Ch1 Anthropology Complete Test Bank

Chapter 1 Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. The subfield of anthropology that studies human evolution, including human genetics and human nutrition, is called
   1. biological anthropology.
   2. linguistic anthropology.
   3. cultural anthropology.
   4. archaeology.
2. The subfield of anthropology that studies language use is called
   1. biological anthropology.
   2. linguistic anthropology.
   3. cultural anthropology.
   4. archaeology.
3. The subfield of anthropology that studies the material remains of past cultures is called
   1. biological anthropology.
   2. linguistic anthropology.
   3. cultural anthropology.
   4. archaeology.
4. The subfield of anthropology that studies human diversity, beliefs, and practices is called
   1. biological anthropology.
   2. linguistic anthropology.
   3. cultural anthropology.
   4. archaeology.
5. A linguistic anthropologist would be least interested in which of the following research projects?
   1. The role of the mouth in forming words
   2. The formation of a local dialect or accent
   3. A language revitalization project
   4. The circulation of American graphic t-shirts in sub-Saharan Africa
6. Cultural relativism is the principle that
   1. one should seek to understand cultures on their own terms.
   2. one can only understand another culture if it is relatively similar to one's own.
   3. anthropologists' ethical obligations vary across cultural contexts.
   4. the scientific method is only appropriate in some cultures.
7. Anthropologists draw their conclusions from information they verify via observation, rather than through logic or theory alone. This research method is known as
   1. empiricism.
   2. ethnocentrism.
   3. paradigmatic.
   4. comparative.
8. When an anthropologist examines birthing practices in the United States and Mexico, he or she is employing
   1. the scientific method.
   2. cultural relativism.
   3. the ethnographic method.
   4. the comparative method.
9. Anthropology emerged as an academic discipline in
   1. 400 bce.
   2. the 1800s.
   3. the 1900s.
   4. the 1500s.
10. The moral and intellectual principle that one should withhold judgment about seemingly strange or exotic beliefs and practices is called
    1. diversity.
    2. cultural relativism.
    3. ethnocentrism.
    4. a waste of time.
11. The thinker who developed evolutionary theory in the nineteenth century was
    1. Karl Marx.
    2. Max Weber.
    3. Emile Durkheim.
    4. Charles Darwin.
12. During colonialism, the perception of non-Western peoples as primitive or savage is referred to as the process of
    1. evolution.
    2. salvaging.
    3. enculturation.
    4. othering.
13. __________ is anthropological research commissioned to serve an organization’s needs.
    1. Applied anthropology
    2. Action anthropology
    3. Practicing archaeology
    4. Cultural anthropology
14. The primary ethical responsibility of anthropologists is to
    1. themselves.
    2. the people or species they study.
    3. the agency that funds the research.
    4. the institution in which they work.
15. Assuming your culture’s way of doing things is the best is called
    1. cultural relativism.
    2. patriotism.
    3. natural selection.
    4. ethnocentrism.
16. Diversity defined anthropologically
    1. is the same as difference.
    2. does not include how people are similar.
    3. focuses on multiplicity and variety.
    4. is a term that is no longer used.
17. What process involves shifting from an agricultural economy to a factory-based one?
    1. Modernization
    2. Industrialization
    3. Neoliberalization
    4. Globalization
18. The process by which inheritable traits are passed along to offspring because they are better suited to the environment is referred to as
    1. evolution.
    2. natural selection.
    3. degeneration.
    4. genetic mutation.
19. Western colonial powers understood the different customs and cultures of the people they colonized as
    1. proof of their primitive nature.
    2. basic human diversity.
    3. a positive characteristic.
    4. something to be celebrated and reproduced.
20. Which of the following is the most significant aspect of the salvage paradigm?
    1. Archaeologists study other people’s trash by salvaging it.
    2. Anthropologists study the natural destruction of societies.
    3. Anthropologists need to collect information from societies before they die out.
    4. Anthropologists produce paradigms to salvage the dignity of oppressed people.
21. During anthropological fieldwork, cultural anthropologists
    1. learn the local language, record people’s economic transactions, and study how environmental changes affect agriculture.
