民族學、文化人類學、社會人類學是民族學、人類學學科中非常重要的三個詞匯,對這幾個詞匯的區分常常會對初學者造成一定困擾。學界通常認為這三個詞匯的涵義是大致等同的,但在細微之處也有一些差異,是一種"相通互異"的關系。這三個專有名詞的誕生、流傳,不僅與不同國家、地區的歷史文化傳統有關,也與各國的學術傳統、學者的學術偏好密切相連。因此,在學習、吸收別國學術理念時應充分考慮本國國情,致力發展適于本國歷史文化傳統的學術路線,以增強我國民族學研究的國際影響力。

The differentiation of ethnology, cultural anthropology and social anthropology, the three important terms in ethnology and anthropology,usually creates certain obsessions to beginners of the subject. The academic circles generally think that the meaning of the three terms is roughly the same,but there are some minor differences, and there is a kind of "interlinked" relationship among them. Not only are the emergence and dissemination of the three terms related to historical and cultural traditions of different countries and regions, and they also closely linked to the academic tradition in different countries and academic preferences of scholars. Therefore,we should take full account of the national conditions in the study and absorb the academic ideas of other countries,and strive to develop the academic route suitable for the historical and cultural traditions of China,so as to enhance the international influence of Chinese ethnological research.