Structure of the EDP
Sections and codes
The EDP is a web-based questionnaire, which can be accessed from any computer connected to the internet; it takes about 30 minutes to complete. You can view a sample version of the EDP here.
 
At present, the EDP is divided into five sections: general information, community organisation, marriage and kinship, subsistence economy, and division of labour by sex. The codes used in the EDP were adapted from various sources; the following list provides details of the items included in each section, and references to the sources of the codes.
 
  1. 1. General information [1]
        fieldwork - location - religious affiliation - level of political integration
  1. 2. Community organisation [2], [3]
        population size - settlement pattern - stratification pattern - intercommunity marriage
  1. 3. Marriage and kinship [2], [3], [4]
        marriage system - family structure - marital residence - descent - cousin marriage - kinship terminology - inheritance - premarital sexual behaviour - post-partum sex taboos
  1. 4. Subsistence [3], [5]
        contribution of trade, agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, hunting, and gathering to the food supply
  1. 5. Division of labour by sex [6]
        pattern of sexual division of labour for subsistence, domestic, and technological activities
References
  1. 1. ^ Murdock, G. P. & Provost, C. (1971) Measurement of cultural complexity. Ethnology, 12(4), 379-392.
  2. 2. ^ Murdock, G. P. & Wilson, S. F. (1972) Settlement patterns and community organization: cross-cultural codes 3. Ethnology, 11(3), 254-295.
  3. 3. ^ Murdock, G. P. (1967) Ethnographic Atlas. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
  4. 4. ^ White, D. R. (1988) Rethinking polygyny: co-wives, codes, and cultural systems. Current Anthropology, 29(4), 529-572.
  5. 5. ^ Murdock, G. P. & Morrow, D. O. (1970) Subsistence economy and supportive practices: cross-cultural codes 1. Ethnology, 9(3), 302-330.
  6. 6. ^ Murdock, G. P. & Provost, C. (1973) Factors in the division of labor by sex: a cross-cultural analysis. Ethnology, 12(2), 203-225.
Last updated 15 March 2007
© Laura Fortunato
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