Deck 18: Applied Anthropology

Question 1

One can both understand the values and worldviews of another people and not accept all of their practices or standards.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Applied studies in medical anthropology can often help health providers to design more effective means of delivering health care to a group of people.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

When an archaeological site is destroyed, it can often be replaced or renewed.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Since archaeological sites are nonrenewable resources, it is very disturbing that many sites are looted and destroyed by pot hunters interested only in making money.

Question 5

Clyde Collins Snow, the forensic anthropologist, is quite a good criminal psychologist.

Question 6

Cultural relativism is the principle that cultures must be understood from the perspective of their own cultural norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors.

Question 7

An example of an applied project in which the anthropologists played the role of analyst was the Vicos Project in the Andes.

Question 8

Some applied medical anthropologists study the relationship and interactions between Western medical practices and folk medicine or indigenous medical practices.

Question 9

Universal human rights have been spread through the process of globalization and are based on the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Question 10

Native Americans have no legal rights to the remains and artifacts of their ancestors that have been uncovered at archaeological sites.

Question 11

When an anthropologist becomes the spokesperson for the particular group that he or she is studying, the anthropologist is assuming the role of informant.

Question 12

Cultural and applied anthropologists have a role in helping to define universal standards for human rights.

Question 13

The use of anthropology to offer practical solutions to problems faced by a society is known as basic anthropology.

Question 14

The Vicos Project was a miserable failure for applied anthropologists because the people actively resisted the forced change and eventually rebelled, throwing the anthropologists out of the country.

Question 15

Applied anthropologists can serve as consultants to government organizations, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Question 16

Forensic anthropology is the discipline that trains anthropologists to be good academic debaters.

Question 17

Most of the development work in the 1950s and 1960s sponsored by USAID and researched by applied anthropologists focused on large-scale projects such as hydroelectric dams, industrialization, and mechanized agriculture.

Question 18

Anthropologist Robert Redfield suggested that there are general standards of judgment that can be applied to most societies.

Question 19

Ethical relativism is the idea that we cannot impose the values of one society on other societies.

Question 20

As a facilitator, the anthropologist actively helps to bring about change in the community being researched.

Question 21

Whereas most archaeologists have traditionally found employment in universities or museums, many are now working as applied archaeologists specializing in what is known as __________.

A) application archaeology
B) cultural resource management
C) excavation archaeology
D) exhumation regulation

Question 22

Which of the following did John Van Willigen and V. C. Channa recommend for decreasing the incidence of dowry death in India?

A) strengthening legislation that prohibits the institution of dowry
B) establishing an inheritance law in which women receive more than men
C) passing a requirement for universal marriage registration and licensing
D) changing the caste system to promote gender equality

Question 23

The word "metaculture" refers to a __________.

A) culture within a culture, such as the culture of African-Americans
B) culture that has become extinct, but about which enough is known to revive it
C) culture that seeks to dominate others, such as the culture of Nazi Germany
D) culture that is worldwide and pluralistic, sharing universal values

Question 24

What role is an applied anthropologist fulfilling when he or she provides cultural information gleaned while doing research to an agency or government that wants to implement change?

A) facilitator
B) analyst
C) informant
D) representative

Question 25

Forensic anthropologists have played an important role in __________.

A) bringing Nazi criminals to justice immediately following World War II
B) identifying the remains from mass graves in South America and Eastern Europe
C) developing military tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan
D) addressing inconsistencies in the methods used in criminal investigations in the United States

Question 26

What is Le Projet du Garbage?

A) a teaching exercise performed in archaeology labs
B) an ongoing archaeological project of the University of Arizona that studies the intricacies of Hohokam lifeways
C) a historical archaeology study conducted by Jim Deetz
D) a project that analyzes contemporary behaviors by studying what people throw away

Question 27

An applied anthropologist who, rather than just providing data about a culture to an organization or government, engages in the actual development of policy is performing which of the following roles?

A) facilitator
B) analyst
C) informant
D) mediator

Question 28

Private agencies and governments often employ anthropologists to provide them with an indication of the possible consequences of the planned change they are about to implement. What is this called?

