To understand what a socio-cultural anthropologist does you will need to imagine for a moment what would happen if you were suddenly transported to a very different culture in a different part of the world, and told you had to stay there for a year or more.

To begin with, you would probably feel somewhat bewildered, unable to understand the language spoken, eat the food without longing for home cooking, or enter someone's home without unwittingly doing something that appeared rude to your hosts. After a few months you would begin to understand how to avoid social pitfalls, and after a year you might even be able to speak the language with a certain degree of fluency. Gradually, mutual understanding and trust would develop and you would begin to experience the world through the other culture. This process of familiarisation is similar to the experience of many anthropologists who go abroad to study another culture. These researchers should not seek to control the behaviour of the people being studied, but rather immerse him or herself in the lives of the people they study as much as possible.

The socio-cultural anthropologist's approach to inquiry is very different to working in a laboratory where the physical anthropologist feels at home. This type of anthropologist seeks to determine clues about people from their bones and teeth. A biological or physical anthropologist might work in a laboratory on blood or bones samples; however, they could equally well work in different cultural contexts which require knowledge and sensitivity to local cultural norms and values. In understanding the cause of illness within a given population it is necessary to develop a detailed understanding of how physical contract and well-being are shaped by social and cultural factors. For example, it is not enough for a biological anthropologist to discover that a local diet results in deficiencies of vitamin A and therefore increases the possibility of blindness. They would also need to take into account the symbolic and ritual significance of certain foodstuffs before assuming that changes in diet could easily be effected.

Linguistic anthropologists study communication practices in present-day cultures around the globe. The most distinctive feature of humanity is the ability to speak. Language is the single thing that allows people the ability to preserve and transmit culture from generation to generation. Through the study of language, linguistic anthropologists are able to understand how people perceive themselves and the world around them.

Archeology is another branch of anthropology that focuses on studying material remains in order to describe and explain human behavior. Archeologists study tools, pottery and other things such as hearths to reflect human behavior. From these remains, archeologists can explain ancient methods of food preparation, diet, and living spaces far beyond what our written history tells us. By studying what people left behind upon their death, we are able to understand these people better.