An Application of Dimensional Analysis in Cultural Anthropology
In: American anthropologist: AA, Volume 86, Issue 4, p. 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.