Culture And Meaning Test Bank Chapter.1 - Complete Test Bank | Cultural Anthropology Problem 8e by Richard H. Robbins. DOCX document preview.
Chapter 1: Culture and Meaning
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. People who belong to the same society have similar ways of seeing the world because they share ______.
a. life events
b. culture
c. genes
d. their environment
Learning Objective: 1.1: Why do human beings differ in their beliefs and behaviors?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Question 1.1 Why Do Human Beings Differ in Their Beliefs and Behaviors?
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. Why do people in the United States of America rarely eat insects?
a. Insects are fundamentally dangerous to consume
b. Americans are more civilized than people who live in other places
c. Consuming animals is frowned upon in the United States
d. Insects are not categorized as “good to eat” in the United States
Learning Objective: 1.1: Why do human beings differ in their beliefs and behaviors?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Question 1.1 Why Do Human Beings Differ in Their Beliefs and Behaviors?
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. American ideas about which technically edible items are good to eat come from ______.
a. direct experience of items as dangerous or safe
b. Biblical designations of edible or inedible
c. observations of animals eating some items but not others
d. interpretation of the taste of items
Learning Objective: Question 1.1: Why do human beings differ in their beliefs and behaviors?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Question 1.1: Why Do Human Beings Differ In Their Beliefs and Behaviors?
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. A cultural belief that deceased ancestors are still involved in the lives of their descendants will most likely lead people to ______ upon the death of any member.
a. seek vengeance
b. catch and consume a salmon
c. add mementos of the deceased to a shrine
d. place heavy stones upon the deceased
Learning Objective: Learning Objective: 1.1: Why do human beings differ in their beliefs and behaviors?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Question 1.1 Why Do Human Beings Differ in Their Beliefs and Behaviors?
Difficulty Level: Medium
5. Which of the following statements is true about interpretations of death?
a. They are universally similar
b. They vary widely from culture to culture
c. They are irrational among some cultures.
d. They always involve belief in an afterlife
Learning Objective: Learning Objective: 1.1: Why do human beings differ in their beliefs and behaviors?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Question 1.1 Why Do Human Beings Differ in Their Beliefs and Behaviors?
Difficulty Level: Medium
6. Why did the Wari of western Brazil consume the flesh of the dead prior to Western contact?
a. They did not have alternative protein sources.
b. They had to placate their bloodthirsty gods.
c. They wanted to show respect and compassion.
d. They believed they would consume the strength of the deceased.
Learning Objective: Learning Objective: 1.1: Why do human beings differ in their beliefs and behaviors?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Question 1.1 Why Do Human Beings Differ in Their Beliefs and Behaviors?
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. The belief that ______ is an example of the ethnocentric fallacy.
a. people in different societies have different beliefs
b. cannibalism is tolerable as long as it has ritual significance
c. those who practice arranged marriage are barbaric
d. anthropologists should be activists
Learning Objective: 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Ethnocentric Fallacy and the Relativist Fallacy
Difficulty Level: Medium
8. Which of the following beliefs is an example of a relativist fallacy?
a. Human sacrifice is acceptable when people believe it will save the world
b. Female genital mutilation must be abolished
c. Western culture is superior to other ways of living
d.Death is part of a cycle rather than an end
Learning Objective: 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Ethnocentric Fallacy and the Relativist Fallacy
Difficulty Level: Medium
9. Anthropologists reject ethnocentrism on a/n ______ basis.
a. moral
b. comparative
c. intellectual
d. judgmental
Learning Objective: 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Ethnocentric Fallacy and the Relativist Fallacy
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. Virginity testing in traditional Turkish villages is one result of ______.
a. Turkish moral inferiority to Europeans
b. agricultural metaphors of reproduction
c. matrilineal kinship patterns
d. increasing secularization
Learning Objective: 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Virginity Testing in Turkey and Cannibalism Among the Wari
Difficulty Level: Medium
11. Which of the following includes both an ethnocentric and a relativistic interpretation of the consumption of insects?
a. It is disgusting to eat insects, but it makes sense as a source of nutrition in some places.
b. Insects are nutritious and tasty sources of food.
c. Insects are nasty, and those who eat insects are barbaric.
d. Insects are as valid a food source as steak, lettuce, or rice.
