Russel-Research-Method-in-Anthropology

622 Chapter 20
TABLE 20.12
Ranking of Yuquí Hunters by Game Taken
Name Kilos of meat Kilos of fish
Alejandro 226.00 53.75
Jaime 185.50 101.00
Leonardo 152.50 8.50
Humberto 144.75 120.50
Daniel 78.00 119.50
Joel 74.50 34.25
Jorge 59.50 23.00
Timoteo 51.00 1.50
Tomás 51.00 123.80
Lucas 46.00 107.50
Guillermo 45.75 199.25
Victor 29.50 38.25
Manuel 14.50 28.50
Benjamin 10.00 128.00
Jonatán 0.00 198.00
Lorenzo 0.00 279.00
SOURCE: A. M. Stearman, ‘‘Yuquí Foragers in the Bolivian Amazon: Subsistence Strategies, Prestige and
Leadership in an Acculturating Society,’’ Journal of Anthropological Research, Vol. 45, pp. 219–244. Reproduced
by permission of the Journal of Anthropological Research 1989.
and Jonatán are tied for last. We can use Spearman’s r to test the extent to
which a hunter’s take of fish matches his take of meat. Just looking at the data,
we suspect the correlation is negative. That is, it appears that hunters who take
a lot of meat are not focusing on fish and vice versa. Here is the formula for
Spearman’s r:
r s 1 6 d 2
n(n 2 1)
Formula 20.18
where d is the difference between the ranks on all pairs of objects. Table 20.13
shows the computation of d 2 for the data on these hunters.
For these hunters, at least, there is a moderate negative correlation between
their success in hunting meat and their success in hunting fish.
Pearson’s r
Pearson’s r measures how much changes in one variable correspond with
equivalent changes in the other variables. It can also be used as a measure of