Life history is used by anthropologists to reveal the extensive account of a person’s life, whether written or narrated by the person, or by others, or by both (Langness, 1965). Life history presents the characteristics which are unique to the individuals and distinguish them from others in the group (Young 1996: 26). It also at times might represent the characteristics of a group, way of life. The selection criteria of a person whose life history is to be taken into account depends on that person’s contribution as a member of that community. It need not be a reputed person having name and fame. It can be a person, whom you select as the key informant and who has knowledge relevant to your topic of study and can provide an insider’s view.
A key informant is generally selected by a researcher during the time of rapport building when the researcher goes around the field space trying to know the community and adjust to the surroundings.
A life history allows an in-depth study. The rationale behind the collection of life-histories is that people do not live in vacuum. They live in society and hence, guided by its norms and values. Unlike historians and biographers who look for the life history of unique or powerful persons, anthropologists collect the life histories of ordinary persons, in their ordinary day-to-day existence; so that they can learn about the general culture and the way of life in a time period. Life histories often reflect changes and the impact of social and cultural events and transitions on the life of a person. One of the most celebrated life histories in anthropology is found in the book Pedro Martinez: A Mexican Peasant and His Family, written by Oscar Lewis (1964), which describes the life of an ordinary Mexican person and his family in great detail.
The individual life history method was developed in American cultural anthropology, as it faced the distressing situation of vanishing tribes. Quite often, they could locate only a single or very few members of a tribe and collection of detailed life history of a single person was the only way in which something about a vanished tribe could be reconstructed.