Deck 3: Research Methods in Anthropology

Question 1

A theoretical construct is something

A) that can be shown to exist.
B) ephemeral and unknowable.
C) that cannot be observed or verified directly.
D) that demonstrates relationships between facts while proving their existence at the same time.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The method of ___________ shows that a theory seems to be wrong.

A) guessing
B) proving
C) falsification
D) testing

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Participant observation refers to the

A) observation of how people interact in careful contrived situations.
B) use of a laboratory to standardize measurements.
C) practice of immersing oneself in the language and customs of a society.
D) employment of natives to gather information from their peers for the anthropologists to study.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

To study a society in depth, anthropologists decided that they would have to perform __________ in order to record valuable ethnographies.

A) participant observation
B) ethnology
C) ethnological observation
D) cross-cultural studies

Question 5

A random sample is done inside of a

A) population.
B) sampling universe.
C) society.
D) small group.

Question 6

In the physical sciences, a law is a

A) detailed explanation about why things occur the way they do.
B) narrative statement.
C) statement about how things ought to be if we are right in our theories (that is, a prediction).
D) relationship between two or more variables whose existence is suggested by repeated observation.

Question 7

Explaining a cultural feature by saying it is "traditional"

A) is incorrect because, by definition, traditions are not cultural features.
B) is a generally productive way to think.
C) helps us to understand the "why" of a question.
D) is unsatisfactory because it is a tautology.

Question 8

Anthropologists can generate interpretations on the basis of worldwide comparisons by looking for differences between those societies having, and those lacking, a particular characteristic. This type of research is called __________.

A) nonhistorical controlled comparison
B) within-culture comparison
C) cross-cultural research
D) historical research

Question 9

__________ is the study of descriptive materials about a single society at more than one point in time.

A) Nonhistorical controlled comparison
B) Within-culture comparison
C) Ethnohistory
D) Cross-cultural research

Question 10

Anthropologists have realized that ______on their experiences and personal interactions is an important part of understanding.

A) documenting
B) reflecting
C) reporting
D) theorizing

Question 11

Whiting predicated that societies with a _________would have long postpartum sex taboos.

A) low-protein diet
B) high-protein diet
C) means of birth control
D) history of overcrowding

Question 12

In __________, the anthropologist compares ethnographic information obtained from societies found in a particular region.

A) regional controlled comparison
B) within-culture comparison
C) cross-cultural research
D) historical research

Question 13

An explanation is an answer to

A) a "what" question.
B) a "why" question.
C) a "how" question.
D) any of the above

Question 14

What method should be used to test a theory within one society?

A) regional controlled comparison
B) within-culture comparisons
C) cross-cultural research
D) historical research

Question 15

Knowledgeable people who are willing to work with anthropologists are known as _________.

A) informants
B) participants
C) associates
D) confidentials

Question 16

In analyzing single-case, the ________ may be interested in experiencing a particular custom.

A) ethnographist
B) anthropologist
C) scientist
D) ethnohistorian

Question 17

In any field of investigation, _______ is/are generally the most plentiful commodity.

A) hypothesis
B) data
C) tests
D) theories

Question 18

How a researcher describes the procedure that will be followed to measure a variable is

A) the hypothesis.
B) the theory.
C) the operational definition.
D) only a guess.

Question 19

Theories are

A) ideas which explain untested hypotheses.
B) explanations of laws and statistical associations.
C) a guess as to how things are related.
D) a precise answer to a question that had been unanswerable.

Question 20

___________ occurs when change in one aspect of culture takes time to produce change in another aspect.

A) Delay
B) Variation
C) Limitation
D) Culture lag

Question 21

To measure something is to say how it compares with other things on some scale of

A) sets.
B) classification.
C) society.
D) variation.

Question 22

When making sampling decisions in human research, what factor becomes very important?

A) who makes the decision.
B) choosing specifically which population to study.
C) how the files will be taken care of.
D) none of the above.

Question 23

Why did the goals of archaeology change in the 1950s?

A) because we have so much more information about the past
B) because archaeology got tired of simply developing histories of cultures
C) anthropology was changing, going from historical particularism to a variety of new approaches
D) both a and c are correct

Question 24

Why in recent times have descendent populations been more vocal about the archaeological discoveries of their ancestors?

