Deck 1: Introduction to Anthropology

Question 1

Because of the methods they use, anthropologists avoid interpreting their research results from a global perspective.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Primatology, the study of nonhuman primates, is a specialization within biological anthropology that contributes to our knowledge of human evolution.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Inductive reasoning takes general statements and develops specific facts.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Cultural anthropology is the branch of anthropology that studies contemporary societies throughout the world in an attempt to understand human diversity and discover similarities.

Question 5

Anthropologists have found that culturally constituted knowledge is general, universal, and genetic.

Question 6

Archaeologists spend more time digging up garbage than digging up treasure.

Question 7

Even in the nineteenth century, anthropologists were aware of the dangers of ethnocentric beliefs and carefully promoted objective interpretations of other societies.

Question 8

Cultural anthropologists, unlike sociologists, do not use statistics to analyze social behavior.

Question 9

Applied research in anthropology involves using the research methods and findings developed in basic research to solve human problems and fulfill the perceived needs of various societies.

Question 10

The scientific method is a logical system used to evaluate data derived from systematic observation.

Question 11

The study of life at plantations in the southern United States would be called "classical archaeology."

Question 12

Scientists hope to uncover universals of cultural behavior through the Genographic Project.

Question 13

Anthropology, a scientific discipline, has no relationship with history, a humanistic discipline.

Question 14

An ethnography is a written description of a society, while ethnology is a process of determining cross-cultural generalizations.

Question 15

Biological anthropologists focus their research in two areas: human evolution and modern human variation.

Question 16

The holistic approach is used by anthropologists to find out if there are any missing pieces to a scientific puzzle or problem they are exploring-that is, if there are any "holes in the argument."

Question 17

Anthropological scientific knowledge is absolute, complete, and usually the final truth.

Question 18

Although anthropologists study the unique features of diverse cultures, they also recognize the fundamental similarities among all peoples in the world.

Question 19

Linguistic anthropologists are concerned with discovering how sites and middens are formed and what can be learned from studying these ancient structures.

Question 20

Anthropology courses are more relevant to students interested in obtaining degrees in business than those pursuing careers in education.

Question 21

Which of the following is a specialization within the discipline of biological anthropology?

A) ecological anthropology
B) ethnology
C) forensic anthropology
D) phonology

Question 22

Scott Atran is a cultural anthropologist whose recent research has focused on which of the following?

A) political and religious terrorism
B) the use of new technologies in underdeveloped nations
C) language and the Internet
D) racial discrimination in the United States

Question 23

Biological anthropologists who study variation within and among human populations would be interested in which of the following?

A) the range of skin color among populations in different geographical areas
B) differences between the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece
C) the common origins of French and Italian
D) similarities in marriage customs between Muslims and Jews

Question 24

Ethnologists are primarily interested in which of the following?

A) understanding the evolution of the human species over time
B) studying the genetic similarities and differences among contemporary human populations
C) making generalizations based on cultural information from many different societies
D) conducting participant observation in order to describe a specific culture in detail

Question 25

The people known as classical archaeologists conduct research on __________.

A) the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome
B) the evolution of prehistoric stone tools
C) societies of the recent past
D) ancestors of contemporary Native Americans

Question 26

Which of the following best summarizes the effect of the rift between anthropologists committed to either a humanistic or scientific approach?

A) It has fostered a richer understanding of human existence.
B) It has thwarted growth within the field.
C) It has forced humanistic anthropologists to employ the scientific method.
D) It has driven the field to become more sociological.

Question 27

The material products of former societies are known as __________.

A) artifacts
B) fossils
C) legacies
D) antiquaries

Question 28

An archaeologist working in applied anthropology might participate in which of the following?

A) identifying the way a murder victim was killed
B) documenting an ancient site threatened by the construction of a new highway
C) genetic studies of contemporary immigrant populations
D) studying the meaning of symbols inscribed on ancient pottery

Question 29

The study of past cultures and lifestyles is the goal of __________.

A) ethnologists
B) archaeologists
C) forensic anthropologists
D) primatologists

Question 30

The four subdisciplines of anthropology are __________.

A) ethnology, classics, physical geography, and geology
B) primatology, ethnohistory, paleontology, and archaeology
C) biological anthropology, archaeology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology
D) classical anthropology, prehistoric archaeology, evolution, and ethnohistory

Question 31

Research on artifacts found in the remains of slave quarters at an eighteenth-century tobacco plantation in Virginia is an example of __________.

A) historical archaeology
B) forensic anthropology
C) applied anthropology
D) classical archaeology

Question 32

Which of the following scientific approaches rely on hypothesis testing?

A) inductive methods only
B) deductive methods only
C) both inductive and deductive methods
D) inductive, deductive, and theoretical methods

Question 33

A paleoanthropologist would be most likely to study __________.

A) fossilized human bones of early human ancestors
B) prehistoric tools from a midden in Costa Rica
C) a primitive tribe in the rainforests of Zaire
D) archival data from church records in Finland

Question 34

An anthropologist would agree with which of the following statements concerning ethnocentrism?

A) Ethnocentrism can help us better understand cultural universals.
B) All societies are not created equal; some are more advanced than others.
C) It is not appropriate to judge another society by the values and standards of one's own society.
D) Ethnocentrism is a core element of scientific research.

