Deck 17: Applying Anthropology

Question 1

Applied anthropology's systemic perspective recognizes that

A)diseases affect many different systems of the human body.
B)changes do not occur in a vacuum, and a program or project has multiple effects.
C)the world-system theory of Wallerstein provides the best basis for applied work.
D)it is necessary for applied work to focus entirely on educational systems.
E)the most effective viewpoint for applied work is always that of a state administrator.

Answer 1

changes do not occur in a vacuum, and a program or project has multiple effects.

Question 2

A reason that the Madagascar project to increase rice production was successful is that

A)Malagasy leaders were of the peasantry, or had strong ties to it, and therefore were prepared to follow the descent-group ethic of pooling resources for the good of the group as a whole.
B)the elites and the lower class were of different origins and therefore had no strong connections through kinship, descent, or marriage.
C)there is a clear fit between capitalist development schemes and corporate descent-group social organization.
D)it took into account that native forms of social organization inevitably break down into nuclear family organization, impersonality, and alienation.
E)the educated members of Malagasy society are those who have struggled to fend for themselves and therefore brought an innovative kind of independence to the project.

Answer 2

Malagasy leaders were of the peasantry, or had strong ties to it, and therefore were prepared to follow the descent-group ethic of pooling resources for the good of the group as a whole.

Question 3

Robert Redfield explained the relations between urban and rural communities by arguing that

A)peasants were culturally isolated from cities.
B)cities were centers from which cultural innovations were spread to rural and tribal areas.
C)kin-based ethnic associations only exist in rural areas.
D)there are so many connections between rural and urban areas that it is not useful to distinguish between them.
E)urban centers have more in common with each other, even across national boundaries, than they do with rural areas in the same country.

Answer 3

cities were centers from which cultural innovations were spread to rural and tribal areas.

Question 4

__________ refers to the beliefs, customs, specialists, and techniques aimed at ensuring health and curing illness.

A)Disease theory
B)Medical anthropology
C)Health care system
D)Shaman
E)Psychosemantics

Question 5

__________ disease theory underlies traditional understandings of susto.

A)Personalistic
B)Naturalistic
C)Biomedical
D)Emotionalistic
E)Tribal

Question 6

The statement, __________, is not true.

A)"Malinowski proposed that "practical anthropology" should focus on the diffusion of European culture into tribal societies"
B)"Malinowski was not opposed to aiding colonial regimes by studying land tenure and land use in order to recommend how much land local people should keep and what Europeans should get"
C)"the British Empire saw no use for anthropologists, and British colonials purposefully distanced themselves from anthropologists in the field"
D)"a historical association existed between early anthropology, especially in Europe, and colonialism"
E)"during World War II, American anthropologists studied Japanese and German culture to predict the behavior of the wartime enemies of the United States"

Question 7

The use of anthropological findings, concepts, and methods to accomplish a desired end is

A)applied anthropology.
B)economic anthropology.
C)conceptual anthropology.
D)sociobiology.
E)participant observation.

Question 8

The Malagasy development program illustrates the importance of

A)the local government's commitment to improving the lives of its citizens.
B)replacing subsistence farming with a viable cash crop.
C)replacing outdated traditional techniques of irrigation.
D)breaking down corporate descent groups, which are too independent and interfere with development.
E)the top-down strategies developed by the United Nations.

Question 9

Anthropology may help the progress of education by enabling educators to avoid all of the following except

A)indiscriminate assignment of nonnative speakers of English to the same classrooms as children with "behavior problems."
B)tolerance of ethnic diversity.
C)incorrect application of labels (e.g., "learning impaired").
D)sociolinguistic discrimination.
E)ethnic stereotyping.

Question 10

__________ refers to the tendency to view less-developed countries as more alike than they are.

A)Cultural relativism
B)Ethnobias
C)Overinnovation
D)Underdifferentiation
E)Intervention philosophy

Question 11

Cultural resource management is an example of applied

A)ethnology that seeks to preserve indigenous cultures.
B)biological anthropology.
C)anthropology that could pose an ethical dilemma to the anthropologist.
D)linguistic anthropology that seeks to preserve linguistic diversity.
E)ethnography.

Question 12

__________ is not a proper role for an applied anthropologist.

A)Working with local people in addition to "experts" and officials
B)Identifying locally perceived needs for change
C)Helping to design and implement culturally appropriate development programs
D)Helping to impose development programs designed solely by international authorities
E)Protecting local people from projects and policies not in their best interest

Question 13

The __________ disease theory would attribute a person's illness to the consumption of hot or cold substances under the wrong conditions.

A)personalistic
B)naturalistic
C)biomedical
D)emotionalistic
E)tribal

Question 14

A disease is defined as a(n)

A)health problem as it is experienced by the affected individual.
B)artificial product of biomedicine.
C)consequence of foraging.
D)unnatural state of health.
E)scientifically identified health threat.

Question 15

Most anthropologists are employed in

A)the business sector.
B)international organizations.
C)colleges and museums.
D)nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
E)government.

Question 16

All development projects should aim to accomplish all of the following except

A)to promote change, but not overinnovation.
B)to preserve local systems, while working to make them better.
C)to respect local traditions.
D)to base models of development on indigenous practices and social forms.
E)to develop strategies with little input from local communities.

Question 17

The postwar baby boom of the late 1940s and 1950s

A)fueled the general expansion of the American educational system, including academic anthropology.
B)promoted renewed interest in applied anthropology during the 1950s and 1960s.
C)brought anthropology into most high school curricula.
D)produced a new interest in ethnic diversity.
E)brought an end to the world system.

