Final answer:
Cultural anthropologists study the social dynamics and cultural implications of how people make a living, employing methods like participant observation and examining digital social interactions.
Step-by-step explanation:
How Cultural Anthropologists Study Humans
Cultural anthropologists study the social and cultural implications of different ways of making a living. Unlike physical anthropologists, who focus on human biology and evolution, or archaeologists, who analyze artifacts to understand ancient societies, cultural anthropologists often engage in participant observation to understand contemporary societies. Linguistic anthropologists explore how language influences and is influenced by other elements of culture. All subfields of anthropology are devoted to the comprehensive understanding of human behavior and thought, both past and present.
Cultural anthropologists are particularly interested in how societies use cultural categories to organize activities of social life. They study group identities and the constructs of 'us versus them' that differentiate human groups. By studying these social dynamics, anthropologists aim to understand the cooperative, competitive, or combative relations between groups and the conditions that foster equality or inequality.
With the advent of digital media, anthropologists have expanded their research to include digital social interactions. Media anthropologists study how digital platforms have changed forms of communication, identity, and community.