Ethnology

Ethnology is derived from the Greek word ethnos, which means people, race, and nation. Ethnology is a branch of anthropology which deals with the study of comparing and analyzing the origins, technology, distribution, language, religion and the social structure of the racial, ethnic and or national divisions of the humanity.  Largely descriptive in nature, ethnography provides the basic data needed for ethnology—the branch of cultural anthropology that makes cross-cultural comparisons and develops theories that explain why certain important differences or similarities occur between groups. The end product of anthropological research, if properly earned out. is a theory or coherent statement about culture or human nature that provides an explanatory framework for understanding the ideas and actions of the people who have been studied. In short, a theory is an explanation or interpretation sup ported by a reliable body of data.

Anthropologists do not claim any theory about culture to be the only and final word or absolute truth. Rather they judge or measure a theory's validity and soundness by varying degrees of probability: what is con­sidered to be "true" is what is most probable. But while anthropologists arc reluctant about making absolute statements about complex issues such as exactly how cul­tures function or change, they can and do provide fact-based evidence about whether assumptions have support or are unfounded and thus not true. Thus, a theory, con­trary to widespread misuse of the term, is much more than mere speculation: it is a critically examined expla­nation of observed reality. In this respect, it is important to distinguish be­tween scientific theories which are always open lo fu­ture challenges born of new evidence or insights and doctrine. A doctrine, or dogma, is an assertion of belief or opin­ion formally handed down by the authority as indisputable and true.

For instance, those who accept a creationist doctrine on the origin of the human species as recounted in sa­cred texts or myths passed down the generations do so, on the basis of religious authority, conceding that such views may be contrary to genetic, geological, biological, or other scientific explanations.

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