Deck 1: Culture and Meaning

Question 1

Why do human rights activists usually reject moral and cultural relativism?

A) They have little interest in other societies and cultures.
B) Their main focus is on international law.
C) Relativism assumes that there is a universally accepted value system.
D) Relativism requires observers to accept all values and practices.

Answer 1

Relativism requires observers to accept all values and practices.

Question 2

In order to deal with the grief they feel at the death of kin, the Ilongot people of the Philippines:

A) require a close female relative to cut off part of a finger.
B) require widows to shave their heads.
C) are expected to kill an enemy and dispose of the head.
D) cremate widows at their husband's funeral.

Answer 2

are expected to kill an enemy and dispose of the head.

Question 3

According to Clifford Geertz, people impose meaning on their actions and experiences because:

A) without these, all actions and experiences would appear to be pointless and emotional.
B) our brains compel us to do so.
C) otherwise, they would be unsure of how to act.
D) without such meanings outsiders would be unable to understand these experiences.

Answer 3

without these, all actions and experiences would appear to be pointless and emotional.

Question 4

The ethnocentric fallacy is the notion that our beliefs are:

A) right while those of other people are wrong.
B) shared by all other peoples.
C) influenced by our language.
D) influenced by those outside our belief system.

Question 5

The fundamental goal that links anthropology with other sciences, both natural and social, is:

A) understanding what biological similarities link all people.
B) categorizing human experiences across cultural lines.
C) recognizing the patterns that are found behind everyday experiential actions.
D) resolving human conflict.

Question 6

A relativist position assumes that a specific belief or behavior can best be understood:

A) in relation to other cultures with similar beliefs and behaviors.
B) by finding a similar belief or behavior in your own culture.
C) by dissecting and analyzing its structure and meaning.
D) in relation to the cultural systems of meaning in which it is embedded.

Question 7

What can we learn from the anthropologist Richard Scaglion's failed attempt to explain Newton's law of gravity to his Abelam friends in Papua New Guinea?

A) In trying to explain the concept, we need a textbook.
B) His audience had no science background and hence could not understand the concept.
C) We might not actually understand much of what we take as scientific fact in our society.
D) Newton's law did not apply in this context.

Question 8

The clock was an invention of:

A) increasing civilization.
B) decreased organization.
C) greater discipline.
D) improved mathematics.

Question 9

For the Wari, burial of the dead introduced by missionaries:

A) was a welcome change from traditional cannibalism.
B) made them remember their dead and worry about their comfort.
C) was a better means of accepting their loss.
D) was an indication that they had accepted Christianity.

Question 10

Anthropologists doing fieldwork must view the culture they are studying like:

A) children.
B) moral guides.
C) ethnocentrists.
D) doctors.

Question 11

The chairs in a classroom are:

A) a traditional feature of higher education.
B) an example of technology in the classroom.
C) designed to place students in a specific posture.
D) provided for student safety and comfort.

Question 12

What makes cultural anthropology different from other forms of social science research?

A) The use of surveys
B) The use of fieldwork and participant observation
C) A focus on qualitative research
D) The use of opinion polls

Question 13

Nancy Scheper-Hughes argues that anthropologists must:

A) strive to be as objective as possible.
B) be critically grounded, morally engaged, and politically committed.
C) not delve into local politics while engaging in research.
D) try to maintain the idea of moral relativism.

Question 14

People differ in how they view the world because:

A) they live in different geographical locations.
B) religions have different views of the world.
C) cultures and hence cultural norms differ.
D) of biological differences.

Question 15

When Michael Kearney got a skin infection after visiting and helping a similarly afflicted woman who attributed her illness to witchcraft, he:

A) feared he had acquired a dangerous disease.
B) wondered if he too had been the victim of witchcraft.
C) needed to leave town for treatment.
D) assumed he caught it from the woman.

Question 16

What does the "seed and soil" metaphor describe in Turkish village society?

A) Reproduction
B) Land rights
C) Horticulture
D) Agricultural methods

Question 17

To understand the practice of virginity testing in Turkey, one must first understand:

A) how Turkish villagers understand the reproductive process.
B) the role of in-laws in the family structure.
C) the history of the Ottoman Empire.
D) the role of women in the Turkish family.

Question 18

The common life events that all people experience differ mainly in the:

A) languages used to explain these events.
B) meanings people give to these events.
C) geographical locations in which these events occur.
D) ways certain families explain and experience these events.

