Cultural anthropology is a social science that studies the origins and development of human societies (History World International, 2001). Many theories have emerged to explain cultural variations among humans. As a result, many anthropological schools of thought have been based on these theories since the 19th century. These schools of thought encompass the dominant beliefs about culture in a given era and are constantly evolving as new knowledge is acquired. As schools of thought have developed, ethnographic methods have also changed and developed. Fieldwork is an ethnographic method implemented in all anthropological schools of thought. It involves collecting data and information about a specific culture by observing and interacting with the natural environment of the society (History World International, 2001). Cultural evolutionists, historical anthropologists, and functionalists have all used various approaches and integrated fieldwork differently into their school of thought. During the 19th century, Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer both developed theories of biological evolution that were accepted by researchers in Britain and America (McGee & Warms, 2008). These theories were applied to cultural studies and the anthropological school of cultural evolution was developed. The prevailing belief was that all cultures develop in a universal, continuous sequence from primitive to complex, known as unilinear evolution (McGee & Warms, 2008). Therefore, it was thought that a more primitive society could be studied to learn more about the evolutionary history of an advanced culture. This is called the comparative method (McGee & Warms, 2008). Field work was therefore virtually unnecessary. Ma...... middle of article ....... Becoming more and more effective in helping anthropologists better understand the new theories and knowledge that will be acquired. Works Cited History World International. (2001). The International History Project: Anthropology. Retrieved from http://history-world.org/anthropology.htmHoey, B.A. (2011). What is ethnography? Retrieved from http://www.brianhoey.com/General%20Site/general_defn-ethnography.htmMcGee, RJ and Warms, RL (2008). Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. (1968). In International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Alfred_Reginald_Radcliffe-Brown.aspxTooker, E. (1992). Lewis H. Morgan and his contemporaries. American Anthropologist, 94, 357-375. http://www.aaanet.org/sections/gad/history/051taker.pdf