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Field Methods
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Triad Tasks, a Multipurpose Tool to Elicit Similarity Judgments: The Case of Tzotzil Maya Plant Taxonomy

Norbert Ross

Vanderbilt University

Tomás Barrientos

Vanderbilt University

Alberto Esquit-Choy

Vanderbilt University

The universality of multipurpose taxonomies has been widely established in folk biology. However, recent studies with nonprofessional fish experts in the United States as well as with tree experts in the Chicago area suggest that different goals can affect category organization of natural kinds. This article reports the results of a triad task study exploring specific aspects of the multipurpose plant taxonomy among the Tzotzil Maya of Zinacantán in the Highlands of Chiapas. Despite previously encountered differences with respect to saliency, no corresponding differences with respect to conceptual organization could be detected. A balanced incomplete block design was applied. Resolution was enhanced by allowing participants to judge the three items as either "too similar" or "too different" in addition to single out one item as different. Analyses explore (1) the pattern of informant agreement (as a precondition for), (2) the content of existing models, and (3) the saliency of responses.

Key Words: categorization • ethnobotany • triad task • consensus analysis

Field Methods, Vol. 17, No. 3, 269-282 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1525822X05277861
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