Deck 2: The Nature of Culture

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Hutterite colonies in Western Canada?

A) The colonies are stratified,based on age.
B) The colonies are stratified based on gender.
C) The colonies are polygamous,with most men having more than one wife.
D) Young people are baptized in their early to mid-twenties.

Answer 1

The colonies are polygamous,with most men having more than one wife.

Question 2

What is the reason why the Hutterites are tolerated by Canadian society?

A) They are completely assimilated.
B) They have no significant contact with other Canadians.
C) They have no economic power.
D) They are descended from light-skinned Europeans.

Answer 2

They are descended from light-skinned Europeans.

Question 3

Which statement most accurately describes the social position of First Nations people in Canada in relation to the Canadian population as a whole?

A) They are non-Canadian citizens.
B) They are diverse and distinct subcultures.
C) They are distinct cultures within Canadian society.
D) They are incompletely integrated communities.

Answer 3

They are distinct cultures within Canadian society.

Question 4

Annette Weiner encountered "discordant realities" between her research findings from the Trobriand Islands and the findings of Malinowski 60 years earlier.What did this indicate,according to her?

A) She had been "overinfluenced" by the work of Malinowski.
B) It was her responsibility to contradict Malinowski's findings because he was her theoretical opponent.
C) The differences between her analyses and Malinowski's reflected historical shifts in anthropological perspectives and knowledge.
D) Malinowski's interpretations of his data were mistaken because they were too male-centred.

Question 5

What conclusion did Annette Weiner come to in her study of the role and status of men in the Trobriand Islands?

A) Trobriand men had no important role in procreation.
B) Trobriand men were dependent on women's activities to enhance their status.
C) Trobriand husbands must fight to the death with their brothers-in-law in defence of honour.
D) Trobriand men do not have satisfactory marital relationships with their wives.

Question 6

What is a typical characteristic of most people who share the same culture?

A) They depend on one another for survival.
B) They can interpret and predict one another's actions.
C) They inhabit the same territory.
D) They behave in an identical manner.

Question 7

Which of the following is an anthropological definition of social structure?

A) a group of people living in the same geographical region
B) the buildings,roads,and facilities that allow people to interact
C) the relationships among groups that hold a community together
D) the family,including ancestors

Question 8

Which of the following is included in Edward B.Tylor's 1871 definition of culture?

A) human genetic variation
B) knowledge,belief,and morals
C) inherited characteristics
D) history,magic and legends

Question 9

Why were the Acadians of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia expelled by the British government?

A) They refused to pay taxes.
B) They refused to sign an oath of allegiance to the Crown.
C) They refused to return to France.
D) They refused to cede their land to the British colonists.

Question 10

What does Lauraine Leblanc contend with regard to the participation of young females in punk subcultures,according to her study of the subject?

A) It's evidence of female passivity.
B) It's a way of resisting traditional gender norms of mainstream society.
C) It fades quickly when the girls realize they have no voice in the groups.
D) It prevents them from asserting their independence.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about society and culture is correct?

A) Culture involves our understanding of belief and behavior while society just reflects current behavior.
B) Culture is something portable,a society exists in a fixed place.
C) Culture describes temporary expressions of belief while society is permanent.
D) Sociologists are interested in society while anthropologists are interested in culture.

Question 12

What is the greatest threat to Acadian solidarity and cultural integrity in 21st-century Canada?

A) economic problems stemming from loss of fertile land
B) the loss of the Acadian language
C) discrimination from lighter-skinned Canadians
D) intermarriage with non-Acadians

Question 13

What did Annette Weiner find when she went to the Trobriand Islands 60 years after Malinowski?

A) The culture had changed so much that it was almost unrecognizable.
B) Malinowski's views of wealth,political power,and descent were largely male-centred.
C) Malinowski had attributed more power to women than they actually held.
D) Women played no role in producing wealth.

Question 14

In which circumstances are anthropologists likely to experience the most culture shock?

A) when they have just arrived in an unfamiliar culture
B) when they do fieldwork in a culture where men are dominant
C) when they do fieldwork in a pluralistic society
D) when they do fieldwork in post-industrial societies

Question 15

When Annette Weiner began fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands,what did she have to do to understand the cultural meanings of Trobriand society?

A) let go of her own assumptions about the meanings of work,family,and power
B) recall everything she knew about how the people of Papua New Guinea behaved
C) discard everything she had learned from reading the works of Malinowski
D) go through the rituals of womanhood and become initiated along with local women

Question 16

How has today's definition of culture changed since the 19th century?

A) Culture now includes abstract values and beliefs.
B) Culture is now seen as real rather than ideal.
C) The term "culture" has been replaced by "society."
D) Culture is defined today as objects rather than ideas.

