anthropologist

Anthropologists usually cover a breadth of topics within anthropology in their undergraduate education and then proceed to specialize in topics of their own choice at the graduate level. In some universities, a qualifying exam serves to test both the breadth and depth of a student's understanding of anthropology; the students who pass are permitted to work on a doctoral dissertation.

Anthropologists typically hold graduate degrees, either doctorates or master's degrees. Not holding an advanced degree is rare in the field. Some anthropologists hold undergraduate degrees in other fields than anthropology and graduate degrees in anthropology.{{Cite web|url=http://www.americananthro.org/AdvanceYourCareer/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=1782|title=Career Paths and Education – Advance Your Career|website=www.americananthro.org|language=en|access-date=2017-11-29}}

Research topics of anthropologists include the discovery of human remains and artifacts as well as the exploration of social and cultural issues such as population growth, structural inequality and globalization by making use of a variety of technologies including statistical software and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).{{Cite web |title=Anthropologists and Archeologists : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |url=https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/anthropologists-and-archeologists.htm#tab-2 |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=www.bls.gov |language=en-us}} Anthropological field work requires a faithful representation of observations and a strict adherence to social and ethical responsibilities, such as the acquisition of consent, transparency in research and methodologies and the right to anonymity.{{citation |publisher=American Anthropological Association |date=2009 |title=2009 AAA Code of Ethics |url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/rdcms-aaa/files/production/public/FileDownloads/pdfs/issues/policy-advocacy/upload/AAA-Ethics-Code-2009.pdf}}Mead, M. (1962). "The Social Responsibility of the Anthropologist: The Second Article in a Series on the Social Responsibility of Scholarship". The Journal of Higher Education, 33(1), 1–12. {{doi|10.2307/1980194}}.

Historically, anthropologists primarily worked in academic settings; however, by 2014, U.S. anthropologists and archaeologists were largely employed in research positions (28%), management and consulting (23%) and government positions (27%).Baba, Marietta L. (1994). "The Fifth Subdiscipline: Anthropological Practice and the Future of Anthropology". Human Organization. 53 (2): 174–186. {{doi|10.2307/44126881}}. U.S. employment of anthropologists and archaeologists is projected to increase from 7,600 to 7,900 between 2016 and 2026, a growth rate just under half the national median.U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program. (2016). Employment by industry, occupation, and percent distribution, 2016 and projected 2026; 19-3091 Anthropologists and archeologists [Data set]. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/emp/ind-occ-matrix/occ_xlsx/occ_19-3091.xlsx {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114064708/https://www.bls.gov/emp/ind-occ-matrix/occ_xlsx/occ_19-3091.xlsx |date=2017-11-14 }}.T. Lacey, Mitra Toossi, Kevin Dubina, and Andrea Gensler (October 2017). Projections overview and highlights, 2016–26. Monthly Labor Review, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. {{doi|10.21916/mlr.2017.29}}.

Anthropologists without doctorates tend to work more in other fields than academia, while the majority of those with doctorates are primarily employed in academia.{{Cite news|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/16/anthropology_master_s_are_most_likely_to_bring_their_discipline_to_the_public|title=Anthropology Without Doctorates|access-date=2017-11-28|archive-date=2019-02-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209180630/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/16/anthropology_master_s_are_most_likely_to_bring_their_discipline_to_the_public|url-status=dead}} Many of those without doctorates in academia tend to work exclusively as researchers and do not teach. Those in research-only positions are often not considered faculty. The median salary for anthropologists in 2015 was $62,220.{{Cite web|url=https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/anthropologist|title=Anthropologist Ranks Among Best Jobs of 2017|website=money.usnews.com|access-date=2017-11-29}} Many anthropologists report an above average level of job satisfaction.

Although closely related and often grouped with archaeology, anthropologists and archaeologists perform differing roles, though archeology is considered a sub-discipline of anthropology. While both professions focus on the study of human culture from past to present, archaeologists focus specifically on analyzing material remains such as artifacts and architectural remains.{{Cite web|url=http://www.paesta.psu.edu/book/earth-systems-science-introduction/definitions/paleontology-vs-archaeology-vs-anthropology|title=Paleontology vs. Archaeology vs. Anthropology {{!}} PAESTA|website=www.paesta.psu.edu|access-date=2017-11-29}} Anthropology encompasses a wider range of professions including the rising fields of forensic anthropology, digital anthropology and cyber anthropology. The role of an anthropologist differs as well from that of a historian. While anthropologists focus their studies on humans and human behavior, historians look at events from a broader perspective.{{Cite web|url=http://www.careerigniter.com/questions/what-is-the-difference-between-a-historian-and-an-anthropologist/|title=What Is The Difference Between A Historian And An Anthropologist? – Career Igniter|website=www.careerigniter.com|date=12 June 2014|language=en|access-date=2017-11-29}} Historians also tend to focus less on culture than anthropologists in their studies. A far greater percentage of historians are employed in academic settings than anthropologists, who have more diverse places of employment.{{Cite web|url=https://www.historians.org/jobs-and-professional-development/career-diversity-for-historians/career-diversity-resources/where-historians-work-an-interactive-database-of-history-phd-career-outcomes|title=Where Historians Work: An Interactive Database of History PhD Career Outcomes {{!}} AHA|website=www.historians.org|language=en|access-date=2017-11-29}}

