[2] Applied anthropology includes conducting research with a primary or tertiary purpose to solve real-world problems in areas such as public health, education, government, and business.
In Applied Anthropology: Domains of Application, Kedia and Van Willigen define the process as a "complex of related, research-based, instrumental methods which produce change or stability in specific cultural systems through the provision of data, initiation of direct action, and/or the formulation of policy".
[5][6] Methodology utilized in applied anthropology includes, but is not limited to, ethnography, participant observation, snowballing, interviews, and focus groups.
Applied anthropologists also use textual analysis, surveying, archival research, and other empirical methods to inform policy or to market products.
In this line of thought, it is more productive to recognize that anthropologists are themselves culturally programmed observers, and must always be wary of biases that influence information they receive.
Greunbaum (1996) notes that analyses that do offer emic interpretations and cultural contextualizations are often criticized as bordering on advocacy for the practice" [emphasis in original].
[11] In these instances, it is imperative that an anthropologist not cloud his or her own preconceived notions about health and gender relations in an attempt to "remedy" a complex social issue.