Deck 14: Ethnographic Research: Its History, Methods, and Theories

Question 1

"Culture at a distance" is an approach in anthropology that allowed the study of other cultures through all of the following except:

A)interviews with immigrants.
B)foreign films and newspapers.
C)photographs.
D)on-location ethnographic fieldwork.
E)literature.

Answer 1

on-location ethnographic fieldwork.

Question 2

Acculturation is best defined as:

A)a process in which two cultures come into contact and both of them are changed because of the culture contact.
B)a process of unequal culture contact when a smaller culture is forced to adopt some of the ways of the dominant society.
C)a process of culture change in which individuals grow older and adapt to the new biological and cultural needs they have within their own society.
D)the process by which members of a society are taught cultural knowledge from their elders.
E)genocide;it occurs when one culture eradicates another.

Answer 2

a process of unequal culture contact when a smaller culture is forced to adopt some of the ways of the dominant society.

Question 3

If an anthropologist studies religion and interviews church leaders about how they were called to their positions,attends various rites of passage,writes down impressions and beliefs of the practitioners,and uses nonstatistical descriptions of the religion as a way of presenting information,the anthropologist is employing what type of data collection?

A)Quantitative
B)Qualitative
C)Inductive
D)Deductive
E)Conversive

Answer 3

Qualitative

Question 4

Why is it important to study peasants?

A)They represent societies that are beginning to develop out of a primitive condition.
B)They are the poorest people in the world.
C)They always cause political revolution because they generate social unrest.
D)They are the largest social category in the world.
E)They are the primary source of labor throughout the capitalist world.

Question 5

Which of the following best defines applied anthropology?

A)The use of anthropological techniques to better prepare populations for market research and the introduction of capitalism
B)The application of anthropological types of change in order to help indigenous people develop further
C)The use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems in communities confronting new challenges
D)The implementation of change into indigenous populations only in order to save and preserve them
E)Teaching anthropology in the classroom to a new generation of students

Question 6

Individuals who live and work far from their original homelands form part of a growing population that is classified as:

A)international.
B)multinational.
C)migratory.
D)emigratory.
E)diasporic.

Question 7

When anthropologists go to the places that they study in order to experience the culture firsthand,it is called:

A)fieldwork.
B)ethnology.
C)excavation.
D)laboratory analysis.
E)field study.

Question 8

The study by Jefferey Snodgrass which conducted participant-observation research related to the video game "World of Warcraft" is called:

A)multi-sited ethnography.
B)global ethnography.
C)transnational ethnography.
D)visual ethnography.
E)digital ethnography.

Question 9

The new term for salvage ethnography is:

A)contemporary ethnography.
B)urgent anthropology.
C)critical anthropology.
D)fieldwork anthropology.
E)historical anthropology.

Question 10

What is the first step in doing ethnographic fieldwork?

A)Doing preparatory research
B)Choosing a research question
C)Participant observation on site
D)Gathering data
E)Choosing a theoretical approach

Question 11

Mexican anthropologist Rosalva Aida Hernandez Castillo has worked in Chiapas to advocate for the Zapatista cause mainly in order to:

A)ensure the success of the neoliberal program.
B)provide jobs for adult men.
C)improve the health and nutritional status of the children.
D)help locals obtain representation at the government level.
E)battle gender discrimination.

Question 12

Anthropologists advise that:

A)it is best to do your first fieldwork as part of a team of researchers,some of them experienced.
B)it is best to do your first fieldwork in your own culture so that you become experienced.
C)it is best to do your first fieldwork in a culture other than your own.
D)it is best to work in societies that are different from your own but now located very far away from where you live.
E)it is best to study peasants as part of your first fieldwork experience.

Question 13

The members of a society who work most closely with the anthropologist to provide an understanding of cultural phenomena are called:

A)primary consultants.
B)key consultants.
C)cultural brokers.
D)cultural liaisons.
E)key leaders.

Question 14

Anthropologist__________________was a pioneer in research on Afro-Mexicans and studied land tenure among Mexican Indian communities in the 1930s.

A)Gonzalo Aquirre Beltran
B)Clifford Geertz
C)Stephen Lansang
D)Rosalva Aida Hernandez Castillo
E)Jonathan Marks

Question 15

Andrea Louie studied the ethnic Han group of China by collecting data in San Francisco,Hong Kong,and southern China.This approach is an example of:

A)transnational ethnography.
B)multi-sited ethnography.
C)diasporic ethnography.
D)transitional ethnography.
E)salvage ethnography.

Question 16

All of the following are examples of early studies of contemporary state societies except:

A)Alfred Métraux,study of race relations in Brazil.
B)Ruth Benedict,study of New York City.
C)Hortense Powdermaker,study of racial segregation in Mississippi.
D)Julian Steward,study of industrialization in Kenya.
E)Napoleon Chagnon,study of warfare among the Yanomamo.