Question 17

Which term refers to powerful indicators that identify individuals as belonging to a particular ethnic group and that set them apart from other ethnic groups?

A) patriotic symbols
B) ethnic boundary markers
C) ethnic labels
D) customary heritage signals

Question 18

Some special interest groups,such as skateboarders and animal rights advocates,function according to their own standards of behaviour as well as the standards of the larger society.What term do anthropologists use to refer to these groups?

A) subversives
B) fringe groups
C) noncultural social units
D) subcultures

Question 19

"Canada is a cultural mosaic." Which statement best reflects what that means?

A) Canadian society is homogeneous.
B) Canadian society is brittle.
C) Canadian society is distinct.
D) Canadian society is pluralistic.

Question 20

Which characteristic of Hutterites is an example of a subcultural variation?

A) They dress distinctively,hold common beliefs,and live in self-sufficient,closed communities.
B) They do not share the Canadian values of thrift,hard work,independence,and close family ties.
C) They do not pay taxes and own little communal property.
D) They are totally removed from all social,economic,and educational aspects of Canadian society.

Question 21

Because societies are unique,each can be evaluated only according to its own standards and values.Which term refers to this point of view?

A) ethnocentrism
B) cultural relativism
C) pluralism
D) adaptation

Question 22

A proposal to allow sharia law in Ontario was rejected.What was the main objection that led to its rejection?

A) Sharia law is practiced in Iran and has no legal status in Canada.
B) Many women feared that imposition of sharia law would threaten the equality of Muslim women.
C) Sharia law was not understood by Ontario's Muslims.
D) Sharia law was likely to exclude men in divorce and child custody cases.

Question 23

Which of the following is typically associated with an interest in popular culture?

A) Fleeting interest in the lives of ordinary people.
B) A focus on superficial social attitudes.
C) Lower-class status.
D) A lack of redeeming cultural values.

Question 24

Goldschmidt suggests that it is possible to make judgments about which cultures are more successful than others.How does he suggest this can be done?

A) by looking at which cultures control the most fertile land
B) by considering which cultures last the longest
C) by how well a given culture satisfies people's physical and psychological needs
D) by how effectively a given culture controls behaviour and immorality

Question 25

According to anthropologists,which of the following can be in conflict with the ideal of cultural relativism?

A) human rights
B) anthropological professionalism
C) the maintenance of objectivity
D) the promotion of democracy

Question 26

What custom does marriage require among the Kapauku Papuans of New Guinea?

A) The bride's family must pay a man to marry their daughter.
B) The bride must be captured from an enemy tribe.
C) The groom must pay a bride price.
D) Several brothers must agree to marry the same woman.

Question 27

Some people in Western cultures hope to eliminate practices such as polygyny in other cultures.If they took a course in cultural anthropology,they might realize that culture is an integrated and interrelated whole.What does this mean?

A) People of the same ethnic groups get along well together.
B) Subcultural variation cannot be tolerated.
C) Altering one aspect of a culture can have consequences for other aspects of the culture.
D) Indigenous people's cultures do not change internally.

Question 28

What is the main reason for family stress among Pakistani families who have newly immigrated to Canada?

A) joblessness and underemployment
B) lack of housing and access to familiar foods
C) cultural clashes with Canadian-born children
D) lack of places of worship

Question 29

Which of the following problems would NOT be generated by extreme ethnocentrism?

A) reluctance to question the customs and beliefs of our own society
B) jealousy on the part of people who are not members of one's own society
C) prejudice and racism
D) ethnic conflict

Question 30

Why do anthropologists study Aztec human sacrifice?

A) to more easily condemn it as a barbaric practice
B) to understand how it reassured the people that their society was functioning properly
C) to argue that human sacrifice is acceptable in certain circumstances
D) to differentiate it from the death penalty as applied in other countries today

Question 31

What is the term for the process by which a society's shared values and beliefs are transmitted from one generation to the next?

A) adaptation
B) pluralism
C) enculturation
D) social education

Question 32

From an anthropological perspective,how would the role that kindergarten plays in the lives of young children in Canada best be described?

A) It is an integrative force.
B) It is an enculturative force.
C) It is a pluralistic force.
D) It is a functional force.

Question 33

What do anthropologists maintain is their mission when doing fieldwork?

A) to change their own values and beliefs to conform to those of the culture they are studying
B) to transform cultures that are dysfunctional or out of control
C) to avoid forming any opinions about the values and beliefs of other cultures
D) to determine the reasons for certain behaviour patterns in the culture being studied

Question 34

According to the text,what finding did Statistics Canada report in 2004?

A) The family incomes of immigrants were considerably lower than for Canadian citizens.
B) Immigrants applying for jobs were more likely to be hired than Canadian citizens.
C) Immigrant women are reluctant to take English or French language courses,even when offered low-cost childcare.
D) Qualified immigrants have an easy time finding work as engineers.