Question 35

__________ linguistics, which focuses on the comparison and classification of different languages to reveal historical links, can often be used to confirm inferences derived from archaeological or paleoanthropological research on ancient population movements.

A) Historical
B) Socio-
C) Structural
D) Evolutionary

Question 36

Kelley Hays-Gilpin, an archaeologist working in the American Southwest, studied which of the following?

A) the roles of men and women in ancient forms of agriculture
B) the way gender ideology is expressed through pottery and rock art
C) the different aspects of American culture adopted by Hopi children
D) the construction of cliff dwellings by the Anasazi

Question 37

Which of the following illustrates the way anthropology embraces the social sciences as well as the humanities?

A) a study concerned with the cultural context of Bedouin poetry
B) an excavation of a seventeenth-century colonial burial ground
C) an investigation of the way people change which language they speak according to social context
D) research into the economic effects of migration in Asia

Question 38

Historical linguistics has provided evidence to support which of the following?

A) Chinese speakers view the world differently than English speakers.
B) Native American populations originated in Asia.
C) Puerto Rican accents are different from Mexican accents.
D) Grammatical forms can differentiate socioeconomic groups.

Question 39

The evolution of primate teeth is a subject studied by __________.

A) archaeologists
B) social anthropologists
C) forensic anthropologists
D) biological anthropologists

Question 40

A study of the garbage that people throw away may reveal more about their lifestyles than surveys and interviews because __________.

A) garbage is easier to analyze than survey data
B) people may not accurately report their behaviors
C) fieldwork in garbage dumps is less expensive
D) surveys and interviews are done by sociologists

Question 41

How do anthropologists generate a global perspective? Create a hypothetical example from one of the four fields to illustrate your answer.

Question 42

What are the four fields of anthropology, and how are they related?

Question 43

Anthropology is said to be "holistic" because it __________.

A) is concerned with primitive societies
B) makes use of both written and oral sources
C) uses a multidisciplinary approach
D) studies the mystical aspects of human experience

Question 44

An anthropologist interested in structural linguistics might consider doing research on __________.

A) the relationship between written forms of Chinese and Japanese
B) whether bilingual children think differently than children who know only one language
C) why some people speak with a Southern accent only when they are with family members
D) the common roots of Indo-European language

Question 45

When a scientist begins with a general theory from which testable hypotheses are developed, he or she is said to be using the __________ method.

A) deductive
B) paradigm
C) inductive
D) hypothesis

Question 46

What is the scientific method? Do anthropologists use the scientific method? Do the scientific method or scientific explanations have any limitations?

Question 47

A) Peter Castro uses his training as a cultural anthropologist to understand which of the following?

A) the intersection of archaeology and ethnic identity among Native Americans
B) gender discrimination through language
C) the universal aspects of religion and human cognition
D) conflicts over access to and use of the environment

Question 48

Popular perceptions and misperceptions of other cultures have often been based on __________.

A) hypotheses
B) variables
C) ethnographies
D) ethnocentrism

Question 49

Explain how scientific and humanistic approaches have shaped the field of anthropology. Is it possible to reconcile these two approaches? If so, how?

Question 50

What kind of research might be undertaken cooperatively by a linguistic anthropologist and an archaeologist?

Question 51

An example of "applied anthropology" might be __________.

A) a study of genetic differences among gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans
B) an archaeological dig to recover information on long-distance trade between ancient Mayan cities
C) research on how to write a computer manual in an indigenous language of Papua New Guinea
D) reconstructing the kinship terminology utilized in Japan during the twelfth century

Question 52

You are talking with a friend who asks, "Why would anyone want to study anthropology? What practical benefits will be gained from taking a course in anthropology?" How would you answer your friend's question?

Question 53

Interconnected hypotheses that offer general explanations for natural or social phenomena are called __________.

A) paradigms
B) theories
C) deductive methods
D) inductive facts

Question 54

A unique research strategy of anthropologists that involves learning the language and culture of a group by participating in the group's daily activities is called __________.

A) assimilation
B) holistic interaction
C) ethnography
D) participant observation

Question 55

Aerial photographs have revealed the existence of a previously unknown group of people living in the Amazon rainforest. What are some of the questions about them that anthropologists would want to investigate? Include the perspectives of two subfields in your answer.

Question 56

Describe a hypothesis that might be formulated by an archaeologist and how the scientific method would be applied in its investigation.

Question 57

Bonnie Urciuoli's sociolinguistic research has revealed which of the following?

A) the ancient migration patterns of people from Latin America
B) the differences between European and Latin American forms of Spanish
C) the impact of migration on the Puerto Rican community in New York
D) the connection between speech and ethnicity in regard to how people are perceived

Question 58

From reading the short biographies of Kelley Hays-Gilpin, Bonnie Urciuoli, and Scott Atran, what have you learned about how anthropologists become specialists in certain topics?

Question 59

Most academic anthropologists work in departments of anthropology. What are the other university departments that might have anthropologists on their faculties, and why?

Question 60

The use of anthropological data to offer practical solutions to problems within a society is called __________.

A) applied anthropology
B) forensics
C) ethnography
D) participant observation