyzed by eliciting informant responses with free listing tasks regarding the characteristics of a farmer, neighbor, and community member. Informants were asked what characteristics are commonly associated with a good farmer, a bad farmer, and what tools are used in farming. The data has been analyzed using the statistical software program of Anthropac that organizes and calculates the relationships between the characteristics listed by each informant. Characteristics that are listed by a large percentage of the sample suggest they have high importance in Andean cultural notions of social order. The lack of these items of importance in the lives of specific individuals often can be indicators of that person’s incongruence with their society. Identifying the elements of the cultural models of social life, such as the characteristics associated with a good farmer, can help in the identification of the points in a society where social stresses can occur.
Authors and Affiliations
Benjamin Blakely Brooks
Keywords
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- EP ID EP552550
- DOI 10.17140/ANTPOJ-1-103
- Views 180
- Downloads 0
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