Editing Human Relations Area Files (section)

{{Anthropology}}
{{Short description|International nonprofit membership organization}}
The '''Human Relations Area Files, Inc.''' ('''HRAF'''), located in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], US, is an international nonprofit membership organization with over 500 member institutions in more than 20 countries. A financially autonomous research agency based at [[Yale University]] since 1949, its mission is to promote understanding of cultural diversity and commonality in the past and present. To accomplish this mission, the Human Relations Area Files produces scholarly resources and infrastructure for research, teaching and learning, and supports and conducts original research on cross-cultural variation.  

HRAF produces two flagship databases accessible by its members: ''eHRAF World Cultures'' and ''eHRAF Archaeology''. HRAF also sponsors and edits the quarterly journal, [[Cross-Cultural Research|''Cross-Cultural Research: The Journal of Comparative Social Science'']]. Expanded and updated annually, ''eHRAF World Cultures'' includes ethnographic materials on cultures, past and present, all over the world. Also expanding annually, ''eHRAF Archaeology'' covers major archaeological traditions and many more sub-traditions and sites around the world. Documents in both ''eHRAF'' databases are subject-indexed at the paragraph level by HRAF anthropologists. 

In addition, HRAF offers several open-access resources. ''Explaining Human Culture'' is a database with standardized summaries that provides a searchable way for researchers to find out what has been learned from previous cross-cultural research about cultural universals and differences. ''Explaining Human Culture'' also features topical articles on cross-cultural insights (e.g., cross-cultural perspectives on childhood, dwellings, and sports). ''Introducing Cross-Cultural Research'' is a series of PDFs constituting a "crash course" in cross-cultural methods. Finally, ''Teaching eHRAF'' is a library of teaching exercises and syllabi (many designed by professors at member institutions) that use ''eHRAF'' to explore cultural diversity.