    2. examine items of material culture and the rise of cities and states.
    3. excavate sites where written historical documentation exists to understand the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.
    4. study how language use is shaped by group membership and identify and how language helps people organize their cultural beliefs and ideologies.
22. Linguistic anthropologists study
    1. people’s economic transactions and how environmental changes affect agriculture.
    2. the written historical documentation to understand the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.
    3. the quantitative patterns in land use from census data.
    4. how our language evolved, how our mouths form words, and how indigenous people classify their social worlds.
23. A key principle of the holistic perspective developed by Franz Boas is
    1. understanding the racial diversity of the human species.
    2. identifying the holes in people’s understanding of their worlds.
    3. a goal of synthesizing the entire context of human experience.
    4. that people are fundamentally ethnocentric.
24. A key element of the scientific method, which both explains things and guides research, is
    1. participant observation.
    2. theories.
    3. universal truths.
    4. hypothesis.
25. Techniques that classify features of a phenomenon and count, measure, and construct statistical models are collecting and analyzing __________ data.
    1. qualitative
    2. historical
    3. ethnographic
    4. quantitative
26. The comparative method
    1. is used only by linguistic anthropologists studying two or more languages.
    2. suggests that all societies pass through stages, from primitive state to complex civilization.
    3. explains the sheer variety of ways of being human around the world.
    4. refers to the practice of comparing two or more cultures.
27. Even though anthropologists use parts of the scientific method, some don’t see what they do as science because
    1. they disregard the scientific ideal of the researcher’s detachment from his or her subject of study.
    2. they do not do research in a laboratory.
    3. they use only qualitative methods.
    4. ethnography is primarily fiction.
28. A relativistic perspective on the meanings of Coca-Cola in Tzotzil Maya communities in Chiapas, Mexico, would emphasize that
    1. they, the Tzotzil, are dominated by globalization.
    2. the Maya are becoming a lot more like people from the United States.
    3. those meanings are only sensible within a culturally specific set of ideas about religion and spirituality.
    4. the Maya love carbonated beverages.
29. Mary Amuyunzu-Nyamongo uses applied anthropology in her work on people’s health beliefs and practices in Kenya to
    1. collect ingredients and recipes for indigenous remedies.
    2. implement successful local health programs.
    3. develop a holistic understanding of health and wellness in Kenya.
    4. compare with people’s health beliefs and practices in South Africa.
30. A qualitative approach to studying social life in your university would emphasize all of the following except
    1. prolonged and intensive participation and observation in the community.
    2. the construction of statistical models to explain activities in the community.
    3. the use of field notes, recordings, images, and documents to understand life in the community.
    4. your own subjective impressions.
31. A quantitative approach to studying the archaeological past would be most interested in
    1. the organizing of images, recordings, field notes, and documents about a field site.
    2. the personal impressions of the archaeologist himself or herself.
    3. the comparison of several distinct field sites.
    4. building and testing hypotheses by collecting, classifying, and measuring the remains of past cultures.
32. An ethical approach to anthropological research emphasizes
    1. a commitment to doing minimal harm.
    2. the acceptance of low-risk clandestine research.
    3. responsibilities toward the host country and the people being studied.
    4. a responsibility for informed consent only when the participants speak the same language as the anthropologist.
33. The application of the comparative method in his research in Papua New Guinea led coauthor Robert Welsch to focus on
    1. blood samples from representative villagers.
    2. published and unpublished accounts of mask collectors who visited different villages.
    3. census data concerning household composition.
    4. natural resource extraction practices.
34. If an anthropologist was attempting to collect the cultural knowledge, language, and artifacts of a specific group of people, for fear they might be dying out, this person would be employing
    1. the ethical standards of contemporary anthropology.
    2. the salvage paradigm.
    3. preservation anthropology.
    4. historical archaeology.
35. When an anthropologist studying food culture is learning how to cook a local dish with her informants, she is
    1. doing cultural domain analysis.
    2. using the ethnographic method.
