Although anthropologists may be interested in contemporary global issues such as
climate change, their perspective is necessarily limited to the local scale of their
fieldwork.
Survey research is usually conducted through intensive personal contact with the study
subjects.
A functional explanation attempts to correlate particular customs (in this case kinship
terms) to other features of society.
The most common postmarital residence rule is matrilocality, in which the married
couple moves in with the husband’s family.
Ethnomusicology is one of the four main subfields of anthropology.
Studies investigating differences in the way men and women talk are examples of
sociolinguistics.
If Hannah marries her deceased husband’s brother, the arrangement is considered a
levirate marriage.
Forces influencing production and consumption are no longer restricted by national
boundaries.
Among the Kalabari, wood sculptures represent the highest form of purely artistic
representation of loved ones.
Diaspora refers to the hegemonic policy of dominators to isolate individuals who
publicly resist from the rest of the population.
Ascribed statuses are based on an individual’s talents, abilities, and actions.
With the rise of states, kinship’s role in society continued to grow and dominate daily
activities.
In chiefdoms, chiefs occupy formal offices and administer or regulate a series of
villages.
Phenotypic similarities and differences always have a genetic basis.
Fortunately for applied anthropologists eager to do effective international work, all
governments are by their nature genuinely and realistically committed to improving the
lives of their citizens.
mile Durkheim, an early scholar of religion, stressed what he termed religious
effervescence. Anthropologists too have stressed the collective, social, shared, and
enacted nature of religion, the emotions it generates, and the meanings it embodies.
Potlatching is a form of competitive feasting that enables individuals to redistribute
surplus materials while simultaneously increasing their own prestige.
De facto discrimination refers to the discrimination that occurs when laws exist that
harm a specific group and its members.
Psychologists tend to study only people living in the non-Western world, so
anthropology has very little to offer this field.
A key element of multiculturalism is its respect for ethnic diversity.
In chiefdoms, individuals are ranked according to seniority, but everyone is believed to
be descended from a common set of ancestors.
Social controls refers to the fields of the social systembeliefs, practices, and
institutionsthat are most actively involved in the maintenance of norms and the
regulation of conflict.
Creole languages are commonly found in regions where different linguistic groups
come into contact with one another.
Anthropology is characterized by a methodological rather than moral relativism; in
order to understand another culture fully, anthropologists try to understand its members’
beliefs and motivations.
Ethnoecology is any society’s set of environmental practices and perceptionsthat is, its
cultural model of the environment and its relation to people and society.
Although briefly popular after its introduction, online dating never became a significant
part of the marriage market.
In Spanish-speaking Latin America, social scientists and politicians now favor the term
indio over indigena when referring to Native Americans.
Outside North America, Western Europe, and the European-derived cultures of Latin
America, neolocal residence isn’t all that common.
It is safe to assume that there is less cultural diversity among the poorest, less
developed countries in the world.
In the United States, there is a sharp distinction between what is considered art and
what is not.
The Malagasy development program described in this chapter illustrates the importance
of
A.the local government’s ability to improve the lives of its citizens, when committed to
doing so.
B.replacing subsistence farming with a viable cash crop.
C.replacing outdated traditional techniques of irrigation with more modern ones.
D.breaking down corporate descent groups, which are too independent and interfere
with development.
E.the top-down strategies developed by the UN.
Human rights are seen as inalienable. This means that
A.no one can abuse them.
B.nations cannot abridge or terminate them.
C.they are vested in groups and not individuals.
D.anthropologists have no moral grounds to question them.
E.they are universally accepted by all individuals.
In recent times, many foraging groups have been exposed to the idea of food production
but have not adopted it. Why?
A.They did not have the skills or tools to do so.
B.Their own economies provided a perfectly adequate and nutritious diet, with a lot less
work.
C.People naturally resist change, especially foragers.
D.They had to ask permission from the state to do so.
E.They did not realize the advantages of food production.
Today’s ecological anthropology, also known as environmental anthropology, attempts
not only to understand environmental problems but also to
A.find solutions, acknowledging that ecosystems management involves multiple levels.
B.prescribe top-down solutions to ecological problems.
