Margaret Mead was the 20th century's most famous anthropologist. Student of Franz Boas, father of American anthropology, she studied American Samoa and concluded Samoans practiced free love. Later anthropologist Derek Freeman found her conclusions were inaccurate. Her first husband was archaeologist Luther Cressman. The study illustrates how cultural and political biases affect research.
Margaret Mead Samoa study and anthropological bias history
Key facts
- Margaret Mead was the most famous anthropologist of the 20th century
- She studied in American Samoa to support the nature vs nurture debate
- Her work was explicitly for fighting ideological battles in 1920s-30s academia
- She was a student of Franz Boas, father of American anthropology
- Mead interviewed only teenage girls and concluded Samoans practiced free love
- Another anthropologist Martin Freeman later found her conclusions were inaccurate
- Anthropology and archaeology have been affected by cultural and political biases from their beginnings
- Her first husband was one of the pioneers of the CIA
- Selection bias exists in research - what gets funded and what is looked for
Sources
Margaret Mead - History.comhistory.com
Cultural anthropologist and writer Margaret Meade (1901-1978) was born in Philadelphia and graduated from Barnard College in 1923.
Margaret Mead - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media
Margaret Mead in American Samoa – SAPIENS Teaching Unitsapiens.org
Margaret Mead was a student of Franz Boas, who is credited as the “father” of modern American anthropology and who famously advanced the theory of cultural ...
Margaret Mead - Elizabeth Blackwell Awardhws.edu
Margaret Mead began her long career in anthropology as an undergraduate at Barnard College under the tutelage of Franz Boas, recognized as the father of ...
Mead, Margaret | Women of the Hallwomenofthehall.org
While portraying the free and easy Samoan life, she was critical of American society for shrouding sexuality in secrecy. Mead went on to a career of brilliant ...
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