ABSTRACT
‘What anthropologists do’ seems to be a bit of a mystery to many people, and there are several reasons for this. One is that anthropologists are involved in such a wide variety of things that the most accurate answer to the question ‘what do they do?’ is ‘just about anything that involves understanding human social behaviour’. Most anthropologists study contemporary societies (or smaller groups within them), although in some countries anthropology also includes archaeology and the study of past societies. In reality, most university-based anthropologists probably spend a higher proportion of their time teaching and doing administration, but they are still expected to keep up with what is going on in their field, and to conduct some research. Some university-based anthropologists also do consultancy work, and some combine part-time teaching posts with other forms of employment or freelance research. However anthropologists make living, they have responsibility, not only to their employers or sponsors, but also to anthropology as a discipline.
