A cross-cultural researcher is a type of ethnologist interested in discovering general patterns about cultural traits. This branch of anthropology investigates what is universal and variable among cultures, why traits vary, and what consequences come from the variations.
Cross-cultural researchers generally follow cross-cultural research theory, which holds that most cultures share common evolutionary and functional traits. This view has evolved from the notion of cultures progressing from "barbarism to civilization" and "primitive versus advanced races" to a more nuanced, comparative view. This evolution also seeks to de-emphasize various traditional approaches based on race and racism, to a more objective, neutral view of cultures, taking in all their diversity and variability.
Famous quotes containing the word researcher:
“Night City was like a deranged experiment in Social Darwinism, designed by a bored researcher who kept one thumb permanently on the fast-forward button. Stop hustling and you sank without a trace, but move a little too swiftly and you’d break the fragile surface tension of the black market; either way, you were gone ... though heart or lungs or kidneys might survive in the service of some stranger with New Yen for the clinic tanks.”
—William Gibson (b. 1948)