Question 1

More recent approaches in historical anthropology,while sharing an interest in power with world-system theorists,have focused more on

Accepted Answer

A)  the structural causes of colonialism. 
B)  how anthropological theory can aid NGOs in writing an alternate history of oppressed peoples. 
C)  the role of colonial bureaucracies in shaping international culture. 
D)  local agency, the transformative actions of individuals and groups within colonized societies. 
E)  the state's role in denying some of its citizens a place in history. 
A)  the structural causes of colonialism. 
B)  how anthropological theory can aid NGOs in writing an alternate history of oppressed peoples. 
C)  the role of colonial bureaucracies in shaping international culture. 
D)  local agency, the transformative actions of individuals and groups within colonized societies. 
E)  the state's role in denying some of its citizens a place in history. D

Question 2

This chapter's overview of the history of anthropological theory suggests that the discipline has made no important contributions to social theory in general.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  False

Question 3

The Human Terrain System has sought to embed anthropologists and other social scientists within military teams in Iraq and Afghanistan.Which of the following is NOT a reason anthropologists and the AAA Executive Board object to the use of anthropologists in the military?

Accepted Answer

A)  Anthropologists in war zones have an ethical dilemma where their responsibilities to their military units may conflict with their obligations to the local people they study. 
B)  It is difficult to give informed consent in an active war zone without feeling coerced, thereby compromising "voluntary informed consent" in the AAA Code of Ethics. 
C)  Anthropologists may not be able to identify themselves as anthropologists, distinct from military personnel. 
D)  Anthropologists, by the nature of their discipline, are not permitted to interact with any military personnel. 
E)  The Human Terrain System conflicts with the ethical responsibility of anthropologists to disclose who they are. 
A)  Anthropologists in war zones have an ethical dilemma where their responsibilities to their military units may conflict with their obligations to the local people they study. 
B)  It is difficult to give informed consent in an active war zone without feeling coerced, thereby compromising "voluntary informed consent" in the AAA Code of Ethics. 
C)  Anthropologists may not be able to identify themselves as anthropologists, distinct from military personnel. 
D)  Anthropologists, by the nature of their discipline, are not permitted to interact with any military personnel. 
E)  The Human Terrain System conflicts with the ethical responsibility of anthropologists to disclose who they are. D

Question 4

In survey research,what term is used to refer to the attributes that vary among the members of a population?

Accepted Answer

A)  unknowns 
B)  questionnaires 
C)  interviews 
D)  variables 
E)  random samples 
A)  unknowns 
B)  questionnaires 
C)  interviews 
D)  variables 
E)  random samples

Question 5

What is the term for an expert on a particular aspect of native life?

Accepted Answer

A)  representative sample 
B)  etic informant 
C)  key cultural consultant 
D)  biased informant 
E)  life-history approach specialist 
A)  representative sample 
B)  etic informant 
C)  key cultural consultant 
D)  biased informant 
E)  life-history approach specialist

Question 6

Anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn (1944)saw a key public service role for anthropology.In his words,it could provide a "scientific basis for dealing with the crucial dilemma of the world today: how can peoples of different appearance,mutually unintelligible languages,and dissimilar ways of life get along peaceably together." Anthropologists also have made and continue to make a dramatic impact on people's welfare as they cope with crises such as the January 2010 Haiti earthquake.What are some examples of this?

Accepted Answer

Some examples of anthropologists making

Question 7

How have anthropologists tried to bring evolution into the study of human culture? Have these approaches succeeded,or failed? Why? Do you see any way in which evolution and culture could be united into a broad and effective explanatory paradigm?

Accepted Answer

Anthropologists have tried to bring evol

Question 8

What advantages might a project that combines both quantitative and qualitative techniques have over one that utilizes only one or the other? What research situation might be best suited to such a combined strategy?

Accepted Answer

A project that combines both quantitativ

Question 9

Interpretive anthropologists such as Clifford Geertz approach the study of culture as

Accepted Answer

A)  a diachronic phenomenon. 
B)  functional puzzles. 
C)  a system of meaning. 
D)  underlying sets of rules that must be deciphered through the analysis of cultural patterns. 
E)  distinct from human psychology. 
A)  a diachronic phenomenon. 
B)  functional puzzles. 
C)  a system of meaning. 
D)  underlying sets of rules that must be deciphered through the analysis of cultural patterns. 
E)  distinct from human psychology.

