Cultural relativism, political science homework help

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In the Final Research Paper, you will examine your own culture from an etic (outsider’s) perspective and another culture from an emic (insider’s) perspective to demonstrate your understanding of cultural relativism and examine misconceptions and ethnocentric beliefs concerning each of these cultures. Keep the distinction between cultural relativism and moral relativism in mind as you write your final paper. Even if you do not personally agree with a cultural practice, demonstrate your understanding of the practice in its cultural context. Avoid opinionated or judgmental language in your paper.

Cultural relativism is the idea that the beliefs and practices of a culture should be understood within the context of that particular culture’s background, history, and current events surrounding it. We should not ethnocentrically impose our own beliefs and opinions, which are products of our own enculturation.

Cultural relativism is not the same as moral relativism, however. As Crapo (2013) notes

We need not, for instance, come to value infanticide in order to understand the roles it may play in peoples’ lives in a society where it is customary. What cultural relativism requires of us is simply that we do not confuse our own feelings about such a custom with understanding it. To do the latter, we must investigate the meanings the custom has for those who practice it and the functions it may fulfill in their society. (section 1.4, “Cultural Differences: Cultural Relativism,” para. 3)

Keep the distinction between cultural relativism and moral relativism in mind as you write your Final Research Paper. Even if you do not personally agree with a cultural practice, demonstrate your understanding of the practice in its cultural context. Avoid opinionated or judgmental language in your paper.

Your Final Research Paper will consist of two main parts, framed by an Introduction and a Conclusion. See the Final Paper Flow Chart for a quick overview of the assignment. See the following instructions for information on each part of the paper.


The Final Research Paper

  • Must be five to six double-spaced pages in length (excluding title page and references page, meaning it will be seven to eight pages total), and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (see the APA Essay Checklist for Students (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.).
  • Must include a title page (see title page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) with the following:
    • Title of paper
    • Student’s name
    • Course name and number
    • Instructor’s name
    • Date submitted
  • Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
  • Must have well-structured body paragraphs with clear transitions from one topic to the next. Incorporate in-text citations (see In-Text Citation Guide (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) from your scholarly sources to support your analysis throughout the paper.
  • Must describe an aspect of your own culture from an etic perspective for Part I.
  • Must describe an aspect of another culture from an emic perspective for Part II.
  • Must demonstrate a perspective of cultural relativism throughout, avoiding judgmental and opinionated language.
  • Must end with a conclusion that that reinforces the thesis and provides a self-reflexive analysis.
  • Must use at least one scholarly resource in addition to the textbook, the Miner article, and the article chosen from the list in Part II of the Week Three assignment.
  • Must document all sources in APA style in the body of the paper and on the references page as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
  • Must include a separate References Page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Here is an Example of a References Page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

