Final answer:
The study of culture involves learning why various people live as they do, a key aspect of cultural anthropology, which often employs participant observation among other methods to gain deeper insights into cultural practices and their interrelationships with the environment and society. The correct option is B.
Step-by-step explanation:
The study of culture primarily involves learning why various people live as they do, which encompasses understanding their beliefs, customs, and social practices. In the field of cultural anthropology, this often includes methods such as participant observation.
This research method involves the anthropologist becoming deeply immersed in the culture being studied, using systematic observations to gain a nuanced understanding of that culture. These observations can reveal how people's knowledge and practices inform their daily lives and are influenced by broader historical and social structures, as described by the sociological imagination.
Cultural anthropologists are not alone in their study of culture; all four fields of anthropology, including biological anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology, contribute to our understanding of human culture. Cultural integration and cultural ecology also play significant roles by examining the interrelationship between cultural practices within a society and the influence of the physical environment on these practices.