An empirical comparison of knowledge and skill in the context of traditional ecological knowledge
Kightley, Eric P. (University of Colorado at Boulder. Department of Applied Mathematics)
Reyes-García, Victoria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Demps, Kathryn (Boise State University (Boise, Estats Units d'Amèrica). Department of Anthropology)
Magtanong, Ruth V. (Case Western Reserve University. Department of Anthropology (Cleveland, Estats Units d'Amèrica))
Ramenzoni, Victoria C. (University of Georgia. Department of Anthropology (Athens, Estats Units d'Amèrica))
Thampy, Gayatri (Denison University. Department of Sociology and Anthropology (Granville, Estats Units d'Amèrica))
Guèze, Maximilien (Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats)
Stepp, John Richard (University of Florida. Department of Anthropology)

Date:	2013
Abstract:	Background: We test whether traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) about how to make an item predicts a person's skill at making it among the Tsimane' (Bolivia). The rationale for this research is that the failure to distinguish between knowledge and skill might account for some of the conflicting results about the relationships between TEK, human health, and economic development. Methods: We test the association between a commonly-used measure of individual knowledge (cultural consensus analysis) about how to make an arrow or a bag and a measure of individual skill at making these items, using ordinary least-squares regression. The study consists of 43 participants from 3 villages. Results: We find no association between our measures of knowledge and skill (core model, p > 0. 5, R2 = . 132). Conclusions: While we cannot rule out the possibility of a real association between these phenomena, we interpret our findings as support for the claim that researchers should distinguish between methods to measure knowledge and skill when studying trends in TEK.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, Vol. 9, N. 71 (October 2013) , p. 1-11, ISSN 1746-4269

DOI: 10.1186/1746-4269-9-71
PMID: 24131733

11 p, 374.3 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles