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ecology and human ecology: a comparison of theories in the biological and social sciences 1
Author(s) -
RICHERSON PETER J.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1977.4.1.02a00010
Subject(s) - ecology , teleology , discipline , sociology , theoretical ecology , cross disciplinary , human ecology , social science , biology , epistemology , computer science , data science , philosophy , population , demography
Ecology has been used frequently by social scientists as a source of theoretical models, and biological ecologists have often applied their theory to human populations. Several problems have attended these cross‐disciplinary enterprises, including inappropriate uses of teleological models and a failure by both biologists and social scientists to understand the theoretical implications of culture and technology for ecological models. Attention to these problems will increase the applicability of ecological theories in the social sciences.