    3. using the scientific method.
    4. taking field notes.
36. An applied anthropologist would be most interested in studying
    1. the most effective distribution of tuberculosis drugs for a health clinic.
    2. the effect of new political advertising policies on recent elections.
    3. how the arrival of Mormon missionaries has affected local religious practices.
    4. how hula dancers apply their knowledge of anatomy in their daily rehearsals.
37. A team of cultural anthropologists studying the idea of "smartness" in a school district would be most likely to
    1. collect statistical data on student success rates.
    2. conduct IQ tests on students.
    3. interview teachers and administrators about how "smartness" is defined.
    4. develop a model that enables them to rank each school in the district from least to most smart.
38. A qualitative approach to studying social life in your university would emphasize all of the following except
    1. prolonged and intensive participation and observation in the community.
    2. the construction of statistical models to explain activities in the community.
    3. the use of field notes, recordings, images, and documents to understand life in the community.
    4. your own subjective impressions.
39. It is important to be clear about the anthropological work you are doing in any field site; therefore, it is important to get the permission of your subjects by
    1. force.
    2. any means necessary.
    3. informed consent.
    4. archival documents.
40. For an anthropologist considering the ethical implications of his or her research, the top priority would be whether
    1. the local government will approve of the results.
    2. the research will be important enough to reach a large audience.
    3. the communities his or her study will feel any negative impact as a result of the study.
    4. nonprofit organizations will find their results useful.

True/False

1. A key concern in the 1850s that shaped the discipline of anthropology was the emergence of a new scientific theory called “evolution.”
   1. True
   2. False
2. Historical archaeologists excavate sites where written historical documentation exists that provides an accurate description of the way the people actually lived.
   1. True
   2. False
3. Diversity, defined anthropologically, refers to both multiplicity and variety, which is not the same thing as “difference.”
   1. True
   2. False
4. Anthropologists have always approached a problem by specializing in one of the four subfields.
   1. True
   2. False
5. Contemporary anthropologists and biologists have competing views on evolution and there is no generally accepted way to explain the relationship among animal and plant species or why humans have certain physical abilities and characteristics.
   1. True
   2. False
6. The scientific method is a research method in pursuit of ultimate truths.
   1. True
   2. False
7. There is rarely any guessing involved in the development of theories because they are tested repeatedly.
   1. True
   2. False
8. When qualitative methods are employed, the researchers themselves are often used as the research instrument.
   1. True
   2. False
9. All anthropologists view anthropology as a science.
   1. True
   2. False
10. The broadest category of anthropological work is practicing anthropology in which the anthropologist not only performs research but also gets involved in the design, implementation, and management of some organization, process, or product.
    1. True
    2. False
11. The practice of anthropologists explaining their research and being clear about the risks involved is called informed consent.
    1. True
    2. False
12. Until the early 1900s, anthropologists believed that their role was to observe indigenous ways of life, interview elders, and assemble indigenously made objects because those lifeways would soon disappear—an approach referred to as the method of natural selection
    1. True
    2. False
13. If Jennifer was conducting a research project where she was comparing plastic surgery clinics in the United States and South Korea, she would be employing the comparative method.
    1. True
    2. False
14. Culture is symbolic.
    1. True
    2. False
15. Hassan is an American who traveled to Kenya and was continuously telling his travel companions how everything in the United States was better and more advanced. Hassan was being ethnocentric.
    1. True
    2. False

Short Answer

1. What were the main concerns that emerged in the 1850s, and how did they shape professional anthropology?
2. Describe how a cultural relativist would study the ethical principles of another culture.
3. What role does the scientific method play in the application of anthropology to solving social problems?
4. How would you use anthropology’s holistic perspective to understand the effects of low-fat diets in American lives?
5. Could you apply the primary ethical principles of anthropology to another academic discipline? Why or why not?
6. Discuss the four subfields of anthropology, providing a definition and explanation for each.
7. How did colonialism influence anthropology and what are the lasting consequences of those influences?
8. Describe what types of quantitative and qualitative techniques you would employ to study a needle exchange program from an anthropological perspective.