Question 35

Among the Kapauku Papuans of New Guinea,attempts to eliminate warfare would affect the sex ratio and the practice of polygyny.This would in turn affect the economy,since women raise pigs,and the more wives a man has,the more pigs he has and the wealthier he is.What do these complex relationships tell us about culture?

A) It is materialistic.
B) It is integrated.
C) It is pluralistic.
D) It is logical.

Question 36

What has recently been identified as an imposed factor that led to serious individual and cultural damage for First Nations people?

A) involvement in the commercial fur trade
B) relocation of First Nations people onto reserves
C) the adoption of European-style agriculture
D) residential schools

Question 37

What are you guilty of if you say,"My people's way of life is superior to your people's way of life"?

A) cultural relativism
B) racism
C) ethnocentrism
D) egocentrism

Question 38

What does all human behaviour originate in,according to anthropologist Leslie White?

A) sexual drives
B) economic exchange
C) adherence to religion
D) the use of symbols

Question 39

What is the term used to refer to the descendants of French and Scottish voyageurs and First Nations women?

A) Indian
B) Métis
C) Aboriginal
D) half-French or half-Scot,depending on the father's ethnic background

Question 40

Which of the following conditions led to the practice of polygyny among the Kapauku Papuans of New Guinea?

A) There was a surplus of adult women.
B) There was a surplus of adult men.
C) The rules of war permitted the killing of women but not men.
D) Sexual promiscuity was frequent.

Question 41

Each culture in the world is unique,and all cultures display striking similarities to each other in fulfilling the needs of their members.

Question 42

Using your knowledge of culture,which option best describes conditions that may contribute to the highest levels of ethnocentrism and lowest levels of cultural relativism?

A) long-term political stability,monolingualism,religious homogeneity,and long-term geographic isolation
B) ethnic diversity,multilingualism,religious diversity,and wide geographic distribution
C) patriarchal families,matrilineal political control,multiculturalism,and ethnographic solidarity
D) advanced political evolution,complex language development,racial superiority,and economic stability

Question 43

What is the term for small subcultures that may emerge from particular aspects of popular culture.

A) ethnicities
B) mini-cultures
C) micro-cultures
D) trend-cultures

Question 44

Human sacrifice may be perceived as a negative aspect of Aztec culture.What are the most rational reasons for its continuation?

A) It pleased the gods and contributed to the maintenance of the cosmic order.
B) It acted as a deterrent to disobedience and as a motivation to pay tribute (taxes).
C) It guaranteed the victim's entry into heaven and afterlife rewards.
D) It ensured the safety and positive status of the victim's family.

Question 45

A modern definition of culture emphasizes the values,beliefs,and rules that lie behind behaviour,as well as observable behaviour itself.

Question 46

Which statement best characterizes popular culture in our society?

A) It is created by the entertainment industry.
B) It is a youth phenomenon.
C) It all originated from literature.
D) It is the music,dance,legends,food,games,and folk art of our everyday lives.

Question 47

Anthropologists in the field are unlikely to experience culture shock because they are taught the strategies to avoid it.

Question 48

According to the International Centre for Prison Studies in the U.K. ,which nation has the highest number of prison inmates per capita in the world?

A) China
B) Russia
C) Iran
D) U.S.A.

Question 49

Why do you think that Apache etiquette requires cooking and dining space that is NOT separate from other living space?

A) They eat their meals directly from cooking pots on the stove as if they were on an open fire.
B) Cooks might feel excluded from social interaction if confined to a separate kitchen.
C) A good host must offer food to guests before any social interaction takes place.
D) All guests must bring a food offering to be shared socially with the host.

Question 50

Why is the notion of adaptation such a critical aspect of all human culture?

A) because we use adaptation to create new technology to better control our destiny
B) because our adaptation as primates has only involved culture
C) because every culture must subsist within,and adapt to,an ecosystem that can support life in some sustainable manner
D) because every culture must actively alter an ecosystem to support life in some sustainable manner

Question 51

What is one of the main factors that causes gender inequality for Portuguese immigrant women to increase?

A) They are not recognized as legal adults under Portuguese law.
B) They lack valued work skills and therefore get classified as familial dependents of their husbands when applying for immigration.
C) They have been targeted by the sex trade,immigration scams,and unqualified male immigration consultants in the U.K.and Canada.
D) Portuguese culture is matriarchal in nature.

Question 52

Reflecting on what you have learned about culture,which of the following statements best expresses the role of culture in relation to the needs of individuals and the needs of society.

