What method did Malinowski use?
participant observation
He exhorted his colleagues to conduct fieldwork in situ, using participant observation. This technique was used by Malinowski in his studies of the Trobriand Islands (Malinowski 1922, 1935, 1948) “to grasp the native’s point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world” (Malinowski 1922, p.
What were Bronislaw Malinowski’s views?
(Argonauts, p. 25.) Malinowski believed that “The functional view of culture lays down the principle that in every type of civilization, every custom, material object, idea and belief fulfills some vital function, has some task to accomplish, represents an indispensable part with a working whole” (Kardiner 1961).
What did Bronisław Malinowski discover?
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).
What was significant about Malinowski’s work?
In addition, Malinowski is famous for documenting the Kula Ring, a non-monetary system of exchange in Melanesia that holds immense social and cultural significance for the individuals and societies involved.
How did Malinowski explain the cultural practices of the Trobriand Islanders?
During these times the Trobriand Islanders engaged in religious rituals to try to ensure a favourable outcome. Malinowski theorised that when people are in control of the situation (or at least feel they are) and can rely on their knowledge and skill to provide predictable results, there is no need for religion.
What are the basic needs according to Malinowski?
Malinowski suggested that individuals have physiological needs (reproduction, food, shelter) and that social institutions exist to meet these needs.
What are the two types of needs identified by Malinowski?
There are three systems of needs, social structure are originated in biological needs and derived from social structures, integrative needs of the society.
- Biological Needs. Primary needs.
- Social Structural Needs.
- Symbolic Needs.
- Magic Religion and Science.
- Magic.
- Religion.
- Science.
- Primitive Economy.
What was Bronisław Malinowski contribution?
Malinowski was instrumental in transforming British social anthropology from an ethnocentric discipline concerned with historical origins and based on the writings of travelers, missionaries, and colonial administrators to one concerned with understanding the interconnections between various institutions and based on …
What did Malinowski do in the Trobriand Islands?
He spent almost two years in the Trobriand Islands off the east coast of New Guinea, doing the long-term fieldwork that was to revolutionise anthropological research methods.