Malinowski saw himself as effecting a revolution in anthropology by rejecting the evolutionary paradigm of his predecessors and introducing functionalism, whereby institutions satisfied human biological needs, as the way to understand other cultures.
World-famous social anthropologist, traveller, ethnologist, religion scholar, sociologist and writer. He is the creator of the school of functionalism, advocate for intense fieldwork, and a forerunner of new methods in social theory.
Boas worked to change this idea, saying that people think of other cultures based on the only culture they know, which is their own culture. His research demonstrated the many similarities between people of different races and ethnicities. He also contributed to anthropology by introducing other ideas.
Franz Boas is regarded as both the “father of modern anthropology” and the “father of American anthropology.” He was the first to apply the scientific method to anthropology, emphasizing a research- first method of generating theories.
Malinowski's study of a system of exchange of shell jewellery around a circuit of far-flung islands, known as the “kula ring”, formed the basis of his best-known work, Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922).
Malinowski puts emphasis on the second principle as a root for successful fieldwork in ethnography. Living among the natives enabled the ethnographer to consider them as companions. This was an opportunity to learn about customs and beliefs of the native from a natural intercourse.
Boas is well known for his theory of cultural relativism, which held that all cultures were essentially equal but simply had to be understood in their own terms. Comparing two cultures was tantamount to comparing apples and oranges; they were fundamentally different and had to be approached as such.
1883 - Franz Boas traveled from Germany to Baffin Island to study Eskimos. Boas formulated the hypothesis of “cultural relativism”: that the idea of a cultured individual is purely relative to a particular society. 1893 - Franz Boas was curator of anthropology for the Chicago World's Fair.
What did Franz Boas contribute to the field of anthropology? laid the foundation (Boas taught direct observation and attention to detail when studying past and living peoples. This focus on the scientific method is the basis for the discipline of anthropology today.)
His most significant achievement within anthropology was to change the prevailing view from cultural evolution to one of "cultural relativism." Boas' research revealed that cultural differences were not biological in origin, and he believed that it was his responsibility as a scientist to use the evidence of his ...
Leonard BloomfieldDaniel EverettEric WolfMelville J. HerskovitsRobert LowieElsie Clews ParsonsFranz Boas/Influenced