3: Studying Culture- Pearson Cultural Anthropology

Which of the following summarizes a key aspect of Lewis Henry Morgan's theory of cultural evolution?

A culture's features, such as subsisting on wild foods, agriculture, or writing, indicate its evolutionary status.

Why do many anthropologists believe it is impossible to be completely objective when studying cultures?

Anthropologists bring their own learned values with them.

Which of the following did Bronislaw Malinowski emphasize in his approach to understanding culture?

Cultural features and institutions fulfill human needs.

Which of the following would help an ethnographer avoid gathering information that is biased toward the experiences and interpretations of one sector of a population?

Document perspectives from people who belong to different social groupings in a community, such as their gender, class, etc.

Which of the following summarizes the concepts of emic and etic views as introduced by cultural materialists?

Emic views are subjective explanations from an insider's perspective; etic views are objective explanations based on the observations of outsiders.

How does the purpose of ethnohistorical research compare to that of ethnology?

Ethnohistorical research is concerned with casual relationships in culture change as well as cultural universals.

What correlation did the Embers find in their 1996 study of violence?

In societies that experienced frequent warfare, other forms of interpersonal violence were also tolerated.

Which distinguished interpretive anthropology from structural-functional analyses?

Interpretive anthropology focused on culture as a system of meanings rather than on the effects and organization of its components.

Why do urban anthropologist use survey research in their work as one possible technique in addition to others?

It allows them to gather information about features and trends in larger, urban environments.

What is unique about reflexive anthropology?

It tries to make visible the perceptions of the anthropologist in observing other cultures.

How would an anthropologist apply the American Anthropological Association's Code of Ethics to the question of whether or not to testify in a court case involving the people she studied?

She would feel free to make her own decision as to whether or not to get involved.

Why is stage-directing ethnographic film footage considered unethical?

The anthropologist may depict a false impression that could bias viewers; understanding of the film's subject.

Why do some anthropologists have concerns about working with the military on projects such as the Human Terrain System?

The data they collect may be used without their knowledge and endanger people.

Which of the following describes how a n ethnographer provides a subject with "informed consent"?

The ethnographer advises the subject as to the purpose of the research, as well as how data will be gathered, analyzed, and reported.

Why would it be a mistake for an anthropologist to become too reliant on local authorities for information about the village being studied?

The interpretation of life in the village would be biased and restricted if based solely on the perspectives of the society's elite.

Clifford Geertz saw ethnography as akin to reading a manuscript. Which of the following explains this approach?

Through the detailed observation of public behaviors, ethnographers can "read" the symbolic meanings embedded in and expressed by a culture.

What is one way that urban anthropology contrasts with anthropology conducted in rural communities?

Urban anthropology may focus on a specific topic within a subculture rather than on a whole community.

Why might the use of video during ethnographic fieldwork raise ethical problems?

Video undermines efforts to protect the anonymity of research participants.

A cultural materialist perspective would emphasize which of the following in analyzing a lavish wedding celebration in the United States?

Wedding parties have an economic impact in terms of the amount of labor and resources that are organized, exchanged, and consumed.

According to the American Anthropological Association's Code of Ethics, which of the following is most important?

avoiding research that could conceivably harm the subject population

Anthropologists could use information from the Human Relations Area Files to do which of the following?

discover how often people in agricultural societies live near their paternal relatives

An anthropologist is interested in how family dynamics and composition have changed over time in a small African village. Which of the following techniques would provide qualitative data relevant to this question?

documenting family genealogies and recording life histories

Theoretical perspectives that emphasize power relations in a society would be helpful in understanding which of the following?

how colonial policies transformed women's roles, rights, and responsibilities among the Iroquois

Which is the best definition of fieldwork

living and interacting with a community of people while recording observations and conducting interviews

Which of the following ideas associated with unilinear cultural evolution was criticized by later anthropologists?

the use of European culture as a measure of progress

Human Terrain Teams employ anthropologists in which of the following capacities?

to gather information about cultural features of communities in which military operations are taking place

Which of the following summarizes Franz Boas' contributions to anthropology?

He introduced the need to base studies on direct observation and objective descriptions, the idea that cultures adapt to historical situations, and the concept of cultural relativism.

What distinguished Franz Boas from the anthropologists that came before him?

He promoted living with other people in order to truly understand cultural differences.

Which of the following summarizes a primary goal of Claude Levi-Strauss' work?

He wanted to identify the universal patterns underlying symbolic cultural expressions.

What questions central to the way ethnographic fieldwork is conducted has been raised by both virtual anthropology and urban anthropology?

How should a "field site" be defined when cultural behaviors are not centered in a particular physical place?