marct
03-28-2007, 03:35 PM
An interesting project that is, really, just starting. At the moment, they have bandwidth issues but, if they generate interest it could be very useful.
The Ethnographic Database Project (EDP) is a web-based tool for the collection of comparative ethnographic data. The EDP enables anthropologists to enter information about their field research using a set of standard codes developed for cross-cultural application; the codes relate to a society’s organization, kinship and marriage practices, subsistence economy, and pattern of sexual division of labor. The EDP is in the form of a web-based questionnaire, which can be accessed from any computer connected to the internet.
The EDP aims to complement widely-used comparative ethnographic datasets such as the Ethnographic Atlas and the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample by: (i) obtaining data directly from anthropologists who conducted field research in the societies of interest, (ii) using standard codes developed for cross-cultural application for all societies, (iii) expanding the range of societies for which coded ethnographic data are available.
The first stage of the EDP includes societies speaking Indo-European languages, which are underrepresented in the existing ethnographic databases. We welcome contributions from researchers who have conducted fieldwork in societies speaking these languages.
Visit the EDP website at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucsalfo/EDP (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/%7Eucsalfo/EDP/) to read more about this project, to view a sample version of the EDP, and to find out how to contribute. Please forward this link to anyone who may be interested in this project!
The Ethnographic Database Project (EDP) is a web-based tool for the collection of comparative ethnographic data. The EDP enables anthropologists to enter information about their field research using a set of standard codes developed for cross-cultural application; the codes relate to a society’s organization, kinship and marriage practices, subsistence economy, and pattern of sexual division of labor. The EDP is in the form of a web-based questionnaire, which can be accessed from any computer connected to the internet.
The EDP aims to complement widely-used comparative ethnographic datasets such as the Ethnographic Atlas and the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample by: (i) obtaining data directly from anthropologists who conducted field research in the societies of interest, (ii) using standard codes developed for cross-cultural application for all societies, (iii) expanding the range of societies for which coded ethnographic data are available.
The first stage of the EDP includes societies speaking Indo-European languages, which are underrepresented in the existing ethnographic databases. We welcome contributions from researchers who have conducted fieldwork in societies speaking these languages.
Visit the EDP website at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucsalfo/EDP (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/%7Eucsalfo/EDP/) to read more about this project, to view a sample version of the EDP, and to find out how to contribute. Please forward this link to anyone who may be interested in this project!