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Begin with an introductory paragraph that has a thesis statement at the end. The introduction should set up your topic, giving a preview and summary of the analysis you will present in the body of the paper. The thesis statement is the last sentence or two of the introduction and states what the main point structuring your paper will be. Here is an Example of an Introduction (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Part I Using the article by Miner (1956) and the feedback you received from your instructor on your worksheet in Week Three, describe one aspect of your own culture from an etic perspective. See the appropriate Sections in the Textbook in the List of Topics (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., based on your chosen topic from Week Three, for information on how to approach your paper from an anthropological perspective. You can describe American culture in general, as Miner does, or you can describe an American subculture, such as a specific geographical group (e.g., New Yorkers), a particular ethnicity (e.g., African Americans), or an age-related category of Americans (e.g., millennials). Use reputable statistics and/or scholarly research to support any factual statements. Do not rely solely on personal experience or opinion. Here is an Example of Part I (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Part II Refer to the article you chose for Part II of the worksheet assignment in Week Three and describe an aspect of another culture from an emic (insider’s) perspective. You do not have to do research beyond reading your chosen article; however, if you do choose to conduct additional research make sure to use reputable statistics and/or scholarly sources to support any factual statements. Do not rely upon personal experience or opinion. Here is an Example of Part II (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Conclusion End with a concluding paragraph that reinforces your thesis. Summarize and tie together your main points for the reader. Provide a brief self-reflexive analysis of what you learned while writing this paper. Here is an Example of Conclusion (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Cultural relativism is the idea that the beliefs and practices of a culture should be understood within the context of that particular culture’s background, history, and current events surrounding it. We should not ethnocentrically impose our own beliefs and opinions, which are products of our own enculturation Cultural relativism is not the same as moral relativism, however. As Crapo (2013) notes: "We need not, for instance, come to value infanticide in order to understand the roles it may play in peoples’ lives in a society where it is customary. What cultural relativism requires of us is simply that we do not confuse our own feelings about such a custom with understanding it. To do the latter, we must investigate the meanings the custom has for those who practice it and the functions it may fulfill in their society."(section 1.4, “Cultural Differences: Cultural Relativism,” para. 3) Final Paper Requirements (Click links below) Introduction • • • • • The introduction should be one paragraph. Explain the scope of your paper and set up the topics you will cover. Everything covered in your paper should relate back to the introduction and thesis statement. Draw from what you learned while identifying thesis statements in the Week Two Locating Scholarly Resources assignment to help you craft your own thesis statement. Review your instructor’s feedback on your thesis statement from your Week Three Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper assignment. View Accessing Feedback in the Gradebook (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to see how to reviewing your instructor’s feedback. See resources from the Ashford Writing Center on Moving from Prompt to Thesis--How to Turn a Prompt Into a Thesis (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and Introductions and Conclusions. Part I • • • • • • • This section should be two- to two-and-a-half pages long. Use what you learned in the “Locating Scholarly Sources” assignment from Week Two to find your source in the Ashford University Library. Weight your discussion evenly between Parts I and II. Do not let one discussion overshadow the other. Demonstrate a culturally relativistic perspective throughout this section. Do not use opinionated or judgmental language. Use the article by Miner to guide your own description. How would an anthropologist describe the topic you've chosen? Use reliable sources to support your analysis. Review the Evaluating Scholarly Sources tutorial (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. from the Ashford Library. Review the in-text citation (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. every time you include information you learned from one of your sources. Part II • • • • • • This section should be two to two and a half pages in length. Use what you learned in the “Locating Scholarly Sources” assignment from Week Two to find your source in the Ashford University Library. Weight your discussion evenly between Parts I and II. Do not let one discussion overshadow the other. Demonstrate a culturally relativistic perspective throughout this section. Do not use opinionated or judgmental language. Use the article you have chosen to guide your own description. How would an anthropologist describe the topic you have chosen? Include an in-text citation (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. every time you include information you learned from one of your sources. Conclusion • • • Review Introductions and Conclusions (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Your conclusion should be one paragraph. The conclusion should relate back to your introduction and thesis statement. Reiterate what you have covered in the paper. Incorporate some of your self-reflexive analysis from the “Self-Reflexive Journal” entry you created in Week Four. Week Three Assignment Worksheet 1) Select one aspect of culture from the list. Once you've made your selection, please delete all other options. Gender 2) Select a source to use for Part I of the paper. You will be using your textbook and the article by Miner for this part of the paper, but for this worksheet, include the source you found through your own research. Review the tutorial on Evaluating sources and enter your reference in the space below. Reference entry in APA format: Kaufman, J. C., & Sumerson, J. B. (2015). Editors’ introduction to the 2015 Special Issue, Gender Stereotypes in the Media. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 4(1), 1. doi:10.1037/ppm0000071 3) Include the reference for Part II that corresponds to the topic you’ve chosen. Copy and paste the reference entry from the table (e.g., if you chose Education, you would use the article by Jonsson for Part II). Hoodfar, H. (1993). The veil in their minds and on our heads: The persistence of colonial images of Muslim women. Resources for Feminist Researchers, 22, 5-18. Retrieved from http://www.umass.edu/wost/syllabi/spring06/hoodfar.pdf Becker. A. E. (2004). Television, disordered eating, and young women in Fiji: Negotiating body image and identity during rapid social change. Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry, 28(4), 533-559. