Human geography jon malinowski pdf

A large part of Malinowski’s work consists in the attempt to develop principles and create models for just this intermediate stage of interpretation, using Trobriand culture as his laboratory.
One of the persistent criticisms of his work is that it is “overloaded with reality” (Gluckman 1947, p. 15).

Another criticism of Malinowski’s approach is due to the nature of the theory, which relies on the audience’s ability to find a function for a behaviour, it is difficult to disprove; which in turn means it cannot be validated entirely.

Although Malinowski may not live up to his name as the pioneer of modern intensive fieldwork, where ethnographer should make every effort to build a rapport with those they are researching, the principles he established make a useful contribution to ethnography and fieldwork.

Malinowski’s search for an adequate psychology was a step toward broadening the base of empirical research.
But collaboration among all the relevant sciences will be necessary.
The study of culture is crucial to, but not in itself sufficient for, the development of a science of man.