prosopography

Definition

a study of the individuals in a group of people within a specific context and their relationships

Etymology

From international scientific vocabulary, reflecting New Latin combining forms: prosopo- + -graphy; from the Latin prosōpographia (“description of a person’s appearance; description of an individual’s life”), from the Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face, person”) + -γρᾰφῐ́ᾱ (-grăphĭ́ā, “writing, drawing”). See also prosopon.

Example Sentences

• "Since it would be a daunting task to subject the entire profession to audit, he chose to pursue the prosopography of the manageable subset of financial economists who had presented themselves as "faceless" representatives of the orthodox economics discipline, either through the Squam Lake Group (covered above) or the Pew Economic Policy Group Financial Reform Project."