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database 4) Summarize the main points from each of your sources. See this guide for help with summarizing your sources. Summary of your source for Part I (include one to two paragraphs, totaling at least 300 words). Enter your summary in the space below. In this assignment what exactly that I will go over that is covered within the article named “Gender Stereotypes in the Media” Kaufman & Sumerson (2015) examination of the portrayal of the female species on how they are predicted in a negative way into today’s media ways. One will realize through most of ones studies and research, the results produced were not found to be in favor of women. Today’s media is really good at only trying to be focused on nothing but the negative aspects pf the female gender. But in turn will have a blind eye to anything positive that women makes daily in the entertainment arena. Page 1 of 2 Week Three Assignment Worksheet Summary of your source for Part II (include one to two paragraphs, totaling at least 300 words). Enter your summary in the space below. In his literary research “The veil in their minds and on our heads: The persistence of colonial images of Muslim women” Hoodfar, H. (1993). Hoodfar discussed the struggles faced by Muslim women across the nation. The author ties at first educate his readers on the factual definition of the veil and its purpose. By choosing to wear the veil Muslim women are sometimes seen as inferior, uneducated and totally dependent on her husband. This belief has led to the ill treatment and many different forms of discrimination veil wearing women faced in the past and present day. Much of the uproar, movements and different groups who seek to de- veil the Muslim women, does so because of the misinterpretation and the perception that veiling equates to oppression. 5) Write a working thesis statement based on your sources. See this example. Working Thesis Statement: In this research paper I define the huge impact of society’s treatment, portrayal standards and standards towards the female species. With that said, to take you down that path, I will go over the article, Hoodfar, H. (1993). “The veil in their minds and on our heads” and Kaufman, J. C., & Sumerson, J. B. (2015). “Gender Stereotypes in the Media”. Page 2 of 2 Running head: SELF-REFLEXIVE JOURNAL Self-Reflexive Journal Rodrick Idrogo Instructor: Lucy Lea Brown Ashford University 7/10/17 2 SELF-REFLEXIVE JOURNAL Introduction The aspect of culture that I choose is Gender. Women and men are normally shaped by culture. Gender relations and identities are two important aspects when it comes to culture. Culture is the belief, behaviors, customs, ideas, and traditions that are normally passed one from one generation to another, it has a way of modeling the way people are developing (Hoodfar, 1993). An outsider view (etic perspective) and an insider view (emic perspective) is used by anthropologists while conducting a culture study. Cultural Bias It is easy to have cultural bias due to the different backgrounds. Some of the cultural biases that I will have include, women were referred to as property. There are still communities that refer to women as their property once the man has paid the dowry. They take it that they can treat the woman in any way that they want. Sometimes this treatment becomes abusive. Another bias is that where children of a certain gender are treated more valuable than the other. In some communities the male child is treated better compared to the girl, in my opinion, both genders should be treated with fairness and both accorded with equal education opportunities. The Nacirema culture is characterized by a developed market economy. Most of the people in this culture spend most of their time trying to accumulate more wealth, however, a good amount of these gains and time is normally spent in rituals. This culture claims, the human 3 SELF-REFLEXIVE JOURNAL body is ugly, and the majority of families have a ritual to try and change this. Using an etic perspective, as an outsider looking in, the African- American culture is similar to that of Nacirema culture in some ways. Most people find it hard to believe that the two would have anything in common. Conclusion Studying human culture is important since it helps people to look into other cultures from an up-close and a diverse perspective and understand their culture in another point of view. However, it is easy to become biased while taking an objective look into another culture. Two perspectives are normally used by anthropologists, which are the emic and etic perspectives. 4 SELF-REFLEXIVE JOURNAL Reference Hoodfar, H. (1993). The veil in their minds and on our heads: The persistence of colonial images of Muslim women. Resources for Feminist Researchers, 22, 5-18. Retrieved from http://www.umass.edu/wost/syllabi/spring06/hoodfar.pdf Running head: SELF-REFLEXIVE JOURNAL Self-Reflexive Journal Introduction 2 SELF-REFLEXIVE JOURNAL The aspect of culture that I choose is Gender. Women and men are normally shaped by culture. Gender relations and identities are two important aspects when it comes to culture. Culture is the belief, behaviors, customs, ideas, and traditions that are normally passed one from one generation to another, it has a way of modeling the way people are developing (Hoodfar, 1993). An outsider view (etic perspective) and an insider view (emic perspective) is used by anthropologists while conducting a culture study. Cultural Bias It is easy to have cultural bias due to the different backgrounds. Some of the cultural biases that I will have include, women were referred to as property. There are still communities that refer to women as their property once the man has paid the dowry. They take it that they can treat the woman in any way that they want. Sometimes this treatment becomes abusive. Another bias is that where children of a certain gender are treated more valuable than the other. In some communities the male child is treated better compared to the girl, in my opinion, both genders should be treated with fairness and both accorded with equal education opportunities. The Nacirema culture is characterized by a developed market economy. Most of the people in this culture spend most of their time trying to accumulate more wealth, however, a good amount of these gains and time is normally spent in rituals. This culture claims, the human body is ugly, and the majority of families have a ritual to try and change this. Using an etic perspective, as an outsider looking in, the African- American culture is similar to that of Nacirema culture in some ways. Most people find it hard to believe that the two would have anything in common. Conclusion 3 SELF-REFLEXIVE JOURNAL Studying human culture is important since it helps people to look into other cultures from an up-close and a diverse perspective and understand their culture in another point of view. However, it is easy to become biased while taking an objective look into another culture. Two perspectives are normally used by anthropologists, which are the emic and etic perspectives. Reference Hoodfar, H. (1993). The veil in their minds and on our heads: The persistence of colonial images of Muslim women. Resources for Feminist Researchers, 22, 5-18. Retrieved from http://www.umass.edu/wost/syllabi/spring06/hoodfar.pdf SELF-REFLEXIVE JOURNAL 4
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Cultural Relativism - Outline
Thesis Statement: In this paper, I will address my culture from an etic perspective and another
culture from an emic perspective as a way of gaining understanding in the importance of value
systems. Therefore, I will examine the American Islamic culture and address the perceived
typical American Christian perspective in trying to distinguish the contemporary difference that
creates bias between the two groups. In either group, these held perceptions have continued to be
regarded as normal despite their detrimental effect on the overall social state of the American
social values.
I.