Question 19

The relativistic fallacy is the notion that:

A) certain cultural values are morally superior to others.
B) the values of more traditional cultures are more humane than the values of industrial societies.
C) one cannot make moral or ethical judgments about the beliefs or practices found in other cultures.
D) it is impossible to not think your own values are better than other values.

Question 20

How do anthropologists account for fundamental cultural differences such as how people marry, contemplate death, or recognize what counts as food?

A) People's views on these issues are products of their environment.
B) Certain perspectives are less modern, and most likely will disappear.
C) Meanings are ascribed by those who share, use, and experience these issues.
D) These differences are by-products of biological differences.

Question 21

American football best represents which American ideal?

A) Relations with others as they are supposed to work
B) Family as it is supposed to work
C) Success as it is supposed to work
D) Games as they are supposed to work

Question 22

To assert that a man from a different society dressed in ceremonial attire looks odd demonstrates the ethnocentric fallacy.

Question 23

A warrior in Papua New Guinea who has a nose ornament can readily understand piercing-for-beauty in the Western world.

Question 24

In reading American football as a cultural text, it seems that Americans feel about football the same way they feel about:

A) the workplace.
B) war.
C) marriage.
D) death.

Question 25

"Happy Meals" shape children's ideas about gender:

A) through the use of colored packaging.
B) by the kinds of foods included in the meal.
C) by the portion size of foods in the meal.
D) through the kind of toy choice included with the meal.

Question 26

What does it mean to view culture as a form of text?

A) This is a way to learn the underlying facts about foreign practices.
B) This is a way of understanding the symbols associated with cultural practices and performances.
C) This is a way of reducing the study of other cultures to books and articles.
D) This is a way of avoiding the relativistic fallacy.

Question 27

By examining the "Happy Meal" advertised by one fast-food chain, anthropologists can, among other things:

A) draw broad conclusions about American tastes in food.
B) deduce how much our consumption patterns create waste and environmental damage.
C) provide insights into industrial and agricultural history and gender roles.
D) none of these

Question 28

Human attitudes toward death are generally similar.

Question 29

The purpose of the ethnographic method is to provide objective, value-free information about a different culture.

Question 30

Human food choices are generally similar because of our basic human biology.

Question 31

Because people in different societies give different meanings to events, objects, and people they experience, differences in cultures exist.

Question 32

According to the anthropologist Paco Underhill, what factor most influences U.S. shoppers' positive or negative experiences?

A) The products available in the store
B) The spatial organization of a store
C) Their perceived waiting times in the store.
D) The prices of items in the store.

Question 33

Cannibalism is a practice historically found only in non-European societies.

Question 34

A researcher uses participant observation to:

A) offer an objective account of the actions of his or her informants.
B) test a beginning hypothesis about his or her informants.
C) seek to change the cultural practices of his or her informants.
D) both observe and participate in the actions of informants.

Question 35

What is the purpose of using the ethnographic method as a research approach?

A) To try to see the world as others do in order to understand and describe these different views.
B) To measure one's personal values against other values.
C) To question the beliefs of the society being studied.
D) To ask embarrassing questions about other cultures.

Question 36

Humans are unique among the world's species in giving meaning to people, events, and the objects around them.

Question 37

Sati is the practice of a widow burning herself on her husband's funeral pyre in India.

Question 38

Americans believe that success is the result of:

A) hard work and sacrifice.
B) luck.
C) proper education.
D) social networks.

Question 39

The cockfight is important to Balinese men because it:

A) reveals the violent and aggressive nature of Balinese culture.
B) reveals the economic and political natures of the Balinese.
C) is a story the Balinese tell themselves about themselves.
D) reveals to others what the Balinese culture defines as important.

Question 40

According to Scheper-Hughes, anthropologists should always strive for objectivity in the field.

Question 41

Winning and losing football games is as important to Americans as winning and losing cockfights is to Balinese.

Question 42

Embarrassing moments in the field may help anthropologists better understand a culture.

Question 43

The Balinese cock fight provides information about Balinese ideas of social status.

Question 44

The Wari people of South America practiced cannibalism due to food shortages.

Question 45

After hearing detailed horror stories of death, disappearance, and torture in Guatemala, anthropologist Linda Green began having nighttime hysteria and nightmares.