Anthropologists are experiencing a shift in the twenty-first century United States with the rise of forensic anthropology. In the United States, as opposed to many other countries forensic anthropology falls under the domain of the anthropologist and not the Forensic pathologist.{{Cite journal|last1=Traithepchanapai|first1=Pongpon|last2=Mahakkanukrauh|first2=Pasuk|last3=Kranioti|first3=Elena F.|date=2016-04-01|title=History, research and practice of forensic anthropology in Thailand|journal=Forensic Science International|volume=261|issue=Supplement C|pages=167.e1–167.e6|doi=10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.02.025|pmid=26949023|url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/24472615/Kranioti_accepted_mans.pdf|hdl=20.500.11820/87d07a95-9a7a-445f-aaac-1272ac3de52c|s2cid=32398225 |hdl-access=free}} In this role, forensic anthropologists help in the identification of skeletal remains by deducing biological characteristics such as sex, age, stature and ancestry from the skeleton.{{Cite book|title=Essentials of forensic anthropology: especially as developed in the United States.|last=Stewart|first=T.D.|publisher=Charles C. Thomas|year=1979|isbn=978-0398038113|location=Springfield, Illinois}} However, forensic anthropologists tend to gravitate more toward working in academic and laboratory settings, while forensic pathologists perform more applied field work.{{Cite web|url=http://people.uncw.edu/albertm/forensic.htm|title=UNCW Forensic Anthropology|website=people.uncw.edu|access-date=2017-11-28}} Forensic anthropologists typically hold academic doctorates, while forensic pathologists are medical doctors. The field of forensic anthropology is rapidly evolving with increasingly capable technology and more extensive databases.{{Cite web|url=http://projects.nfstc.org/tech_transition/anthropology/overview.htm|title=Advances in Forensic Anthropology • Technology Transition Workshop at NFSTC|website=projects.nfstc.org|access-date=2017-11-07}} Forensic anthropology is one of the most specialized and competitive job areas within the field of anthropology and currently has more qualified graduates than positions.{{Cite news|url=http://study.com/articles/Forensic_Anthropologist_Job_Description_Outlook_and_Salary.html|title=Forensic Anthropologist: Job Description, Outlook and Salary|work=Study.com|access-date=2017-11-29|language=en}}

The profession of Anthropology has also received an additional sub-field with the rise of Digital anthropology. This new branch of the profession has an increased usage of computers as well as interdisciplinary work with medicine, computer visualization, industrial design, biology and journalism.{{Cite book|title=Virtual anthropology : a guide to a new interdisciplinary field|last=Weber|first=Gerhard W.|date=2011|publisher=Springer|others=Bookstein, Fred L., 1947–|isbn=9783211486474|location=Wien|oclc=174131450}} Anthropologists in this field primarily study the evolution of human reciprocal relations with the computer-generated world.{{Cite journal|last1=Libin|first1=Alexander|last2=Libin|first2=Elena|date=2005|title=Cyber-anthropology: a new study on human and technological co-evolution|journal=Studies in Health Technology and Informatics|volume=118|pages=146–155|issn=0926-9630|pmid=16301776}} Cyber anthropologists also study digital and cyber ethics along with the global implications of increasing connectivity.{{Cite book|title=Ethics and the Profession of Anthropology: Dialogue for Ethically Conscious Practice |date=2002|publisher=AltaMira Press|editor-last1=Fluehr-Lobban |editor-first1=Carolyn |isbn=9780759103375|edition=2nd|location=Walnut Creek|oclc=50279971}} With cyber ethical issues such as net neutrality increasingly coming to light, this sub-field is rapidly gaining more recognition. One rapidly emerging branch of interest for cyber anthropologists is artificial intelligence.{{Cite journal|last=Ferrando|first=Francesca|date=2014-12-01|title=Is the post-human a post-woman? Cyborgs, robots, artificial intelligence and the futures of gender: a case study|journal=European Journal of Futures Research|language=en|volume=2|issue=1|pages=43|doi=10.1007/s40309-014-0043-8|issn=2195-4194|doi-access=free}} Cyber anthropologists study the co-evolutionary relationship between humans and artificial intelligence.{{Cite book|title=Future of intelligent and extelligent health environment|date=2005|publisher=IOS Press|others=Bushko, Renata Glowacka.|isbn=9781586035716|location=Amsterdam|oclc=236341831}} This includes the examination of computer-generated (CG) environments and how people interact with them through media such as movies, television, and video.

Culture anthropology is a sub-field of anthropology specializing in the study of different cultures. They study both small-scale, traditional communities, such as isolated villages, and large-scale, modern societies, such as large cities. They look at different behaviors and patterns within a culture.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/cultural-anthropology|title=Cultural anthropology|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-02-24}} In order to study these cultures, many anthropologists will live among the culture they are studying.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1209/what-is-cultural-anthropology.htm|title=What Is Cultural Anthropology? – Cultural Anthropology Program (U.S. National Park Service)|website=www.nps.gov|language=en|access-date=2020-02-24}}

Cultural anthropologists can work as professors, work for corporations, nonprofit organizations, as well government agencies.{{Cite web|url=https://www.americananthro.org/AdvanceYourCareer/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=1782|title=Career Paths and Education – Advance Your Career|website=www.americananthro.org|access-date=2020-02-24}} The field is very large and people can do a lot as a cultural anthropologist.  

{{Main|List of important publications in anthropology}}

Some notable anthropologists include: Molefi Kete Asante, Ruth Benedict, Franz Boas, Ella Deloria, St. Clair Drake, John Hope Franklin, James George Frazer, Clifford Geertz, Edward C. Green, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Bronisław Malinowski, Margaret Mead, Elsie Clews Parsons, Pearl Primus, Paul Rabinow, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, Marshall Sahlins, Nancy Scheper-Hughes (b. 1944), Hortense Spillers, Edward Burnett Tylor (1832–1917) and Frances Cress Welsing.

• Association of Black Anthropologists
• Biologist
• List of anthropologists
• List of fictional anthropologists
• Psychologist

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Category:Social science occupations