Question 18

__________ should not be one of the goals of an applied anthropological approach to urban programs.

A)Working with the community to ensure that the change is implemented correctly
B)Identifying key social groups in the urban context
C)Translating the needs and desires of the community to funding agencies
D)Creating a single universal policy to be applied to all urban communities
E)Eliciting wishes from the target community

Question 19

Illness is defined as a(n)

A)nonexistent ailment (only "diseases" are real).
B)artificial product of biomedicine.
C)scientifically identified health threat.
D)purely linguistic problem.
E)socially defined.

Question 20

A common goal of development projects is to

A)increase socioeconomic stratification.
B)promote ethnocide.
C)facilitate cultural assimilation.
D)decrease local autonomy.
E)increase equity.

Question 21

Define overinnovation, and explain why it can undermine development projects.

Question 22

In a comparative study of 68 rural development projects, it was found that

A)overinnovation was the most productive development model.
B)culturally compatible projects were twice as successful as incompatible ones.
C)the socialist bloc model was the most successful.
D)the capitalist bloc model was the most financially successful.
E)the underdifferentiated model led to the most equity.

Question 23

Indicate your career plans, and describe how you might apply the knowledge you learned in an introductory anthropology course in your future vocation.If you have not yet chosen a career, pick one of the following: economist, engineer, diplomat, architect, or elementary schoolteacher for this response.List why it is important to understand the culture and social organization of the people who are affected by this work.

Question 24

Anthropologists researching the effects of development at the local level are able to identify inadequacies that may not be evident to economists working at national and global levels.

Question 25

Development projects that use traditional social organizations and that respond to locally perceived needs are more likely to be successful.

Question 26

The original marketing strategy of McDonald's in Brazil

A)promoted a beer with lunch.
B)completely changed the menu to include Brazilian favorites.
C)tried to Americanize Brazilian eating habits.
D)took into consideration the Brazilian habit of eating hot foods, like hamburgers, on the beach.
E)focused on the Sunday evening dinner market.

Question 27

Examine how a premedical student could apply some of the knowledge learned in anthropology courses as a physician.

Question 28

A common problem for international development projects is that they

A)lack an intervention philosophy.
B)often assume the best way to increase production and income is through industrialization.
C)tend to use local cultural models and processes rather than the more advanced Western models.
D)frequently make unnecessary attempts to extend indigenous lifestyles that are already obsolete.
E)overemphasize the needs of local communities.

Question 29

Discuss ways in which anthropology is relevant to business.

Question 30

Analyze the fallacy of underdifferentiation, and provide some possible alternatives to it.

Question 31

Describe what it means to say that an economic development project is culturally compatible.List the advantages of ensuring that projects are culturally compatible.

Question 32

There is considerable debate today over whether governments should or should not require schools to provide bilingual education for students, and if so, how this could best be accomplished.Pretend that a school board in a bilingual community has asked to provide some guidance on this issue.Explain to the school board about the relationships between students' social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds and their potential for success in school.

Question 33

Discuss the major advantages and disadvantages of scientific medicine and other health care systems.Remember to distinguish between scientific medicine and Western medicine.

Question 34

The example of postcolonial development in Madagascar demonstrates that descent group organization can be a major obstacle to economic development.

Question 35

Describe some of the effects of increased urbanization.Detail where these effects are most pronounced, and suggest the contributions applied anthropologists can make to urban planning.

Question 36

The statement, __________, is not true.

A)"one of the most valuable tools in applying anthropology is the ethnographic method"
B)"many applied anthropologists have worked with development agencies such as the World Bank and USAID"
C)"the application of anthropology to social problems has been a central concern in the discipline since its origin"
D)"applied anthropology is a recently developed subfield within anthropology and reflects an entirely new concern with the application of anthropology to social problems"
E)"applied anthropologists work with development projects, in education, medicine, and business, as well as many other fields"
Essay Questions

Question 37

Development anthropology refers to the branch of anthropology that uses data collected in local settings to formulate theories about the development of culture through time.

Question 38

Discuss the reasons why many anthropologists have turned from academic to applied work.

Question 39

Development projects that assume all "less-developed countries" are alike

A)have only limited chances of succeeding.
B)are the most successful kind of development scheme.
C)have never taken place.
D)are known as utopian intervention.
E)are known as research and development.

Question 40

Describe the relationship between theory and practice in anthropology, and list reasons why applied anthropology should be or should not be recognized as a separate subdiscipline.Explain how it is different from the traditional subfields of anthropology.

Question 41

An illness is a scientifically identified health threat caused by a bacterium, virus, fungus, parasite, or other pathogen.

Question 42

During World War II, the U.S.government recruited anthropologists to study Japanese and German culture.

Question 43

Cultural resource management (CRM) refers to the efforts of peripheral nations to develop tourism focused on their cultural heritage, past and present.

Question 44

Businesses are no longer interested in hiring applied anthropologists now that people buy and sell a majority of goods over the Internet.

Question 45

The spread of malaria is linked to population growth and deforestation.

Question 46

Biomedicine, which aims to link illness to scientifically demonstrated agents that bear no personal malice toward their victims, is an example of a naturalistic medical system.

Question 47

Academic and applied anthropology have a symbiotic relationship as theory aids practice and application fuels theory.

Question 48

There is considerable cross-cultural variation in the interpretation and treatment of illnesses.

Question 49

Non-Western medicine does not maintain a sharp distinction between biological and psychological illnesses.

Question 50

Medical anthropology is strictly an applied field within anthropology.

Question 51

Health care systems refer to the nationalized health care services that only exist in core industrial nations.

Question 52

In his comparison of rural and urban communities, Redfield found that cultural innovations spread from urban areas to rural ones.