A) they are interested in the monetary value of the finds
B) many people find the excavations of their ancestors offensive
C) they want to display their ancestors' remains in legitimate museums
D) it allows them to compare with other cultures

Question 25

Which of the following is most likely to depend on data collected firsthand?

A) cross-cultural researcher
B) ethnographer
C) cross-historical researcher
D) ethnohistorian

Question 26

Theories become useful because

A) they explain laws and statistical associations.
B) there would be no evidence without them.
C) they sound authoritative.
D) they are written in ways that allow the layperson to understand.

Question 27

As a profession, anthropologists have ethical obligations mostly to

A) the people they study.
B) their colleagues.
C) to the public and world community.
D) all of the above.

Question 28

Archaeologists will look for sites to research because

A) sites are created by human activity which has been covered or buried by some natural process, thus providing information about the culture.
B) they must have a starting point.
C) these sites can provide a record of human activity.
D) all of the above.

Question 29

The archive known as the Human Relations Area Files

A) is located at Harvard University.
B) specializes in providing information on social problems in societies around the world.
C) is available only to qualified researchers.
D) is an ever-growing collection of ethnographic books and articles that have been indexed and cross-referenced to make them easier to consult.

Question 30

A description of the procedures used to measure a variable is known as

A) a hypothesis.
B) an operational definition.
C) a theoretical construct.
D) a theory.

Question 31

Most anthropological data comes from

A) ethnographic fieldwork.
B) accounts of early explorers.
C) government censuses and reports.
D) controlled studies.

Question 32

Anthropologists like to engage in participant observations because

A) it gets them out of the office.
B) it makes them work harder.
C) it is firsthand experience with the people being studied.
D) it is always difficult to learn new things.

Question 33

In contrast to statistical associations, theories

A) may contain parts that are not observable.
B) are not part of the scientific method.
C) cannot be proven.
D) all of the above

Question 34

What kind of cultural study: within-cultural comparison or cross-cultural comparisons makes the most sense?

A) Both can make sense, it depends on what theory you are testing.
B) Both can make sense, although one should study within-cultures most often.
C) Neither makes sense because this type of research is impossible to do.
D) Neither makes sense as both are difficult to accumulate statistical data for.

Question 35

A statistical association is

A) a chance association between two variables.
B) a relationship between two variables that may be meaningful, but that may equally well be due to chance.
C) a relationship between two variables that is unlikely to be due to chance.
D) an organization devoted to the documentation of numerical information from different societies.
E) one kind of theory.

Question 36

If we did not have the scientific method, we would find it more difficult to be

A) nonbiased.
B) intellectually honest.
C) error-free.
D) all of the above.

Question 37

In a random sample, cases are chosen

A) on the basis of some standard criterion, such as size of population.
B) as haphazardly as possible.
C) so that each case has an equal chance of being selected.
D) from among materials the researcher happens to have at home or in the office.

Question 38

The major difference between relative dating and absolute dating methods is

A) relative dating is usually wrong while absolute dating is always right.
B) relative dating is always right while absolute dating is usually wrong.
C) relative dating compares the age of an artifact with things around it while absolute dating depends on the decay of a radioactive isotope.
D) relative dating depends on the decay of a radioactive isotope while absolute dating compares the age of an artifact with things around it.

Question 39

Statistical tests of significance can help us

A) measure variables.
B) prove theories.
C) determine the level of importance we should attach to a theoretical construct.
D) determine whether our results are attributable to chance.

Question 40

Theories cannot be proven because

A) they are too vague to be tested.
B) they are too complex to be tested.
C) the ideas, concepts, and theories are not directly observable.
D) human behavior is basically unpredictable.

Question 41

Why is a random sample of the sampling universe so important in statistical surveys?

Question 42

What is a "sampling universe?" How can the use of the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) be tied to this concept?

Question 43

How are ethnography and participant observation linked? How does this differ with ethnology?

Question 44

What is a theory? How does it differ from a fact or facts? Which is more powerful as an explanatory tool?