A) Culture must control the self-interest of individuals and the needs of society as a whole.
B) Culture must strike a balance between the self-interest of individuals and the needs of society as a whole.
C) Culture must promote the self-interest of individuals over the needs of society as a whole.
D) Culture should not interfere in the self-interest of individuals or the needs of society as a whole.

Question 53

Culture includes abstract values,beliefs,and perceptions of the world that lie behind people's behaviour.Which of the following options best corresponds to the understanding of culture we get from chapter two of the textbook?

A) It is passed on biologically,learned through language,and its parts function as an integrated whole.
B) It is shared,learned through language,and provides permanent fixed modes of belief and behaviour.
C) It is shared,learned through language,and its parts function as an integrated whole.
D) It is shared,learned through language,and it is organized on the basis of many subcultures.

Question 54

What aspect of Apache social interaction indicated that they required a large,open living space?

A) They like to ease into social interaction slowly,maintaining their personal space and a full view of each other.
B) Social interaction is accompanied by ceremonial dancing that sometimes involves large groups.
C) They have no concept of personal space and only socialize in large groups.
D) Walls symbolize secrecy for them,as they traditionally lived in open wigwams.

Question 55

Which option best describes the role of culture?

A) Culture sets limits of behaviour and guides it along predictable paths.
B) Culture sets limits of behaviour and but is often unpredictable.
C) Culture sets limits of behaviour but biology accounts for the content of behaviour.
D) Culture sets limits of behaviour and society sets the limits of belief.

Question 56

CASCA is a national organization that promotes anthropology in Canada.What are the three main goals of this organization?

A) graduate anthropology programs,undergraduate anthropology programs,non-academic anthropology
B) anti-racism,promoting evolutionary science,promoting multiculturalism
C) First Nations research,immigration research,subculture research
D) cultural anthropology,biological anthropology,linguistic anthropology

Question 57

What must any culture do to ensure its ongoing existence?

A) institute a democratic means of choosing its leaders
B) provide a sustainable means of adaptation to the ecosystem
C) maintain a centralized system to detect crime and delinquency
D) produce a written language to pass on all accumulated knowledge

Question 58

Why do the Roma (Gypsies)NOT have strong ties to a homeland,unlike so many other immigrants?

A) They were subjected to genocide in 1456 in their homeland.
B) Their homeland was absorbed by the former Soviet Union in 1919.
C) They are not really a culture,society,or ethnicity and just move constantly.
D) They migrated away from their homeland about 1,000 years ago.

Question 59

How did applied anthropologist George Esber help the Tonto Apache and the architect designing new housing for them?

A) He showed them how to make simple mud bricks.
B) Using observation and interviews,he obtained data that revealed how their social patterns of behaviour required certain design requirements.
C) He arranged for the tribe to apply for federal funding.
D) Through careful observation,he determined the design that would meet their social needs.

Question 60

To say that culture is shared means that all members of a society behave in the same way.

Question 61

The idea that culture is shared means that everyone in that culture plays the same roles.

Question 62

The Acadians who were allowed to return to Canada in 1764 were able to resume living and working on their fertile farms,which had been held for them.

Question 63

The Muslim community of Montreal is unusual because it is comprised only of people from Arab countries.

Question 64

Canada is the only society in the world today that is a cultural mosaic.

Question 65

The status and power of elderly people throughout the world shows little cultural variation.

Question 66

Annette Weiner agrees that ethnographic writing can never be more than a fictional account of cultural behaviour.

Question 67

The term subculture refers to a weak,disorganized,and relatively unimportant culture.

Question 68

The most important symbolic aspect of culture is language.

Question 69

Annette Weiner maintains that the differences between her interpretations of Trobriand culture and those of Bronislaw Malinowski simply illustrate historical developments in anthropological knowledge and inquiry.

Question 70

Punk subcultures tend to be female-dominated.

Question 71

Generational clashes do not appear to be a problem among immigrant families in Canada.

Question 72

Hutterite colonies in Canada are stratified by age and gender.

Question 73

Regardless of their origins or current regional location,all Canadian speakers of French have a strong interest in maintaining political independence from Canada.

Question 74

Annette Weiner's study of the Trobrianders basically replicated and validated Malinowski's original findings.

Question 75

Economic practices of Canadian Hutterites demonstrate that they do contribute positively to the larger Canadian society.

Question 76

Providing restitution to Chinese immigrants to Canada who had to pay a head tax was promoted by Heritage Canada.

Question 77

The greatest threat to Acadian solidarity and cultural integrity in the 21st century stems from serious economic problems.

Question 78

Gender discrimination is entrenched in Canada's immigration policy.

Question 79

Cross-cultural studies show that homicide rates mostly decline after the death penalty is abolished.

Question 80

Numerous studies by a variety of social scientists have clearly shown that the death penalty does deter violent crime in the United States.