About Background Information
Encyclopedias, handbooks, and subject dictionaries are good places to locate background information on your topic.
| Quick tip: Use background resources to identify keywords you can use when searching. Especially note: |
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In addition to building your keywords strategy, check the bibliography or list of references for sources you can use in your own paper. The books and articles cited in the encyclopedias are usually written by scholars and are an excellent place to expand your research.
Resources for Background Information
Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology by
* Provides a comprehensive survey of contemporary thinking in biological, social and cultural anthropology and establishes the interconnections between these three fields. * Useful cross-references within the text, with full biographical references and suggestions for further reading. * Carefully illustrated with line drawings and photographs. 'The Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology is a welcome addition to the reference literature. Bringing together authoritative, incisive and scrupulously edited contributions from some three dozen authors. The book achieves an impressive breadth of coverage of specialist areas.' - Times Higher Educational Supplement 'Recommended for all anthropology collections, especially those in academic libraries.' - Library Journal 'This is a marvellous book and I am very happy to recommend it.' - Reference Reviews
ISBN: 1134976534Publication Date: 2002-09-11
Countries and Their Cultures by
This guide provides a reference for anyone seeking information about the predominant and variable cultural forms, mores, and modes of expression in virtually every country. Entries cover many of the elements that together constitute the predominant culture, as well as lost cultures of the world.
ISBN: 0028658965Publication Date: 2003-11-01
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences by
This 9-volume study of social sciences is a successor to the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (ESS, 1930-1935) and the initial set of the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (IESS, 1968) -- two groundbreaking MacMillan works that established standards for knowledge in social science research and practice (CHOICE, 2001). The entirely new International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences covers scholarship and fields that have emerged and matured since the publication of the original international edition. Like its predecessors, the set meets the needs of high school and college students, researchers inside and outside academia, and lay readers in public libraries. The new set highlights the expanding influence of economics in social science research and features nearly 3,000 entirely new articles and important biographies contributed by thousands of scholars (including several Nobel prize winners) from around the world on a wide array of global topics, including: achievement testing, censorship, personality measurement, aging, income distribution, foreign aid (political and economic aspects), food (world problems, consumption patterns), cultural adaptation, comparative health-care systems, terrorism, political correctness, agricultural innovation, legislation of morality, sexual violence and exploitation, white collar crime. The new 2nd edition also features biographical profiles of the major contributors to the study of the social sciences, past and present.
ISBN: 9780028661179Publication Date: 2007-11-01
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology by
Written by leading scholars in the field, this comprehensive and readable resource gives anthropology students a unique guide to the ideas, arguments and history of the discipline. Combining anthropological theory and ethnography, it includes 275 substantial entries, over 300 short biographies of important figures in anthropology, and nearly 600 glossary items. The fully revised and expanded second edition reflects major changes in anthropology in the past decade.
ISBN: 1135236402Publication Date: 2009-12-04
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life by
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures And Daily Life, 3rd Edition, covers cultural groups in Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Five volumes, organized for quick reference by continent, cover history, politics, customs, religion, education, human rights issues, rites of passage, and much more for culture groups such as Kurds, Amish, Germans and more than 530 others. Each two- to six-page entry is written and reviewed by subject experts who have in-depth knowledge of a particular world culture and the skill to translate their knowledge in terms that students can understand. The Encyclopedia also gives students a visual learning experience with more than 500 color photographs and 500 maps showing where each culture group lives. And, a glossary of terms offers quick reference for difficult or foreign terms.
ISBN: 9781410391926Publication Date: 2016-12-22
The Handbook of Food and Anthropology by
Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Year Award 2017.Interest in the anthropology of food has grown significantly in recent years. This is the first handbook to provide a detailed overview of all major areas of the field.20 original essays by leading figures in the discipline examine traditional areas of research as well as cutting-edge areas of inquiry. Divided into three parts - Food, Self and Others; Food Security, Nutrition and Food Safety; Food as Craft, Industry and Ethics - the book covers topics such as identity, commensality, locality, migration, ethical consumption, artisanal foods, and children's food. Each chapter features rich ethnography alongside wider analysis of the subject.Internationally renowned scholars offer insights into their core areas of specialty. Examples include Michael Herzfeld on culinary stereotypes, David Sutton on how to conduct an anthropology of cooking, Johan Pottier on food insecurity, and Melissa Caldwell on practicing food anthropology. The book also features exceptional geographic and cultural diversity, with chapters on South Asia, South Africa, the United States of America, post-socialist societies, Maoist China, and Muslim and Jewish foodways.Invaluable as a reference as well as for teaching, The Handbook of Food and Anthropology serves to define this increasingly important field. An essential resource for researchers and students in anthropology and food studies.
ISBN: 1350001147Publication Date: 2016-08-25
Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology by
Draws on both science and humanism to explore the scope of contemporary anthropological fieldwork in practice. This thoroughly revised second edition also features new chapters addressing online ethnography; mixed methods and social survey research; and network and geospatial analysis.