Introduction

II.

Part One

III.

Part Two

IV.

Conclusion


Running head: CULTURAL RELATIVISM

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Cultural Relativism
Name
Institution

CULTURAL RELATIVISM

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Cultural Relativism
Introduction

Cultural relativism is an indirect appeal to take a higher ground and choose to examine
any one given culture from an unbiased perspective and find importance in its instruments and
values. The essence of cultural relativism is to empower one to understand the reason behind
some held practices and values and regard them as critical to the performance of such a culture.
Different from moral relativism, cultural relativism requires one finds value and accepts such a
value system as important without weighing it on one’s own beliefs, opinion, or even
understanding. It is important to examine another culture from an emic perspective to gain
relevance and understanding as to why such culture system holds such high value to those who
belong to it. In doing this, it empowers one to review one’s culture from an etic perspective to
understand why those values one holds as importantly find little or no value to another culture.
The emic and etic perspective bring out significant differences that, on their own, are very
important and crucial in the propagation and continuance of a culture system and avoidance of
biased and opinionated disregard of other culture systems. In this paper, I will address my culture
from an etic perspective and another culture from an emic perspective as a way of gaining
understanding in the importance of value systems. Therefore, I will examine the American
Islamic culture and address the perceived typical American Christian perspective in trying to
distinguish the contemporary difference that creates bias between the two groups. In either
group, these held perceptions have continued to be regarded as normal despite their detrimental
effect on the overall social state of the American social values.

CULTURAL RELATIVISM

3
Part One

The etic perspective...


Anonymous
Excellent resource! Really helped me get the gist of things.

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