Deck 1: Anthropology and the Study of Culture

Question 1

According to the textbook, microcultures can be formed on the basis of __________.

A)age
B)class
C)race
D)gender
E)all of the above

Answer 1

all of the above

Question 2

A major theoretical debate exists in cultural anthropology today between __________.

A)applied anthropologists and archaeologists
B)cultural materialists and interpretivist anthropologists
C)ecological anthropologists and economic anthropologists
D)psychological anthropologists and medical anthropologists
E)none of the above: there is no theoretical debate since all cultural anthropologists share the same theoretical perspective

Answer 2

cultural materialists and interpretivist anthropologists

Question 3

Anthropology is usually divided into four fields, but some people claim that a fifth, known as __________, should be included.

A)interpretivist anthropology
B)functionalist anthropology
C)theoretical anthropology
D)applied anthropology
E)cultural relativism

Answer 3

applied anthropology

Question 4

People who have a longstanding connection with their home territory predating colonialism are referred to as __________.

A)ethnic groups
B)racial groups
C)local groups
D)lost people
E)indigenous people

Question 5

The cultural materialist perspective uses a three-level model of culture that includes __________.

A)infrastructure, structure, and superstructure
B)class, "race," and gender
C)ethnicity, age, and class
D)structure, agency, and change
E)globalization, McDonaldization, and localization

Question 6

The increased spread of international ties and spread of Western capitalism worldwide is referred to as __________.

A)internationalization
B)capitalization
C)interdependency
D)holism
E)globalization

Question 7

Among Tejano immigrants in the United States, making tamales symbolizes __________.

A)a connection with the homeland in Mexico
B)the triumph of culture over nature
C)rejection of US values especially fast food
D)a woman's role as a "good wife"
E)the importance of corn in Tejano culture

Question 8

A recent mental health disorder in Japan related to sleep is __________.

A)insomnia
B)nightmares about work
C)falling asleep during the day
D)sleeping sickness
E)none of the above: Japan has no sleep-related disorder

Question 9

The Garbage Project has practical relevance because it provides information on __________.

A)how rural areas differ from urban areas
B)how long it has taken for garbage from prehistoric times to decompose
C)recent consumption patterns
D)how the poor of the world are creating the least garbage
E)none of the above: the Garbage Project is a case of "pure research" and has no practical relevance

Question 10

Archaeologists use which of the following as research materials?

A)pieces of old pottery
B)prehistoric stone tools
C)remains of ruined houses
D)contemporary garbage heaps
E)all of the above

Question 11

Paul Farmer has done most of his work in __________.

A)Mexico
B)Haiti
C)Guatemala
D)Puerto Rico
E)Dominican Republic

Question 12

A cultural relativist would view contemporary Nacirema culture as __________.

A)materialistic, aggressive, and without much worth
B)just as interesting and worthy of study as any other
C)more ethical than most others
D)adaptively superior to any other
E)trivial, frivolous, and simplistic

Question 13

Culture __________.

A)is more developed in contemporary North America than in contemporary China
B)first emerged among humans around 10,000 years ago
C)is predominantly transferred through genes
D)is being destroyed by globalization
E)none of the above

Question 14

The cultural materialist interpretation of the Hindu belief in sacred cows points to __________.

A)their ritual purity
B)their fertility, as "mother figures"
C)their economic and environmental value
D)all of the above
E)none of the above

Question 15

The functionalist approach says that __________.

A)powerful structures shape culture
B)cross-cultural comparisons are not valid
C)culture should be studied on the basis of how people make a living
D)cultures evolve from primitive to more advanced, or civilized
E)culture is like a biological organism with interacting parts

Question 16

The San people of Southern Africa __________.

A)mainly value the hoodia cactus as a source of a hallucinogenic drug
B)worked with transnational advocacy groups to gain a portion of profits from hoodia's use in a diet pill
C)still earn a living mainly from foraging on their traditional land in the Kalahari Desert
D)are now the economically dominant ethnic group in South Africa
E)now reject the term Bushmen as derogatory

Question 17

The field of anthropology that studies human language and communication is called __________.

A)biological anthropology
B)communication science
C)linguistic anthropology
D)applied anthropology
E)audiovisual anthropology

Question 18

Linguistic anthropologists study __________.

A)how contemporary languages differ in terms of structure, grammar and sound systems
B)nonverbal communication
C)how languages change over time
D)how languages are related
E)all of the above

Question 19

San peoples of Southern Africa fought a long legal battle to gain profits from __________.

A)diamond mines on their land
B)the discovery of oil on their land
C)a new diet pill
D)all of the above
E)none of the above: the San are completely demoralized and lack the means of fighting for any kind of rights

Question 20

Biological anthropologists focus on __________.

A)the impact of colonialism on different cultures
B)cross-cultural patterns of contemporary human politics
C)human evolution and contemporary human variation
D)how culture is passed on from one generation to the next
E)historic data about various cultures

Question 21

The Weyéwa people of Indonesia are known for recognizing over 20 types of "taste."

