| complex societies | Nations; large and populous, with social stratification and central governments.
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| cultural consultant | Someone the ethnographer gets to know in the field, who teaches him or her about their society and culture, aka informant.
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| emic | The research strategy that focuses on native explanations and criteria of significance.
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| etic | The research strategy that emphasizes the observer's rather than the natives' explanations, categories, and criteria of significance.
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| genealogical method | Procedures by which ethnographers discover and record connections of kinship, descent, and marriage, using diagrams and symbols.
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| informed consent | An agreement sought by ethnographers from community members to take part in research.
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| interview schedule | Ethnographic tool for structuring a formal interview. A prepared form (usually printed or mimeographed) that guides interviews with households or individuals being compared systematically. Contrasts with a questionnaire because the researcher has personal contact and records people's answers.
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| key cultural consultants | An expert on a particular aspect of local life who helps the ethnographer understand that aspect.
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| life history | Of a cultural consultant; provides a personal cultural portrait of existence or change in a culture.
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| longitudinal research | Long-term study of a community, society, culture, or other unit, usually based on repeated visits.
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| participant observation | A characteristic ethnographic technique; taking part in the events one is observing, describing, and analyzing.
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| random sample | A sample in which all members of the population have an equal statistical chance of being included.
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| sample | A smaller study group chosen to represent a larger population.
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| survey research | Characteristic research procedure among social scientists other than anthropologists. Studies society through sampling, statistical analysis, and impersonal data collection.
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| variables | Attributes (e.g., sex, age, height, weight) that differ from one person or case to the next.
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