Mooting the Concept of “Hierarchical Analysis” in the Context of a Cultural Taxonomy: A Concept with Widespread Implications for Social Sciences Research

Abstract

We begin this paper by attempting to define what the oft-used term “culture” means and probing its various elements, dimensions, and attributes as well. We also then describe what is meant by cultural change, and investigate the various types of commonly and less commonly observed types of cultural change along with the schools canonically associated with the study of culture and cultural change in social and cultural anthropology. We also then proceed to review the core concepts associated and allied with our symbiotic approach to sociocultural change along with the related concepts of mind-orientations, cultural orientations, mindspace, thought worlds, and world views. The core theme and central component of this paper if of course the concept of a cultural taxonomy, the essentials of which we reproduce here, by referencing both our earlier work, and other pre-existing concepts in the field. We of course, then present our proposals namely “Hierarchical analysis” in the context of a cultural taxonomy which is the objective of this paper, and differentiate with from the differentials other ‘Modes of Internal Spread’ of Cultural Elements, a concept that we had mooted earlier. The core downstream uses and objectives of this approach are also discussed in such a way that readers will be able to note the merits of this approach.