Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from January, 2023

Etic vs. Emic - Is There a Preference for One Over the Other?

 In the area of research, whether linguistic, anthropological, or whatever, it is common to use the terms 'etic' and 'emic'. Here is a definition: 'The etic perspective is the outsiderā€™s perspective, the perspective that we have of a projectā€™s parametersā€”for example, an outsiderā€™s perception of gender in Afghanistan. The emic perspective is the insiderā€™s perspective, the perspective that comes from within the culture where the project is situatedā€”for example, gender perspectives of women involved in a project in Afghanistan.' https://programs.online.american.edu/msme/masters-in-measurement-and-evaluation/resources/emic-and-etic accessed 13th January 2023 Another difference between etic and emic is that the former often assumes the use of a model, or theoretical basis for a study, whereas the latter, almost by definition, would avoid the use of models and theories. Emic involves the use of insider data without theory-based analysis. Any comments would be descri...