Learning Objective: Question 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Ethnocentric Fallacy and the Relativist Fallacy
Difficulty Level: Hard
12. The ethnocentric perspective is ______ the relativism perspective.
a. better than
b. more problematic than
c. the same thing as
d. just as bad as
Learning Objective: Question 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Ethnocentric Fallacy and the Relativist Fallacy
Difficulty Level: Medium
13. Which of the following is goal of cultural anthropologists?
a. understand each cultural practice as part of the larger whole
b. spread Western ideals across the world
c. teach those from various cultures better ways to live
d. decide which cultural practices are best
Learning Objective: Question 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Ethnocentric Fallacy and the Relativist Fallacy
Difficulty Level: Medium
14. An ethnocentric interpretation of the northern Sudanese practice of genital mutilation would be that ______.
a. sexual modesty is crucial for family honor
b. Sudanese people are barbarians who hate women
c. genital mutilation protects girls from sexual assault
d. women who do not undergo the process are unlikely to marry
Learning Objective: Question 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Ethnocentric Fallacy and the Relativist Fallacy
Difficulty Level: Medium
15. A relativistic interpretation of the traditional Turkish virginity test would be that ______.
a. it is a reflection of patrilineal descent practices
b. human rights groups should end the practice
c. it helps women by giving them an incentive to remain chaste
d. it is an outdated way to think
Learning Objective: Question 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Virginity Testing in Turkey and Cannibalism Among the Wari
Difficulty Level: Medium
16. Anthropologists serve as ______ between different cultures.
a. translators of meaning
b. guides of morality
c. agents of development
d. teachers of skills
Learning Objective: 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Question 1.3: Is It Possible to See the World Through the Eyes of Others?
Difficulty Level: Easy
17. Cultural anthropology differs from other social sciences in its use of the ______ method.
a. survey
b. secondary source
c. scientific
d. ethnographic
Learning Objective: 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Question 1.3: Is It Possible to See the World Through the Eyes of Others?
Difficulty Level: Easy
18. Which of the following is an example of ethnographic fieldwork?
a. Interviewing a tourist who has visited the Marshall Islands
b. Writing a newspaper article about drug use in the inner city
c. Reading scholarly articles about polygamy in Tibet
d. Helping women dig sweet potatoes in Papua New Guinea
Learning Objective: 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Question 1.3: Is It Possible to See the World Through the Eyes of Others?
Difficulty Level: Medium
19. Anthropologists who face danger as they conduct fieldwork learn ______.
a. something about the dangers faced by the people they study
b. to be as obedient to local authority as they would at home
c. to hide their true objective from the locals
d. that they should have chosen a different place to study
Learning Objective: 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Confronting Witchcraft in Mexico
Difficulty Level: Medium
20. Cultural anthropologists experience ______ during their fieldwork as a result of misunderstanding something about the people they study.
a. communication
b. embarrassment
c. stage fright
d. participant observation
Learning Objective: Question 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Embarrassed Anthropologist
Difficulty Level: Medium
21. Which of the following demonstrates the importance of ethnographic fieldwork in understanding other cultures?
a. Michael Kearney’s fear that he had been bewitched by his neighbor after he helped Delfina’s sister-in-law
b. The murder of anthropologists such as Ruth First, Myrna Mack, Arnold Ap, and David Webster
c. Clifford Geertz’ rapport with the Balinese
d. Sherlock Holmes’ analysis of Watson’s brother’s watch
Learning Objective: Question 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Confronting Witchcraft in Mexico
Difficulty Level: Medium
22. The ethnographic technique of participant observation is crucial because ______ a member of the culture under study.
a. it turns the anthropologist into
b. the anthropologist can interview
c. anthropologists are less likely to meet
d. it helps the anthropologist see the world like
Learning Objective: Question 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Question 1.3: Is It Possible to See the World Through the Eyes of Others?
Difficulty Level: Medium
23. Communication requires ______.
a. each party to have the same background
b. a suspension of relativism
c. participant observation
d. shared meanings
Learning Objective: Question 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Confronting Witchcraft in Mexico
Difficulty Level: Easy
24. Anthropologists are similar to detectives like Sherlock Holmes in that both ______.
a. ‘read’ deeper meanings into ordinary objects
b. are concerned with solving problems
c. study other cultures
d. measure time by completed task
Learning Objective: 1.4: How can the meanings that others find in experience be interpreted and described?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Question 1.4: How Can the Meanings That Others Find in Experience Be Interpreted and Described?
Difficulty Level: Medium
25. How are anthropologists different from detectives like Sherlock Holmes?
a. Anthropologists use deductive reasoning and detectives use inductive reasoning.
b. Anthropologists are concerned with cultures as a whole and detectives are concerned with the actions of individuals.
c. Detectives study the actions of individuals to interpret cultural meaning rather than individual action.
d. Detectives use ethnographic methodology and anthropologists use participant observation.
