Anthropology 2226A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Primatology, Ethnography, Great Ape Project
16 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
On the revelvance of apes to understanding humans. Field studies versus captive/lab studies: wild studies tell us what primate do, captive studies tell us what primates are capable of doing. Long term versus short term studies: long term. Yield both depth of data and comparative information. Growth, development and life cycle data and demographics. Data on relatively rare events like inter-group transfers and the way environmental factors affect the population: short term. Yield detailed data relating to a specific research question. Usually three to four month thesis research. Fieldwork: field primatology bears some superficial similarities to ethnography. Group living: brings both benefits and costs. Involves social iterations creating a social network in which some individuals with have a higher social rank than other. The group will be structured according to a social dominance hierarchy. Dominance hierarchies can be linear or transitive. Often however dominance hierarchies may be non-linear or non-transitive.
