Anthropology 1050 Exam 1 Study Guide Chapter 2

An explanation is an answer to a __________ question.

"why"

Which of the following is true of the archive known as the Human Relations Area Files?

Its collections have been indexed to make them easier to consult

Which of the following is an example of a hypothesis?

Kinship terminology is associated with marital patterns.

Which theorist was pivotal in the theoretical approach of evolutionism?

Lewis Henry Morgan

Why can theories not be proven?

Many of the concepts and ideas in theories are not directly observable.

Archaeologists are concerned with recovering intact __________, while paleoanthropologists are concerned with recovering intact __________.

features; fossils

Dual-inheritance theory relates to the roles of __________ and __________ in transmitting traits to future generations.

genes; culture

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

low-protein diet

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

the operational definition

To whom do anthropologists have the most important ethical obligation?

the people they study

The goal of interpretive anthropology is to __________.

understand what it means to be a person living in a particular culture

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

variation

What is the difference between a feature and an artifact?

)A feature is simply an artifact that cannot be removed from the archaeological site

What is a statistical association?

)It is a relationship between two variables that is unlikely to be due to chance

How is a law defined in the physical sciences?

)It is a relationship between variables whose existence is suggested by repeated observation.

Some estimate that there have been around 6,000 primate species in existence. What percentage of these has been found in the fossil record?

3

Which of these is an example of cultural lag?

A society has recently changed their diet but still maintains a food-related taboo.

Which of these gives an accurate example of a researcher's sampling universe?

An investigator wants to understand high school drop-out rates, so she draws her sample from all the high school students in her city.

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

Anthropology was changing, shifting from historical particularism to a variety of new approaches.

What is one major impediment to historical research?

Collecting and analyzing historical data is very time consuming.

What influence did Darwin's theory of evolution have on 19th-century anthropology?

Early anthropologists believed that cultures develop in a uniform manner, as Darwin suggested species do

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

Ethnohistory

What was one of the ways that Franz Boas brought about the end of the evolutionism period in early anthropology?

He was strongly opposed to "race" theory, and emphasized the importance of cultural context.

Why is in incorrect to explain a cultural feature by saying it is "traditional"?

It is an unsatisfactory answer because it is a tautology.

While anthropologists often use pseudonyms to protect their study populations, what problem might arise from this practice?

It is difficult to conduct follow-up research if the community has been disguised

Why is Pompeii such a well-preserved site?

It was covered quickly by a volcanic eruption.

How does archaeology differ from other approaches to cultural anthropology?

Only archaeology can look through long stretches of time and directly examine evolutionary trends

What is the major difference between relative dating and absolute dating methods?

Relative dating compares the age of an artifact with things around it, while absolute dating provides the actual age of the artifact

What is the benefit of stratified archaeological sites?

Stratification provides a relative date for materials as they are excavated.

Why are archaeologists, in particular, ethically obligated to publish the results of their research?

The very act of excavating a site destroys it for future archaeologists

What is the relationship between associations and theories?

Theories are more complicated explanations for observed associations.

What should be taken into account when using ethnographic information from multiple cultures?

You should make sure that all of the information was gathered in the same time period

Potassium-argon dating is an example of a(n) __________ dating technique.

absolute

Anything made or modified by a human is called a(n)__________.

artifact

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

choosing which population to study

. What type of research allows anthropologists to generate interpretations on the basis of worldwide comparisons of particular characteristics?

cross-cultural research

Which of these fields focuses on the relationship between a society and its environment?

cultural ecology

The method of __________ shows that a theory seems to be wrong

falsification

From where do we derive most anthropological data?

ethnographic fieldwork

Theories are __________.

explanations of laws and statistical associations

Which of these is a common ecofact found at archaeological sites?

pollen

Participant-observation refers to the __________.

practice of immersing oneself in the language and customs of a society

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

reflecting on

In __________, anthropologists compare ethnographic information obtained from societies found in a particular region.

regional controlled comparisons

Interpretive anthropology can be contrasted with more __________ approaches.

scientific

How are cases chosen for a random sample?

so that each case has an equal chance of being selected

Anthropological research can be classified by its __________ and __________ scope.

spatial; temporal

In any field of investigation, __________ are generally the most plentiful commodity.

theories

When would you use a statistical test of significance?

to measure the differences among variables

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

within-culture comparison