C.work closely with state agencies, among whom they do most of their ethnography, to
promote institutional change.
D.contribute to development projects that sometimes, out of necessity, replace
indigenous institutions with culturally alien concepts.
E.promote the concepts of environmental rights, even at the expense of cultural rights.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dr. Sing Lee, a Hong Kong-based psychiatrist and
researcher, documented what was at that time a culturally specific and vary rare
disorder in teenage females. What was the disorder?
A.bulimia
B.anorexia
C.post traumatic stress
D.koro
E.mal de ojo
The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that keeps the earth’s surface warm.
Without greenhouse gaseswater vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
halocarbons, and ozonelife as we know it wouldn’t exist. The current problem is that
A.most scientists dispute the anthropogenic reasoning for high concentrations of
greenhouse gases.
B.the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases has reached its highest level in
400,000 years and will continue to rise, as will global temperatures, without actions to
slow it down.
C.scientists cannot agree on a general model of how the greenhouse effect went from
being a positive to a negative and a life-threatening force.
D.global warming actually benefits 90 percent of the world’s population, so it is
difficult to mobilize the will to address the anthropogenic causes of climate change.
E.it is difficult to distinguish between climate change and global warming.
Which of the following is NOT true about culture?
A.Culture is a key aspect of human adaptability and success.
B.Culture is passed on genetically to future generations.
C.Cultural forces consistently mold and shape human biology and behavior.
D.Culture guides the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to it.
E.Culture is passed on from generation to generation.
What kind of evidence led scientists studying remains at South Africa’s Blombos Cave
to suggest that they had found proof of symbolic thought dated to more than 70,000
years ago?
A.The tools found were specialized for different purposes.
B.Among the bone tools they found were some that were not just sharp but also
symmetrical and polished, characteristics that do not add functional value to the tool.
C.Like Upper Paleolithic cave paintings in Europe, the art in Blombos Cave exhibited
graphic representations on its walls.
D.What looks like rudimentary pedestals were found, which may have been used to
exhibit artistic objects.
E.Among the smaller objects found were earrings and necklaces.
What does it mean that kinship, like race, is culturally constructed?
A.The educational system is failing to educate people about real, biologically-based
human relatedness.
B.Like race, kinship is a social fiction, with no real social consequence.
C.It is a phenomenon separated from other real aspects of society, such as economics
and politics.
D.Studies of kinship tell us little about people’s actual experiences, only about what
they think those experiences are like.
E.Some genealogical kin are considered to be relatives whereas others are not, and the
rules underlying such considerations vary across cultures.
As we enter the 21st century, artistic expression
A.within industrialized states is increasingly becoming more isolated and independent.
B.finds itself intentionally avoiding the use of multiple expressive media in favor of
employing only one medium.
C.can be seen to be increasingly incorporating elements from many cultures into
contemporary art and performance.
D.is disappearing from our cultural repertoire.
E.has lost most of its effectiveness.
In a bifurcate merging kinship system, which of the following would be referred to by
the same term?
A.F and MB
B.M and MZ
C.MB and FB
D.FZ and MZ
E.JR and BJ
What process is most responsible for the existence of international culture?
A.ethnocentrism
B.cultural relativism
C.dendritic acculturation
D.gene flow
E.cultural diffusion, whether direct, indirect, or by force
According to studies in the 1960s, why did young Etoro men and boys engage in
homosexual relationships?
A.They did not understand biological reproduction, which is why they no longer exist.
B.The status of Etoro women was the highest in the world, in a status above and beyond
males.
C.Genetic drift created a population dominated by a homosexual gene.
D.They believed it necessary for boys to ingest semen in order to mature in a healthy
way.
E.A warrior cult of older adult men vigorously enforced a monopoly on access to
women.
The presence of more efficient respiratory systems to extract oxygen from the air
among human populations living at high elevations is an example of which form of
adaptation?
A.short-term physiological adaptation
B.cultural adaptation
C.symbolic adaptation
D.genetic adaptation
E.long-term physiological adaptation
Like ethnicity and language, religion also is
A.a social fiction.
B.a topic of research that distinguishes anthropology from other disciplines.
