What is Anthropology?
There are four main branches of anthropology...
Sociocultural
What you can actually observe firsthand
This is the biggest branch of anthropology. In a sense, every branch of anthropology is cultural anthropology. However, sociocultural anthropologists must have a firsthand experience participating in the community they are studying. Meaning it wouldn't be plausible to write an original sociocultural anthropological article on the ancient Greeks because none of them are still alive. Cultural anthropologists focus on customs and ways of living.
How to research: participate in culture and talk with people
Topics: marriage conventions
Archaeological
Finding artifacts and studying them
Archaeological anthropology may be the most commonly heard branch of anthropology. Archaeologists study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains. (Think Indiana Jones...)
How to research: use artifacts to analyze the culture of ancient peoples (Lets dig up some bones!)
Topics: art mediums of ancient civilizations
Physical/Biological
How human bodies adapt to their environment
Physical anthropologists study how the human body has adapted to the change in human environment and culture over time. By analyzing the biological systems or bones of current humans, past humans, or of non-human primates, physical anthropologists can determine how humans have evolved over time.
How to research: use fossils, bones, or current observations to determine how and why the human body has changed over time.
Topics: reasons for disease in one area
Linguistic
How do humans use language?
Linguistic anthropologists investigate the relationship between communication and culture. Linguistic anthropologists teach us that people use an enormous variety of languages and their dialects to express their ideas.
How to research: linguistic anthropologists begin their work by using tools originally developed by descriptive linguists to describe various parts of language and the range of sounds people use when they speak.
Topics: why people with different languages hear sounds differently