9. Discuss the concept of “othering” as described in the chapter and provide an example of othering from current events.
10. Describe 3 of the “Key Characteristics of Anthropologists in the Workplace” and how those skills contribute to a student’s employability.

Short Answer Key (section reference and selected text)

1. What were the main concerns that emerged in the 1850s, and how did they shape professional anthropology?
   1. How Did Anthropology Begin?
   2. “During the nineteenth century, anthropology emerged in Europe and North America as an academic discipline devoted to the systematic observation and analysis of human variation. Three key concerns began to emerge by the 1850s that would shape professional anthropology. These were (1) the disruptions of industrialization in Europe and America, (2) the rise of evolutionary theories, and (3) the growing importance of Europe’s far-flung colonies and the vast American West with their large indigenous populations whose land, mineral wealth, and labor Europeans and Americans wanted to control.”
2. Describe how a cultural relativist would study the ethical principles of another culture.
   1. What Do the Four Subfields of Anthropology Have in Common?
   2. “Anthropologists carry with them basic assumptions about how the world works and what is right or wrong, and these assumptions typically become apparent when one is studying a culture that makes completely different assumptions. One possible response to the gap in understanding that comes with being in another culture is ethnocentrism, assuming one’s own way of doing things is correct, while simply dismissing other people’s assumptions as wrong or ignorant. Such a position would render the attempt to understand other cultures meaningless, and it can lead to bigotry and intolerance. To avoid such negative outcomes, anthropologists have traditionally emphasized cultural relativism, the moral and intellectual principle that one should seek to understand cultures on their own terms and withhold judgment about seemingly strange or exotic beliefs and practices.”
3. What role does the scientific method play in the application of anthropology to solving social problems?
   1. How Do Anthropologists Know What They Know?
   2. “Anthropology often uses the scientific method, the most basic pattern of scientific research. The scientific method starts with the observation of a fact, a verifiable truth. Next follows the construction of a hypothesis, which is a testable explanation for the fact. Then that hypothesis is tested with experiments, further observations, or measurements. If the data (the information the tests produce) show that the hypothesis is wrong, the scientist develops a new hypothesis and then tests it. If the new tests and the data they produce seem to support the hypothesis, the scientist writes up a description of what he or she did and found, and shares it with other scientists. Other scientists then attempt to reproduce those tests or devise new ones, with a goal of disproving the hypothesis (Figure 1.4).”
4. How would you use anthropology’s holistic perspective to understand the effects of low-fat diets in American lives?
   1. What Do the Four Subfields of Anthropology Have in Common?
   2. “In bringing together the study of human biology, prehistory, language, and social life under one disciplinary roof, anthropology offers powerful conceptual tools for understanding the entire context of human experience. The effort to synthesize these distinct approaches and findings into a single comprehensive explanation is called holism. American anthropology has strived to be the most holistic, a legacy of German-born Franz Boas, long considered the founder of American anthropology.”
5. Could you apply the primary ethical principles of anthropology to another academic discipline? Why or why not?
   1. What Ethical Obligations Do Anthropologists Have?
   2. “Issues of ethics—moral questions about right and wrong and standards of appropriate behavior—are at the heart of anthropology, in two senses. First, anthropologists learn about how and why people in other cultures think and act as they do by researching their moral standards. Anthropologists often find these things out by adjusting themselves to that culture’s rules of ethical behavior. Second, doing anthropology itself involves ethical relationships between researchers and others, raising many important and complex issues about the ethical conduct of anthropological research and practice. Ethics in anthropology—the moral principles that guide anthropological conduct—are not just a list of “dos and don’ts.” Ethics is organically connected to what it means to be a good anthropologist (Fluehr-Lobban 2003). Here we consider three issues of common ethical concern for all anthropologists: doing no harm, taking responsibility for one’s work, and sharing one’s findings.”
6. Discuss the four subfields of anthropology, providing a definition and explanation for each.
   1. What Do the Four Subfields of Anthropology Have in Common?
   2. “Anthropology has traditionally been divided into four subfields: cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology (Figure 1.2).”
