Dimensional Analysis in Cultural Anthropology: Reply to Wormser
In: American anthropologist: AA, Band 88, Heft 3, S. 703-706
ISSN: 1548-1433
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In: American anthropologist: AA, Band 88, Heft 3, S. 703-706
ISSN: 1548-1433
In: American anthropologist: AA, Band 86, Heft 4, S. 854-884
ISSN: 1548-1433
Lawlike generalizations can be developed only for variables exhibiting strict constancy in concept formulation. By considering anthropology a space and its basic concepts as dimensions and borrowing from ecology, cultural materialism, and social, political, and cultural anthropology, we develop a 14‐dimensional space defined by 42 scaled variables. Dimensional analysis performed yields 14 equations and 28 dimensionless expressions that satisfy them. Additionally, we derive a set of 28 ethnological expressions. Entering scaled data from five societies, we solve for each. Twenty‐one expressions yield significant order‐ings. Examination of their performance confirms that they function holistically.