Anthropology 513 Method and Theory in Biological AnthropologySpring 2013

What is Biological Anthropology?

Today the field of biological anthropology includes the following subjects:

Human diversity – morphological & genetic (skeletal biology, molecular anthropology) history of diversity (migrations, extinctions)

Human health – evolutionary medicine, history of health

Human evolution – fossil evidence, genetic evidence, systematics, adaptations (form and function)

Primate evolution – as above

Primate behavior, and ecology

Underlying unifying theory of Biological Anthropology –

Biological Evolution

The only research in Biological Anthropology that is theoretically driven isresearch that involves evolution

Examples – studies of genetic drift in human or primate populations studies of natural selection in human or primate populations

(morphological, physiological, behavioral, ecological) studies of speciation, evolutionary rates studies of evolutionary medicine, form and function

in general – research answering questions of why and how seeking to understand processes

“Sub”theories

Behavioral theories - Sociobiologycompetitionbiological market

Ecological theories – predator – preylife history strategiescompetition

Population genetics theories

?

 Theories that encompass wider domains of inquiry may bind many independently derived hypotheses together in a coherent, supportive structure. Theories, in turn, may help form new hypotheses or place groups of hypotheses into context.

A scientific hypothesis is a proposed explanation of a phenomenon which still have to be rigorously tested. In contrast, a scientific theory has undergone extensive testing and is generally accepted to be the accurate explanation behind an observation. A working hypothesis is a provisionally accepted hypothesis proposed for further research.

The Oxford English Dictionary  defines the scientific method as: "a method or procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses”.

“Scientists let reality speak for itself, supporting a hypothesis or theory when its predictions are confirmed and challenging a hypothesis or theory when its predictions prove false.”

In statistical hypothesis testing two hypotheses are compared, which are called the null hypothesis  and the alternative hypothesis.

The null hypothesis is the hypothesis that states that there is no relation between the phenomena whose relation is under investigation, or at least not of the form given by the alternative hypothesis.

The alternative hypothesis, as the name suggests, is the alternative to the null hypothesis: it states that there is some kind of relation. The alternative hypothesis may take several forms, depending on the nature of the hypothesized relation.

All research projects need to address a question thatpeople actually care about (significance),

They need to be “contextualized” – aware of all other

research done in that area (i.e. background)

and in biological anthropology they need to usethe scientific method as opposed to

rationalism.

(Rationalists generally develop their view in two ways. First, they argue that there are cases where the content of our concepts or knowledge outstrips the information that sense experience can provide. Second, they construct accounts of how reason in some form or other provides that additional information about the world.)

Do all research questions have to have a theoretical underpinning to be valid research questions in anthropology?

Are questions that address natural history or archaeological history valid if they do not directly test an aspect of evolutionary theory?

Do the following types of research address theoretical questions:

analysis of dental microwear to reconstruct the diet offossil species or ancient human populations?

analysis of skeletal remains to determine the causeof death

analysis of population structure in sifak lemurs

analysis of mandibular morphology to determinewhether ramus orientation different between malesand females

description of a new species of Miocene ape

analysis of vocalizations in cercopithecus monkeys

History of Biological Anthropology

In France - 1789 Musee d’Histoire naturelle included man

1800 Society of Students of Man – physiological phrenology of the skull.

In US – 1822 Prof John Warren founded the Warren Anatomical Museum of Harvard U. inspired by Blumenback he published an “Account of the Crania of some Aborigines of the United States

1830 Samuel Morton “Crania Americana” professor of anatomy at Pennsylvania Medical College

**see Hrdlicka 1914

Institution Anthropology BiologicalBerkeley 1873 1901 ?

Harvard 1636 1887 1900

U. Penn 1740 1886 1915

Columbia 1754 1895 ?

In the United States Ales Hrdlicka succeeded in starting the American Journal of Physical Anthropology which he edited from 1917 to 1942.

First meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists – 1930

-mainly comprised on anatomists

-in 1930 – one PhD program in physical anthropology, Anthropology departments were staffed by ethnologists

-**see Coumas report for topics presented at national meetings.

** see Hrdlicka 1914 “somatology”

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** see Spencer, Washburn and Cartmill