A) a sociocultural blueprint
B) a social-impact study
C) an ethical relativism statement
D) a culture-change document

Question 29

Sometimes applied anthropologists become engaged in the development of policy. This type of applied anthropology occurred when Allan Holmberg of Cornell University became the new patron to a group of Peruvian Indians who lived on a hacienda. This undertaking was called the __________.

A) Peruvian Project
B) Vicos Project
C) Hacienda Project
D) Applied Patron Project

Question 30

Problems sometimes arise between private developers and the people who will be affected by a project. In such cases, anthropologists who try to reconcile differences between various interest groups are acting as __________.

A) mediators
B) analysts
C) representatives
D) informants

Question 31

Early-twentieth-century anthropologists argued that since there are no universal moral values, each society's values are valid with respect to the specific circumstances and conditions of that society. What is this view called?

A) ethical relativism
B) cultural relativism
C) social morality
D) social ethics

Question 32

Which of the following is a way to resolve the philosophical and moral dilemmas posed by a strict adherence to the doctrine of ethical relativism?

A) acknowledge that the standards of Western culture are always superior to those of non-Western cultures
B) formulate a standard of humanitarian ethics, such as the protection of individuals from bodily harm, that would be recognized by people of any culture
C) adhere to a policy of strict nonintervention in any decisions that would affect behavior in prestate societies of the Third World
D) accept any behavior so long as it is practiced by individuals within the context of their own society

Question 33

Forensic anthropologists sometimes assist the police in which of the following ways?

A) analyzing fingerprints
B) interviewing suspects
C) reconstructing the facial features of a victim
D) interpreting the cultural behaviors of victims and suspects

Question 34

When patients in Thailand use a combination of ritual, magic, and modern scientific medicine to treat an illness, they are enacting __________.

A) a culture-specific disorder
B) polymedicalism
C) therapeutic pluralism
D) the multiple treatment scenario

Question 35

Anthropologists John Van Willigen and V. C. Channa found that the increase in dowry deaths was partially the result of which of the following?

A) economic inflation
B) a decrease in the average age of the bride
C) an increase in the practice of bridewealth among rural families
D) the repeal of national laws that made the institution of dowry illegal

Question 36

What is the study of the spread and distribution of disease called?

A) ethnomedicine
B) medical mapping
C) epidemiology
D) biomedicine

Question 37

Even though there are numerous pieces of legislation aimed at curtailing pot hunting, this practice still persists. The text example of the looting of the __________ is an excellent illustration of the problems that exist.

A) left bank of the Seine
B) Slack Farm site in Kentucky
C) southern banks of the Nile
D) Big Dog Site in Idaho

Question 38

By examining skeletal remains, forensic anthropologists can help determine the __________ of an individual.

A) intelligence level
B) ethnicity
C) sex and approximate age
D) marital status

Question 39

The study of disease, health-care systems, and the theories and methods of curing in cross-cultural perspective is known as __________.

A) epidemiology
B) medical anthropology
C) ethnoscience
D) metamedicine

Question 40

A social-impact study conducted by Thayer Scudder and Elizabeth Colson in Zambia found which of the following?

A) Nuer tribesmen could not give up herding and switch to plow agriculture without totally abandoning their religion, values, norms, mores, and political structure.
B) The medical innovations proposed by the health clinic would probably fail unless shamans were involved in administering to the patients at the same time.
C) The forced relocation of the rural community would create extreme stress and would result in people clinging to familiar traditions and institutions during the change.
D) The new highway would benefit only the elite and rich of the community, leaving the peasants in worse condition than before.

Question 41

What do anthropologists have to consider when intervening in the cultural practices of a society? Is this sort of intervention ever appropriate? If so, when? What is the best way to conduct such interventions? Support your answer with specific examples.

Question 42

What is applied anthropology? Erve Chambers suggests that there are five roles that applied anthropologists play. Discuss each of these roles as they apply to present-day applied anthropological studies.

Question 43

Which of the following is at the heart of the Elgin Marbles controversy?

