Malinowski is often referred to as "The Father of Functionalism" a methodology that calls for the ethnographer to study and often re-frame facts and observations. S/he finds the relationship between isolated customs, institutions

and aspects of culture; the principle view being that every idea, object, custom and belief fulfills some vital function and is indispensable to the working whole. Functionalism was opposed to Tylor's notion of evolutionary cultural "survivals" and argued that no custom persists unless it fulfills some kind of socially useful purpose. He was however influenced by Spencer's "organic" analogy and also to some extent Durkheim's belief in the "vast continuing apparatus."

In this essay one can see who influenced Malinowski and how the disciplines he had studied played a role in his ethnography. He writes of the psychological and sociological undercurrents imbued by the Kula, but does not expand on these themes. He also minimizes serious aspects of the Kula such as conflicts, which arise, and the trade of necessities. This made me wonder if he was perhaps trying to hard to make the islanders "other" and perhaps inadvertently perpetuating the "noble savage" myth. I was

Some common words found in the essay are:
Kula Ring, Father Functionalism, Trobriand Islanders, Crown Jewels, Golden Bough, Bronislaw Malinowski, PhD Science, Physics Mathematics, kula ring, islanders society, crown jewels,
Approximate Word count = 654
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)