Question 17

Cultural anthropology is composed of which two scholarly components?

A)Ethnography and ethnohistory
B)Ethnography and ethnology
C)Ethnology and ethnohistory
D)Ethnohistory and ethnoarchaeology
E)Linguistics and ethnography

Question 18

Anthropology has sought directly to do each of the following except:

A)document the practice of culture.
B)impose a Western and modern approach to life.
C)document disappearing cultural practices.
D)reconstruct traditional ways of life.
E)educate its audience on the importance of culture.

Question 19

The primary method in the anthropologist's toolkit,regardless of the time period,has always been:

A)participant observation.
B)mapping.
C)random sampling.
D)formal interviews.
E)mentoring.

Question 20

Laura Nader has called on anthropologists to "study up." What does she mean by this term?

A)Anthropologists should study high-altitude peoples and cultures in order to understand adaptation.
B)Anthropologists should people of a higher class than themselves.
C)Anthropologists should study the elites of a society and not only the common people.
D)Anthropologists should intensify their studies and become more involved in advocacy anthropology.
E)Anthropologists should be more committed to urgent anthropology before indigenous peoples are all gone.

Question 21

The theoretical approach exhibited in the Marvin Harris inset on "Pig Lovers and Pig Haters" arguing that the natural conditions made pig-raising inefficient over the long-term is:

A)symbolic anthropology.
B)neo-evolutionism.
C)cultural ecology.
D)political ecology.
E)cultural materialism.

Question 22

Validation in ethnographic research is difficult because of all of the following except:

A)there is a very stable cultural and environmental status.
B)observational access is often limited.
C)there may be insufficient funding for the research.
D)there may be logistical difficulties in reaching the site.
E)there may be problems in obtaining permission to do the study.

Question 23

Lincoln Keiser was treated with great disdain and suspicion in his field site in__________________because of his study focus on feuding.

A)Myanmar
B)China
C)India
D)Pakistan
E)Burma

Question 24

An explanation in science of natural phenomena,supported by a reliable body of data,is called a(n):

A)theory.
B)hypothesis.
C)fact.
D)doctrine.
E)intuition.

Question 25

The vast collection of cross-indexed ethnographic and archaeological data catalogued by cultural characteristics and geographic locations is called the:

A)Hominid Relatives Area Files.
B)Human Relatives Area Files
C)Human Relations Area Microfiche.
D)Human Relations Association Files.
E)Human Relations Area Files.

Question 26

Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson did their most significant photographic research in:

A)Tonga.
B)Hawaii.
C)Indonesia.
D)Samoa.
E)Bali.

Question 27

What was the focus of Annette Weiner's research in the Trobriands?

A)Women's reproductive work
B)Women's productive work
C)The village religious structure
D)Men's canoeing and trade relations
E)Migratory patterns and changes in family structure

Question 28

Why are informal interviews central to ethnographic fieldwork?

A)They provide a fixed structure that allows the researcher to quantify the data collection.
B)They are conversations between friends and allow the anthropologist access to information that is confidential.
C)They are part-time ways of gathering data that allow the anthropologist time to do other work while working in the field.
D)They are casual exchanges in which the anthropologists can gain insight into the things that matter most to the cultural group.
E)They are pieces of a larger conversation and allow anthropologists to work in a team with each person contributing to the conversation.

Question 29

A formal,recorded agreement to participate in research is called:

A)informed consensus.
B)informed consent.
C)informal consent.
D)informal consensus.
E)a research agreement.

Question 30

All of the following are reasons it is important to map the field site with information from local people except:

A)much cultural information is contained on a key consultant's map.
B)the map will contain local place names.
C)the map will contain information on local features and land use in the area.
D)social information will be contained on the map.
E)local informants have official maps available to make this accurate and quantitative.

Question 31

In her field site,because of political unrest,June Nash was accused of:

A)stealing.
B)being a CIA agent.
C)being a Bolivian spy.
D)slander.
E)murder.

Question 32

In order to minimize the impact of subjectivity,the anthropologist should consider all of the following except:

A)how people think they really behave.
B)the people's ideal sense of how a society should be run.
C)what the anthropologist actually sees happening.
D)what the anthropologist observes in his/her own culture.
E)the general cultural rules of the people being studied.

Question 33

Which of the following anthropological activities has been controversial within the discipline since the 1960s?

A)Working with the U.S.military
B)Working for foreign governments
C)Doing fieldwork in enemy countries
D)Working as advocates for indigenous peoples
E)Teaching anthropology to undergraduates

Question 34

Among the indigenous Canela,William Crocker was:

A)adopted into networks of kinship at his field site.
B)awarded the honor of outstanding fieldworker.
C)considered master fieldworker by quantitative researchers.
D)a pioneer in the development of field photography.
E)threatened with illnesses and contracted malaria.

