ANTH 2301
Physical Anthropology as Science
Sž cience is a way of thinking and employs a methodology of doing things in a
certain way. The scientific method entails several key points. It involves the
identification of a research problem and a theoretical basis. It involves the
formulation of hypotheses and test implications. As such it creates a means by
which to test the hypotheses. The scientific method involves rigorous analysis of a
fair test of alternative explanations guided by the problems posed and confirmed by
multiple lines of evidence. The method strives ultimately to explain. For physical
anthropology, this means that the scientific method is used to help explain or
understand social or cultural behavior based on the evidence that is uncovered.
Key Terms
FACTS: are things we know to be true because we can sense them, measure them,
manipulate them, and show them to someone else.
THEORIES: are possible explanations for why things are the way they are. You can
test a scientific theory by gathering evidence that either disproves or supports it.
Some scientific theories are so well supported that we think of them as fact. The best
example of this would be our notion of gravity.
SPECULATION: is a guess about something that is unknown. It's different from a
theory in two important ways: (1) it does not have enough evidence to support it,
and (2) it cannot be tested scientifically.
•Speculation can be a bad thing if we accept it as "truth" without scrutinizing
it.
•Speculation can also be a good thing in that it may lead to theories that can
be tested, and therefore, elevated to a more meaningful status.
BIAS: is a slant on something guiding the rationale for inquiry or favoring certain
evidence over others because it proves the point that was desired. Science is a
human endeavor and therefore will always involve some form of bias. Recognition
of sources is bias is critical.
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Science, in general, consists entirely of theories - tentative, fluid proposals
based on people's best bets for how the world works. It is because they are not set
in stone that these ideas have a chance of being shifted closer toward describing
reality. It is equally important that theories can be discarded in favor of something
better. Our understanding of the world changes as we learn new things. Lost to most
people outside of science is the exhilarating possibility that a theory that seems
undeniable today could be overturned tomorrow. With physical anthropology that is
particularly true as new finds and new methods of discovery are made.
ANTH 2301
Science is, foremost, a method of interrogating reality - proposing hypotheses
that seem true and then testing them; trying to negate them, and elevating only the
handful that survive to the status of a theory. In making sense of the world, one is
always free to start from different assumptions.
Among the other fundamentals of science is the doctrine of uniformity-that
the physical laws are the same now as they were in the past. And this is closely
related to another unprovable assumption, “Occam's razor.” Given two explanations
for a phenomenon, the simpler one is more likely to be true. Viewed this way,
science may seem like just another religion - based on things one chooses to believe
because they seem deep down to be true. Yet it is more. Science ultimately is a
method of inquiry building toward understanding. Science strives to provide the
best understanding that is possible at any one time.
We must be mindful of the dangers that come when a scientist mistakes a
theory for eternal truth or speculation as theory, shoring up flimsy hypotheses by
contorting the data. Equally dangerous is when a scientist attempts to make things
happen with the data rather than rigorously exploring the evidence in the proper
manner – by interrogating it. Good science may be two scientists attempting to
prove the other incorrect. Good science is recognizing the sources of bias and
attempting to find rational and logical evidence to support or refute a hypothesis.
Above all it is testing with rigor and recognizing the limits of one’s data. Within
physical anthropology this is known as the "conjunctive approach" offered by
Walter Taylor to remind archaeologists that they must utilize all possible lines of
inquiry in order to explain the past effectively.
Physical anthropology will always be able to offer theories about how humans
originated and why they may have certain traits. It is a story in a sense of what the
past (or the genes) can tell us. A good story rests in how well the support is
constructed and that rests in how well the scientific method was employed. In other
words, how well was the story tested.
Physical anthropologists must also realize the bias they may have. As
anthropologists, they must strive to view a culture in relative terms to how that
culture they are studying viewed the world. This is known as "cultural relativism"
where we cannot judge a culture on the basis of our own values.