Question 22

Culture is best defined as the effects of biological heredity on human behavior.

Question 23

Two theoretical trends were influenced by postmodernism: structurism and functionalism.

Question 24

Both globalization and localization can be seen in the spread of McDonald's restaurants.

Question 25

The four models of cultural interaction are: clash of civilizations, McDonaldization, hybridization, and localization.

Question 26

Basic natural functions-such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and eliminating-are done and thought about the same way everywhere, as opposed to cultural functions such as language.

Question 27

Most North American anthropologists agree that general anthropology consists of five fields.

Question 28

Indigenous peoples are strongly connected to their homeland, but often do not have legal rights to it.

Question 29

Cultural constructionism is best seen as a theoretical argument that stands in opposition to cultural relativism.

Question 30

Papua New Guinea has many natural resources and a low rate of HIV/AIDS among its population.

Question 31

Cultural materialists attempt to learn about culture by examining the material aspects of it, such as the environment and how people make a living within a particular environment.

Question 32

The tendency to apply one's own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures is known as __________.

A)cultural relativism
B)cultural universalism
C)ethnocentrism
D)egocentrism
E)cultural anthropology

Question 33

One way that Tejano immigrant women can express dissatisfaction with their marriages is by refusing to make tamales.

Question 34

The main goal of cultural anthropology is to __________.

A)understand why people behave and think the way they do
B)predict culture change
C)trace the evolution of culture from nonhuman primates to human primates
D)discover the biological bases of culture
E)learn how to change culture

Question 35

Absolute cultural relativism is a view that promotes questioning and debate concerning cross-cultural practices.

Question 36

The Paul Farmer Effect refers to growing student interest in combining the study of anthropology with psychology.

Question 37

A study of middle schools in the southwestern Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. found that Mexican immigrant girls are marginalized, especially because they are not interested in or good at sports.

Question 38

Microcultures can be formed on the basis of institutions such as hospitals and schools.

Question 39

In India, widows wear black.

Question 40

Biological determinism is opposed to the perspective called cultural constructionism.

Question 41

__________ refers to the process by which one culture dominates another.

Question 42

What is applied anthropology and what are two examples of it?

Question 43

Excessive daytime sleepiness is correlated with decreased worker productivity in the country of __________.

Question 44

Malinowski's approach, known as __________, considers how particular parts of culture contribute to the operation of the whole.

Question 45

The French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss is associated with the theoretical perspective __________.

Question 46

In a cultural materialist framework, the mental aspects of culture are referred to as __________.

Question 47

__________ refers to the approach that seeks to explain why people do and think what they do by considering biological factors such as people's genes and hormones.

Question 48

"Race", age, gender, and class are examples of a basis for __________ formation.

Question 49

The theoretical approach which is the view that powerful structures such as economics, politics, and media shape cultures and create entrenched systems of inequality and oppression is referred to in the textbook as __________.

Question 50

Franz Boas promoted the theoretical approach referred to as __________, which is the view that individual cultures must be studied and described in their own terms.

Question 51

Judging other people's cultures on the basis of one's own culture is called __________.

Question 52

What does the theory of agency emphasize; provide an example.

Question 53

In the framework of cultural materialism, the most basic aspect of culture is __________.

Question 54

Interpretive anthropology and "thick description" are mainly associated with a cultural anthropologist named __________.

Question 55

State the overall goal

Question 56

Describe and discuss two of the three major debates in cultural anthropology.

Question 57

Contrast cultural materialism with interpretivism in terms of their theoretical position, definition of culture, and methods.

Question 58

Examining anthropology's historical connections with racism, increasing racial diversity in academia, and teaching about racism are examples of steps proposed to move anthropology to being __________ anthropology.

Question 59

How has theory in cultural anthropology changed since the late nineteenth century?

Question 60

Early forms of an organism evolve into later forms through the process of natural selection is the concept of __________ evolution.

Question 61

How have anthropologists approached the definition of culture?

Question 62

How do cultural anthropologists define gender? Discuss two examples of gender as cultural rather than "natural."

Question 63

What is a microculture and what are some examples of important microcultures?

Question 64

What is culture and what are three of its key characteristics?

Question 65

Define the principles of ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, absolute cultural relativism and critical cultural relativism. Choose an issue and consider it from two of these perspectives.

Question 66

Describe the past and present situation of the San peoples of Southern Africa; discuss the challenges they are currently facing and how they are seeking to rebuild their culture.

Question 67

Describe one microculture that you know about from your personal experience, class lecture, class films, or reading. What makes this microculture distinct? What characteristics, if any, does it share with another microculture?

Question 68

Discuss three examples of behavior that show how culture is not the same as nature.

Question 69

Define the concept of holism and provide a cultural example.

Question 70

Define globalization and localization and give an example of each.