A) Greek authorities believe the marbles should be returned to Greece.
B) Pot hunters are seeking the right to maintain ownership over their discoveries.
C) The remains of the Parthenon are in danger of falling into ruin if not properly restored.
D) World leaders are torn over whether the Parthenon should be protected under the auspices of British, Greek, or Turkish authorities.

Question 44

What is cultural resource management? Why is it important? Support your answer with specific examples.

Question 45

Caroline Wilson has been investigating which of the following among people living in Kerala, India?

A) the intersection of religious belief and medical practice
B) the relationship between feasting and heart disease
C) differential access to health care among people of different castes
D) prenatal care and infant mortality rates

Question 46

Research into ethnomedicine has indicated that __________.

A) biomedicine is the only effective treatment for disease
B) all humans experience disease the same way
C) theories of how contagions are transmitted are consistent across cultures
D) concepts of illness and disease vary cross-culturally

Question 47

What has research in medical anthropology taught us about mental health and illness around the world? Discuss some of the ways medical anthropology has approached culture-specific disorders. Conclude with a discussion of some of the research that has been conducted on mental health in the Western world and what we have learned from it.

Question 48

According to a Western biomedical perspective, illness is understood as __________.

A) feelings of pain or sickness
B) a disease attributable to natural causes
C) a biological transfer of microscopic contagions
D) a diagnosis offered by a physician

Question 49

Which of the following is a symptom of pibloktoq?

A) running out into the snow
B) falling into a coma
C) cabin fever
D) fear of snakes

Question 50

In Southeast Asia, the type of hysteria known as latah that affects women is an example of __________.

A) religious paranoia
B) a gender-specific disease
C) a culture-specific disorder
D) medical pluralism

Question 51

Compare and contrast two projects in applied cultural anthropology. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each. What can we learn about the application of ethnographic knowledge in real-world situations from these cases?

Question 52

Which of the following describes one of the challenges presented by the repatriation of Native American human remains and cultural artifacts?

A) Native Americans want to display the remains and artifacts in private rather than public museums.
B) Reburial of the remains and artifacts is antithetical to the mission of museums, which view them as nonliving entities to be studied.
C) Museums are not receiving adequate government funding to preserve the remains and artifacts.
D) Native Americans do not value archaeological research and have been inadvertently destroying important sites through new construction on reservations.

Question 53

What is medical anthropology? Describe two projects in medical anthropology that were mentioned in your text. Discuss how these projects combined elements from different anthropological subfields.

Question 54

Explain the concept of universal human rights. Do you think it is possible to adopt a humanitarian standard that would be accepted by everyone in the world? What might this view entail?

Question 55

Examine the concepts of cultural relativism and ethical relativism. Is it possible to understand the values and worldview of another culture and not accept all of their practices and standards? In other words, can one be a cultural relativist and not an ethical relativist at the same time? Support your argument with specific examples.

Question 56

Chinese acupuncture is based on the concept __________.

A) of umami, a particular quality associated with saline levels in the lymphatic system
B) that blood sugar levels vary with health and illness
C) of qi, an energy force that inhabits all living things
D) of medical pluralism

Question 57

What is the central question associated with "cultural patrimony"?

A) What rights do cultural informants have in terms of maintaining anonymity?
B) Who are the forefathers of contemporary Native American populations?
C) What role should anthropologists play in development projects that affect endangered cultural groups?
D) Who has ownership rights over archaeological finds?

Question 58

What is NAGPRA? Discuss the opposing interests of museums and Native American descendant populations. How do you think the issues over repatriation and reburial would best be resolved and why?

Question 59

According to the research of Ellen Gruenbaum, some Sudanese women participated in female genital mutilation (FGM) because __________.

A) they thought it would protect them against rape
B) they were not aware of the medical dangers
C) they were suffering from a culture-specific disorder
D) they did not want to get married and have children

Question 60

What are some of the applications for biological anthropology? What skills do biological anthropologists have that are applicable outside of pure research? Discuss the various roles forensic anthropologists have played around the world in your answer.