ISBN: 1306962706Publication Date: 2014-01-01
The Handbook of Sociocultural Anthropology by
he Handbook of Sociocultural Anthropology presents a state of the art overview of the subject - its methodologies, current debates, history and future. It will provide the ultimate source of authoritative, critical descriptions of all the key aspects of the discipline as well as a consideration of the general state of the discipline at a time when there is notable uncertainty about its foundations, composition and direction. Divided into five core sections, the Handbook: examines the changing theoretical and analytical orientations that have led to new ways of carrying out research; presents an analysis of the traditional historical core and how the discipline has changed since 1980; considers the ethnographic regions where work has had the greatest impact on anthropology as a whole; outlines the people and institutions that are the context in which the discipline operates, covering topics from research funding to professional ethics.Bringing together leading international scholars, the Handbook provides a guide to the latest research in social and cultural anthropology. Presenting a systematic overview - and offering a wide range of examples, insights and analysis - it will be an invaluable resource for researchers and students in anthropology as well as cultural and social geography, cultural studies and sociology.
ISBN: 1003086985Publication Date: 2020-06-29
The Routledge Handbook of Anthropology and Reproduction by
The Routledge Handbook of Anthropology and Reproduction is a comprehensive overview of the topics, approaches, and trajectories in the anthropological study of human reproduction. The book brings together work from across the discipline of anthropology, with contributions by established and emerging scholars in archaeological, biological, linguistic, and sociocultural anthropology. Across these areas of research, consideration is given to the contexts, conditions, and contingencies that mark and shape the experiences of reproduction as always gendered, classed, and racialized. Over 39 chapters, a diverse range of international scholars cover topics including: Reproductive governance, stratification, justice, and freedom. Fertility and infertility. Technologies and imaginations. Queering reproduction. Pregnancy, childbirth, and reproductive loss. Postpartum and infant care. Care, kinship, and alloparenting. This is a valuable reference for scholars and upper-level students in anthropology and related disciplines associated with reproduction, including sociology, gender studies, science and technology studies, human development and family studies, global health, public health, medicine, medical humanities, and midwifery and nursing.
ISBN: 1003216455Publication Date: 2021-11-09
The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology by
The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology is the first instalment of The SAGE Handbook of the Social Sciences series and encompasses major specialities as well as key interdisciplinary themes relevant to the field. Globally, societies are facing major upheaval and change, and the social sciences are fundamental to the analysis of these issues, as well as the development of strategies for addressing them. This handbook provides a rich overview of the discipline and has a future focus whilst using international theories and examples throughout. The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology is an essential resource for social scientists globally and contains a rich body of chapters on all major topics relevant to the field, whilst also presenting a possible road map for the future of the field. Part 1: Foundations Part 2: Focal Areas Part 3: Urgent IssuesPart 4: Short Essays: Contemporary Critical Dynamics
ISBN: 1-5297-5642-1Publication Date: 2021-05-25
Classic Concepts in Anthropology by
The late anthropologist Valerio Valeri (1944-98) was best known for his substantial writings on societies of Polynesia and eastern Indonesia. This volume, however, presents a lesser-known side of Valeri's genius through a dazzlingly erudite set of comparative essays on core topics in the history of anthropological theory. Offering masterly discussions of anthropological thought about ritual, fetishism, cosmogonic myth, belief, caste, kingship, mourning, play, feasting, ceremony, and cultural relativism, Classic Concepts in Anthropology, will be an eye-opening, essential resource for students and researchers not only in anthropology but throughout the humanities.
ISBN: 0990505081Publication Date: 2017-12-15
Key Concepts in Ethnography by
"An accessible and entertaining read, useful to anybody interested in the ethnographic method."- Paul Miller, University of Cumbria"A very good introduction to ethnographic research, particularly useful for first time researchers."- Heather Macdonald, Chester University"The perfect introductory guide for students embarking on qualitative research for the first time... This should be of aid to the ethnographic novice in their navigating what is a theoretically complex and changing methodological field."- Patrick Turner, London Metropolitan UniversityAn accessible, authoritative, non-nonsense guide to the key concepts in one of the most widely used methodologies in social science: Ethnography, this book: Explores and summarises the basic and related issues in ethnography that are covered nowhere else in a single text. Examines key topics like sampling, generalising, participant observation and rapport, as well as embracing new fields such as virtual, visual and multi-sighted ethnography and issues such as reflexivity, writing and ethics. Presents each concept comprehensively yet critically, alongside relevant examples. This is not quite an encyclopaedia but far more than a dictionary. It is comprehensive yet brief. It is small and neat, easy to hold and flick through. It is what students and researchers have been waiting for.
ISBN: 9781412928649Publication Date: 2008-11-26
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