Question 35

Ethical responsibilities for anthropologists include all of the following except:

A)communicate the impact of the research to those who are providing information.
B)represent the interests of the anthropologist and protect the researcher.
C)make sure the research does not harm the privacy of the people with whom they work.
D)obtain informed consent from those who participate in the research.
E)remain constantly vigilant and alert for potentially emerging problems.

Question 36

Marvin Harris argues that pork was not generally raised in the Middle East historically because:

A)it was considered sinful in all Middle Eastern religions.
B)some Middle Eastern societies owned all of the land and prevented pig-raising.
C)no ethnic group in the Middle East would eat pork.
D)pig-raising threatened the natural ecosystem.
E)pig-raising was economically inefficient in such a humid environment.

Question 37

Which of the following is not a materialist theoretical approach?

A)Cultural ecology
B)Cultural materialism
C)Cognitive anthropology
D)Sociobiology
E)Marxism

Question 38

All of the following were differences between Bronislaw Malinowski's original field research in the Trobriands and that of Annette Weiner some 60 years later except:

A)differences in field methodology.
B)differences in theoretical interests.
C)differences in researchers' disciplines.
D)changes over time.
E)differences in researchers' genders.

Question 39

Margaret Mead argued that ethnographers should make much more effective use of:

A)photography.
B)mapping.
C)interviews.
D)participant observation.
E)collecting material artifacts.

Question 40

When researchers use things such as photographs in order to prompt people to speak with them about a particular topic,these are called:

A)soliciting devices.
B)eliciting devices.
C)prompting devices.
D)circular conversations.
E)participant tools.

Question 41

Anthropology emerged as a scientific discipline less than 20 years ago.

Question 42

The hallmark of anthropological fieldwork is participant observation.

Question 43

Key consultants are individuals who tell the anthropologist things that other members of the society do not want to share.

Question 44

Annette Weiner worked in the Trobriand Islands in the 1960s.

Question 45

"Studying up" means to study people who are in a higher educational bracket than the anthropologist doing the research.

Question 46

It is often an indication of acceptance when anthropologists are given kinship terms by the people they are studying.

Question 47

In the 1930s,anthropologists began researching how capitalist societies affected traditional cultures.

Question 48

Anthropologists use only qualitative data-gathering techniques.Quantitative data is used by sociologists and psychologists.

Question 49

An mentalist perspective is an approach that emphasizes how people explain and feel about things.

Question 50

Hortense Powdermaker was an early pioneer in "national character" studies.

Question 51

The Human Relations Area Files provide a great deal of data but prohibit cultural comparison.

Question 52

One of the first advocacy projects in anthropology was among the Meskwaki (or,Fox Indians)in Iowa.

Question 53

Historically,anthropologists have worked with non-Western peoples.

Question 54

Both Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson were pioneers in the method of field mapping.

Question 55

In a culture,there is a difference between ideal and real behaviors.

Question 56

Anthropology has increasingly supported collaboration with the military.

Question 57

The most important anthropological research tool by far is participant observation.

Question 58

Among the Canela,it is improper for a mother,sister,or daughter to cut a man's hair.

Question 59

Multi-sited ethnography makes use of various interdisciplinary approaches to research and analysis.

Question 60

Scientific theories are open to future challenges.

Question 61

What is important about peasant studies?

Question 62

Describe the challenges of subjectivity while in the field.

Question 63

Discuss the advantages of qualitative and quantitative data gathering.

Question 64

What does it mean to "study up"? Give an example.

Question 65

What is the role of validation in anthropological research?

Question 66

Contrast the research by Bronislaw Malinowski with that of Annette Weiner in the Trobriand Islands.

Question 67

What types of challenges do anthropologists face in the field? Discuss and give examples.

Question 68

Name the primary steps involved in ethnographic fieldwork.

Question 69

Describe and discuss the materialist approach to explaining the prohibition of pork in the Middle East.

Question 70

Describe the methodology of culture at a distance.

Question 71

What are anthropologists' primary ethical responsibilities in fieldwork?

Question 72

What are eliciting devices?

Question 73

What is acculturation? Give at least two examples of some early studies of acculturation.

Question 74

Compare and contrast the idealist and materialist perspectives in anthropological research.

Question 75

Define ethnographic fieldwork.

Question 76

Who are Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson? What are their contributions to anthropology?

Question 77

Globalization has affected the way anthropologists do fieldwork.Describe two different types of ethnography that are more contemporary examples of "global" work.

Question 78

What is urgent anthropology? Give an example of how this would be used.

Question 79

Compare and contrast formal and informal interviews.

Question 80

Why is anthropological collaboration with the military a controversial matter?