Question 10

Traditional ethnographic research focused on the single community or culture,which was treated as more or less isolated and unique in time and space; however,

Accepted Answer

A)  all such single communities have already been studied, so anthropologists have very limited project choices. 
B)  there has been a shift within the discipline toward a recognition of ongoing and inescapable flows of people, technology, images, and information. 
C)  the American Anthropological Association still requires its members to strive toward research focused on one single community. 
D)  this is no longer true, nor has it ever really been true, a fact that renders classic ethnographies historical curiosities and not serious academic works. 
E)  there has been a shift within the discipline against the concept of culture and toward the individual as the only true, reliable unit of analysis. 
A)  all such single communities have already been studied, so anthropologists have very limited project choices. 
B)  there has been a shift within the discipline toward a recognition of ongoing and inescapable flows of people, technology, images, and information. 
C)  the American Anthropological Association still requires its members to strive toward research focused on one single community. 
D)  this is no longer true, nor has it ever really been true, a fact that renders classic ethnographies historical curiosities and not serious academic works. 
E)  there has been a shift within the discipline against the concept of culture and toward the individual as the only true, reliable unit of analysis.

Question 11

Provide a brief account of the history of theory in the discipline.Does this account support the view that much of the history of anthropology has been about the roles and relative prominence of culture?

Accepted Answer

The history of theory in the discipline

Question 12

Émile Durkheim's focus on social facts illustrates what assumption shared by many anthropologists?

Accepted Answer

A)  Social fact, just like any other fact, can be studied objectively. 
B)  Culture is more of an idea in people's heads than a social reality. 
C)  Culture is primarily a psychological and individual phenomenon. 
D)  Social phenomena studied by anthropologists require study methods that are different from those used by other social scientists. 
E)  Psychologists study individuals, but anthropologists study individuals as representative of something more: a collective phenomenon that is more than the sum of its parts. 
A)  Social fact, just like any other fact, can be studied objectively. 
B)  Culture is more of an idea in people's heads than a social reality. 
C)  Culture is primarily a psychological and individual phenomenon. 
D)  Social phenomena studied by anthropologists require study methods that are different from those used by other social scientists. 
E)  Psychologists study individuals, but anthropologists study individuals as representative of something more: a collective phenomenon that is more than the sum of its parts.

Question 13

This chapter mentions the work of Wolf and Mintz,both students of Julian Steward,as illustrations of approaches that

Accepted Answer

A)  put human agency at the center of cultural analysis. 
B)  focus on the study of cultures as closed systems, untouched by regional and even global dynamics. 
C)  ignore the role of history in shaping culture as we know it. 
D)  consider the relevance of world-system theory and political economy to anthropology. 
E)  are just as deterministic as the old evolutionary models, but for different reasons. 
A)  put human agency at the center of cultural analysis. 
B)  focus on the study of cultures as closed systems, untouched by regional and even global dynamics. 
C)  ignore the role of history in shaping culture as we know it. 
D)  consider the relevance of world-system theory and political economy to anthropology. 
E)  are just as deterministic as the old evolutionary models, but for different reasons.

Question 14

The relatively recent creation of virtual worlds has attracted contemporary ethnographers to venture into online communities.Of the various techniques used to study these virtual worlds,which has been most important?

Accepted Answer

A)  participant observation 
B)  interviews 
C)  genealogical method 
D)  key consultants 
E)  life histories 
A)  participant observation 
B)  interviews 
C)  genealogical method 
D)  key consultants 
E)  life histories

Question 15

The overall trend in anthropological theory has been from theories that put human agency at the center of cultural dynamics to paradigms that see evolution as the main force behind cultural change.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

Traditionally,ethnographers have tried to understand the whole of a particular culture.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

What advantages do you see in ethnographic research techniques? What are the advantages for survey techniques? Which one would you choose,and what would that choice depend upon?

Accepted Answer

Ethnographic research techniques offer s

Question 18

In the field,ethnographers strive to establish rapport: a good,friendly working relationship based on personal contact

Accepted Answer

A)  that is necessary in conducting any valuable research in the social sciences, not just anthropology. 
B)  that, if done properly, ensures the ethnographer's ability to conduct detached, unbiased research. 
C)  achieved in large part by engaging in participant observation. 
D)  and if that fails, the next option is to pay people so they will talk about their culture. 
E)  as well as on payment, based on local standards, for people's time spent with the researcher. 
A)  that is necessary in conducting any valuable research in the social sciences, not just anthropology. 
B)  that, if done properly, ensures the ethnographer's ability to conduct detached, unbiased research. 
C)  achieved in large part by engaging in participant observation. 
D)  and if that fails, the next option is to pay people so they will talk about their culture. 
E)  as well as on payment, based on local standards, for people's time spent with the researcher.

