Final answer:
The classic method used by cultural anthropologists to gain an emic understanding of a people's life is participant observation, where the anthropologist lives within the community and engages in its culture to observe and participate, allowing for an understanding from an insider's perspective.
Step-by-step explanation:
As practiced by cultural anthropologists, the classic method of gaining an emic understanding of a people's life is through participant observation. This research method entails the anthropologist entering a cultural community and engaging in observation and participation in the culture. By living among the people and integrating into their daily life, cultural anthropologists can understand and describe a culture from the perspective of its members, which involves setting aside their own values and biases to appreciate the culture on its own terms.
Through participant observation, anthropologists can achieve a holistic understanding of how aspects of a culture fit together. This may involve writing an ethnography, a detailed study of the culture which considers multiple perspectives and avoids ethnocentric biases. An effective anthropologist must seek to understand differing viewpoints within the community to produce an ethnography that accurately represents the people's lives and cultural norms.