C.a phenomenon that illustrates the power of biology over culture.
D.a cultural generality.
E.associated with social divisions within and between societies and nations.
What is the term that anthropologists use to identify ego’s socially recognized father?
A.pater
B.genitor
C.creator
D.father
E.mater
All of the following are characteristic field techniques of the ethnographer EXCEPT
A.detailed work with key consultants.
B.direct, firsthand observation of behavior, including participant observation.
C.in-depth interviewing, often leading to the collection of life histories.
D.problem-oriented research.
E.longitudinal analysis of data sets gathered from state-sponsored statistical agencies.
Animism, polytheism, and monotheism are the
A.three kinds of religion that exist in the world today.
B.stages of ritual, according to Victor Turner.
C.stages, according to Edward Tylor, through which religion evolved.
D.stages through which all present-day religions have passed.
E.names for the three psychological needs that all individuals have, thus explaining the
universality of religion.
This chapter’s survey of the major theoretical perspectives that have characterized
anthropology highlights all of the following EXCEPT
A.a continuous concern with how to define and study culture.
B.the theoretical and methodological shift from complexity to models that simplify
human diversity.
C.a continuous concern with scientific fundamentals and whether or not anthropology’s
research subject is best studied scientifically.
D.attention to whether or not anthropological data ought to be comparative across time
and space.
E.the discipline’s profound commitment to understanding human diversity.
Which of the following kinds of exchange is characteristic among the members of a
family?
A.generalized reciprocity
B.balanced reciprocity
C.negative reciprocity
D.redistribution
E.None of these answers is correct.
Anthropologists’ early interest in Native North Americans
A.is unique to European anthropology.
B.was more important than interest in the relation between biology and culture in the
development of U.S. four-field anthropology.
C.proved early on that culture is a function of race.
D.is an important historical reason for the development of four-field anthropology in
the U.S.
E.was replaced in the 1930s by the two-field approach.
Despite differences arising from environmental variation, all foraging economies have
shared one essential feature:
A.their emphasis on devising new forms of organic pesticides.
B.their reliance on welfare supplied by state-level societies.
C.their willingness to test out new food-producing technologies to see if they are any
better than what they are used to.
D.their interest in developing irrigation technologies to control sources of water.
E.their reliance on available natural resources for their subsistence, rather than
controlling the reproduction of plants and animals.
In which food production system does part of the group’s population accompany the
herds to distant pastures and the remaining population maintain year-round villages and
grow crops?
A.pastoral nomadic
B.transhumance
C.mixed specialization
D.intensive agriculturalist
E.modified foraging
As an example of how virtually no one is immune from larger political and economic
forces, the Yanomami tribal society of Brazil has suffered recent changes as a result of
A.being overrun by the more expansion-minded Nilotic peoples.
B.modern-minded big men amassing so much wealth that people have begun to regard
them as chiefs.
C.village raiding among tribal groups.
D.the involvement of NGOs in their internal political affairs.
E.encroachment by gold miners and ranchers.
To Arjun Appadurai (1990), “________” describes the linkages in the modern world
that have both enlarged and erased old boundaries and distinctions.
A.postmodern
B.ethnocentric
C.translocal
D.essentialized
E.diasporic
Unlike in industrial societies, where economic alienation is common, in nonindustrial
societies
A.alienation is pervasive.
B.alienation is suffered only among the poorer classes.
C.social relations are embedded in all relations except the economic ones.
D.the relations of production, distribution, and consumption are social relations with
economic aspects.
E.alienation is an ascribed status.
The Occupy movement, which began on Wall Street in New York and spread to other
U.S. and Canadian cities, recognizes the disparity between the rich and the poor. Which
of the following statements about U.S. wealth as of the year 2012 is NOT correct?
A.The top 1% of American households hold over one-third the nation’s wealth.
B.The net worth of the top 1% is 288 times greater than the typical household’s net
worth.
C.The net worth of the top 1% compared to the typical household is the highest ratio on
record.
D.The bottom 90% of income-earning households control half of all net worth.
E.74% of U.S. wealth growth in recent years has gone to the top 5%.
In nonindustrial societies, artists
A.tend to be full-time specialists.