Question 19

Beyond Morgan's and Tylor's early anthropological work,no major theoretical paradigm in anthropology has embraced the role of evolution in cultural change.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 20

What did Bronislaw Malinowski mean when he referred to everyday cultural patterns as "the imponderabilia of native life and of typical behavior?"

Accepted Answer

A)  Features of culture such as distinctive smells, noises people make, how they cover their mouths when they eat, and how they gaze at each other are so fundamental that natives take them for granted but are there for the ethnographer to describe and make sense of. 
B)  Everyday cultural patterns are full of senseless cultural "noise," and it is the anthropologist's job to get at the truly valuable behaviors that distinguish one culture from another. 
C)  Everyday cultural patterns of native life can best be studied by asking key informants to explain them. 
D)  Features of everyday culture are, at first, imponderable, but as the ethnographer builds rapport, their logic and functional value in society become clear. 
E)  Everyday cultural patterns are important but so numerous that their detailed description should not be included in the main body of an ethnographic study. 
A)  Features of culture such as distinctive smells, noises people make, how they cover their mouths when they eat, and how they gaze at each other are so fundamental that natives take them for granted but are there for the ethnographer to describe and make sense of. 
B)  Everyday cultural patterns are full of senseless cultural "noise," and it is the anthropologist's job to get at the truly valuable behaviors that distinguish one culture from another. 
C)  Everyday cultural patterns of native life can best be studied by asking key informants to explain them. 
D)  Features of everyday culture are, at first, imponderable, but as the ethnographer builds rapport, their logic and functional value in society become clear. 
E)  Everyday cultural patterns are important but so numerous that their detailed description should not be included in the main body of an ethnographic study.

Exam 13: Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology

More recent approaches in historical anthropology,while sharing an interest in power with world-system theorists,have focused more on

This chapter's overview of the history of anthropological theory suggests that the discipline has made no important contributions to social theory in general.

The Human Terrain System has sought to embed anthropologists and other social scientists within military teams in Iraq and Afghanistan.Which of the following is NOT a reason anthropologists and the AAA Executive Board object to the use of anthropologists in the military?

In survey research,what term is used to refer to the attributes that vary among the members of a population?

What is the term for an expert on a particular aspect of native life?

How have anthropologists tried to bring evolution into the study of human culture? Have these approaches succeeded,or failed? Why? Do you see any way in which evolution and culture could be united into a broad and effective explanatory paradigm?

What advantages might a project that combines both quantitative and qualitative techniques have over one that utilizes only one or the other? What research situation might be best suited to such a combined strategy?

Interpretive anthropologists such as Clifford Geertz approach the study of culture as

Traditional ethnographic research focused on the single community or culture,which was treated as more or less isolated and unique in time and space; however,

Provide a brief account of the history of theory in the discipline.Does this account support the view that much of the history of anthropology has been about the roles and relative prominence of culture?

Émile Durkheim's focus on social facts illustrates what assumption shared by many anthropologists?

This chapter mentions the work of Wolf and Mintz,both students of Julian Steward,as illustrations of approaches that

The relatively recent creation of virtual worlds has attracted contemporary ethnographers to venture into online communities.Of the various techniques used to study these virtual worlds,which has been most important?

The overall trend in anthropological theory has been from theories that put human agency at the center of cultural dynamics to paradigms that see evolution as the main force behind cultural change.

Traditionally,ethnographers have tried to understand the whole of a particular culture.

What advantages do you see in ethnographic research techniques? What are the advantages for survey techniques? Which one would you choose,and what would that choice depend upon?

In the field,ethnographers strive to establish rapport: a good,friendly working relationship based on personal contact

Beyond Morgan's and Tylor's early anthropological work,no major theoretical paradigm in anthropology has embraced the role of evolution in cultural change.

What did Bronislaw Malinowski mean when he referred to everyday cultural patterns as "the imponderabilia of native life and of typical behavior?"

What Is Anthropology

Culture

Applying Anthropology

Doing Archaeology and Biological Anthropology

Evolution and Genetics

Human Variation and Adaptation

The Primates

Early Hominins

Archaic Homo

The Origin and Spread of Modern Humans

The First Farmers

The First Cities and States

Language and Communication

Ethnicity and Race

Making a Living

Political Systems

Gender

Families, Kinship, and Descent

Marriage

Religion

Arts, Media, and Sports

The World System and Colonialism

Anthropologys Role in a Globalizing World

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