<研究ノート>地域研究におけるカルチュラル・コンセンサス分析の有用性とその限界

Abstract

Cultural Consensus Analysis (CCA) is a mathematical method to estimate the existence of cultural consensus (or a pool of culturally shared knowledge), culturally correct answers, and informants' cultural competence. This method originated in cultural anthropology and has been widely used in many other fields in international journals, but only a limited number of studies have been made in Japanese academia. This paper aims to clarify the usefulness and limitations of CCA in Asian and African Area Studies and to show how researchers can integrate CCA into their research. Although the original model was based upon over-simplified assumptions, the recent development of Bayesian Statistics has made it possible to use complicated models and to estimate parameters precisely. Many previous studies have used CCA to test relationships between culture and ecosystems, agriculture, health, and many other natural scientific variables. Limitations are rooted in formalization and simplification of the concept of culture. However, CCA is a useful method to analyze today's social and environmental problems and thus has a great potential to further progress in the field of Asian and African Area Studies.