Definition: Emic + Etic

An emic viewpoint is the viewpoint of the people anthropologists study. An etic viewpoint is the researcher’s viewpoint -- through which they try to understand why the people they study think and act in particular ways…Anthropologists strive to understand different ways of seeing and living in the world, respecting diversity and ways of thinking and living different than our own -- but we can only do this from our own standpoints. Our own ways of thinking always influence how we understand others. Emic and Etic viewpoints are always entangled. 

Definition taken from: EiJ Talks: Intro Summer 2023