7. How did colonialism influence anthropology and what are the lasting consequences of those influences?
   1. How Did Anthropology Begin?
   2. “Colonialism is the historical practice of more powerful countries claiming possession of less powerful ones. American seizure and domination of Indian lands is a form of colonialism. Although the colonial period began in the late-fifteenth century, it flourished from the 1870s until the 1960s, which coincided with the formation and institutionalization of anthropology as an academic discipline. In these colonial situations, Whites established mines, fisheries, plantations, and other enterprises using local peoples as inexpensive labor. Colonies enriched the mother countries, often impoverishing the indigenous inhabitants.”
8. Describe what types of quantitative and qualitative techniques you would employ to study a needle exchange program from an anthropological perspective.
   1. How Do Anthropologists Put Their Knowledge to Work in the World?
   2. “Anthropological research is relevant and useful for addressing many social problems. At some point in their careers, most anthropologists get involved in work with practical, real-world concerns, applying their research skills and knowledge to the creation or implementation of policies, the management of social programs, the conduct of legal proceedings, or even the design of consumer products.”
9. Discuss the concept of “othering” as described in the chapter and provide an example of othering from current events.
   1. How Did Anthropology Begin?
   2. “Colonized peoples everywhere had different cultures and customs, and their actions often seemed baffling to White administrators, a fact that these officials chalked up to their primitive or savage nature. Advocates of colonialism justified their actions—both politically and morally—through the othering of non-Western peoples, that is, defining colonized peoples as different from, and subordinate to, Europeans in terms of their social, moral, and physical norms (Said 1978). At the same time, early anthropologists were developing new social scientific methods of studying non-Western societies, primarily to inform colonial officials how to govern and control such different peoples.”
10. Describe 3 of the “Key Characteristics of Anthropologists in the Workplace” and how those skills contribute to a student’s employability.
    1. How Do Anthropologists Put Their Knowledge to Work in the World?
    2. “In almost any imaginable workplace, individuals with an undergraduate or graduate background in anthropology are
       1. Expert learners. Anthropologists are constantly alert to opportunities to learn something new and connect it to something they already know. They are also habitually curious and willing to question the taken-for-granted, which can lead to innovation.
       2. Pattern seekers. Anthropologists recognize that even in the most seemingly chaotic situation, there are social, historical, institutional, natural, and cultural patterns at work, and they are deft at identifying and understanding those patterns.
       3. Equally attentive to the big picture and the details. In anthropological research, there is (usually productive) tension between holism and particularism. The advantage for the anthropologist in the workplace is an ability to recognize how the most particular details connect to a big picture.
       4. Questioners and listeners. Based on the adage that 99% of a good answer is a good question, anthropologists learn to pose useful and interesting questions that elicit meaningful responses. They are equally good at listening, recognizing that any attempt to understand how and why a group of people think and act as they do requires active and sympathetic listening skills.
       5. Accurate and precise. Anthropologists are very good at identifying and creating accurate and precise evidence to support their claims.
       6. Relationship builders. Anthropologists are effective at identifying, understanding, and using social networks to create relationships and learn about the structure of social groups. As relationship builders, anthropologists recognize the importance of ongoing processes of give-and-take rooted in ethical relations with others.
       7. Adaptable. Anthropologists seek out things that are strange to them, unexpected, and outside their normal experience. Being flexible and adapting without judgment are key elements of anthropological training.
       8. Communicators. Being able to explain to people—especially verbally and in writing—what your research is about and why it’s important requires strong communication skills, sometimes in a language other than your native tongue.
       9. Effective at working with diversity and difference. One of the hallmarks of anthropology is cultural relativism, or withholding judgment about people and perspectives that seem strange or exotic. Anthropologists develop a practical relativism based on recognition and respect for people who are different from them.
       10. Critical thinkers. Anthropologists must assess and evaluate on a regular basis the validity of their evidence. Critical reflection on what is known and still unknown are hallmarks of an anthropological education.”