B.tend to be part-time.
C.do not exist.
D.are relegated to the hidden transcript of the social contract.
E.tend to display their work exclusively in galleries.
Contemporary North American adults usually define their families as consisting of their
husbands or wives and their children. In contrast, when middle-class Brazilians talk
about their families, they mean their parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and
on, down to their children. They rarely mention the spouse. Which of the following is
among the reasons for this stark cultural contrast?
A.Brazilians readily incorporate strangers into their social worlds.
B.North Americans value independence over their family.
C.North Americans have more choices about where they can live, and they have chosen
to live away from their relatives.
D.Brazilians live in a less mobile society and so stay in closer contact with their
relatives, including members of their extended family, than do North Americans.
E.Brazilians have purely economic relationships with their spouses.
In his study of Navajo music, McAllester found that it reflected the overall culture in all
of the following ways EXCEPT
A.a general Navajo belief in the right way to sing a song.
B.a general Navajo stress on proper form applied to music.
C.a general Navajo stress on individualism extended to music.
D.a general Navajo liberalism extended to music.
E.a general distaste among the Navajo for foreign music.
Anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn (1944) saw a key public service role for
anthropology. In his words, it could provide a “scientific basis for dealing with the
crucial dilemma of the world today: how can peoples of different appearance, mutually
unintelligible languages, and dissimilar ways of life get along peaceably together.”
Anthropologists also have made and continue to make a dramatic impact on people’s
welfare as they cope with crises such as the January 2010 Haiti earthquake. What are
some examples of this?
Answer:Answers will vary
Discuss the major advantages and disadvantages of scientific and traditional medicine,
being careful to distinguish between scientific medicine and Western medicine.
Answer:Answers will vary
What does it mean to say that culture is all-encompassing?
Answer:Answers will vary
Agency refers to the actions that individuals take, both alone and in groups, in forming
and transforming culture. Describe examples in your own life that illustrate the
relationship between agency and culture.
Answer:Answers will vary
What are some of the arguments for and against the interpretation of the mass media as
forms of cultural imperialism?
Answer:Answers will vary
How is a rent fund different from a subsistence fund? Cite examples to clarify your
argument.
Answer:Answers will vary
What advantages do you see in ethnographic research techniques? What are the
advantages for survey techniques? Which one would you choose, and what would that
choice depend upon?
Answer:Answers will vary
Cite evidence confirming or denying the universality of the nuclear family. Give
examples from different cultures. What other social units might assume the functions
associated with nuclear families?
Answer:Answers will vary
What is the difference between postmodernity and postmodernism? How has
postmodernity affected the units of anthropological study?
Answer:Answers will vary
How did the views of Marx and Weber on stratification differ? Relate their views to the
modern global stratification system.
Answer:Answers will vary
Where is art found? Is art found in the same contexts in all kinds of societies?
Answer:Answers will vary
This chapter describes how sports and the media reflect culture, and offers among its
illustrations a cross-cultural comparison that explores why some countries but not
others enjoy international success in sports. Describe the two contrasting cases. Are any
of the conclusions surprising? Why or why not?
Answer:Answers will vary
What does holism refer to? Why is the concept central to anthropology? How does this
concept relate to the “four-field” approach within the discipline? Have you encountered
this concept in any of your other classes?
Answer:Answers will vary
What is industrial alienation? What kinds of activities are most likely to be associated
with alienation? What activities in our own society are most alienating? Which are least
so?
Answer:Answers will vary
What is the relationship between art and religion? Is all art religious? Are all religious
objects art? Could an object that starts off as religious acquire the qualities of art, and
vice versa?
Answer:Answers will vary
Anthropologists claim that in nonstate societies the political structure is embedded in
relationships based on kinship, descent, and marriage. What does this mean? Use two
ethnographic cases to illustrate this claim.
Answer:Answers will vary
Consider the impact the media have on your daily life. From what sources do you have
access to popular culture? Which are your favorites, and why?
Answer:Answers will vary
What is Project Minerva? What about the Human Terrain System? What concerns have
these Pentagon programs raised among anthropologists? In your view, what role (if any)
should academics play in national security?
Answer:Answers will vary