Learning Objective: 1.4: How can the meanings that others find in experience be interpreted and described?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Question 1.4: How Can the Meanings That Others Find in Experience Be Interpreted and Described?
Difficulty Level: Medium
26. Which of the following statements best describes a Balinese cockfight?
a. It is a way for marginal Balinese to profit economically
b. It acts as an expression of Balinese bloodthirstiness.
c. It is a form of entertainment for the elite.
d. Its primary function is the nonviolent release of social tension.
Learning Objective: 1.4: How can the meanings that others find in experience be interpreted and described?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Deciphering the Balinese Cockfight
Difficulty Level: Medium
27. Understanding the ‘cultural text’ of other societies is an ability that ______ have.
a. only the best anthropologists
b. not even anthropologists
c. all humans
d. only children
Learning Objective: 1.4: How can the meanings that others find in experience be interpreted and described?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Question 1.4: How Can the Meanings That Others Find in Experience Be Interpreted and Described?
Difficulty Level: Easy
28. Something is a symbol if it ______.
a. has no functional purpose
b. is the same across cultures
c. represents only one thing
d. carries meaning
Learning Objective: 1.4: How can the meanings that others find in experience be interpreted and described?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Question 1.4: How Can the Meanings That Others Find in Experience Be Interpreted and Described?
Difficulty Level: Medium
29. Balinese cockfights involve the negotiation of ______.
a. status
b. business deals
c. political alliances
d. marriages
Learning Objective: 1.4: How can the meanings that others find in experience be interpreted and described?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Deciphering the Balinese Cockfight
Difficulty Level: Easy
30. Balinese anthropologists might analyze the American practice of ______ in a similar manner to Geertz’ analysis of the Balinese cockfight.
a. dining etiquette
b. football
c. Groundhog Day
d. livestock farming
Learning Objective: 1.5: What can learning about other peoples tell Americans about themselves?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: A Balinese Anthropologist Studies Football
Difficulty Level: Medium
31. ______ is an important step in analyzing cultural practices like the Balinese cockfight.
a. Analyzing the language associated with the practice
b. Training a cock to fight or joining a football team
c. Concluding that each practice is solely for recreation
d. Seeking oral histories of the practice
Learning Objective: Question 1.5: What can learning about other peoples tell Americans about themselves?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: A Balinese Anthropologist Studies Football
Difficulty Level: Medium
32. Someone who had never heard of American football would be most likely to interpret it as a ______.
a. form of warfare
b. festival
c. rite of passage
d. example of religious worship
Learning Objective: Question 1.5: What can learning about other peoples tell Americans about themselves?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: A Balinese Anthropologist Studies Football
Difficulty Level: Medium
33. Which ‘outsider’ interpretation of the Happy Meal would be most surprising to the average American?
a. Happy Meals are delicious but not very nutritious.
b. Happy Meals reflect the environmental destruction inherent in American patterns of consumption.
c. Happy Meals are made by workers who do not make a living wage.
d. Happy Meals, like many other American meals, feature meat as the main course rather than vegetables or carbohydrates.
Learning Objective: Question 1.5: What can learning about other peoples tell Americans about themselves?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: An Anthropologist Looks at a “Happy Meal”
Difficulty Level: Medium
34. Renato Rosaldo understood the rage of the Ilongots only when ______.
a. his wife died
b. he returned from the field
c. he got into a fight with a fellow anthropologist
d. the Ilongot expelled him from their territory
Learning Objective: Question 1.5: What can learning about other peoples tell Americans about themselves?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Question 1.5: What Can Learning About Other Peoples Tell Americans About Themselves?
Difficulty Level: Application
35. Renato Rosaldo’s experience with the Ilongots illustrates how ______.
a. spectator sports are a form of status negotiation
b. experiences of rejection are universal
c. gender roles differ from culture to culture
d. learning about others can help anthropologists understand themselves
Learning Objective: Question 1.5: What can learning about other peoples tell Americans about themselves?
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Question 1.5: What Can Learning About Other Peoples Tell Americans About Themselves?
Difficulty Level: Medium
True/False
1. People in different societies experience natural events like the death of a loved one in the same way.
Learning Objective: 1.1: Why do human beings differ in their beliefs and behaviors?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Question 1.1: Why Do Human Beings Differ in Their Beliefs and Behaviors?
Difficulty Level: Medium
2. Politically engaged anthropologists remain objective about their research communities.
Learning Objective: 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Objectivity and Morality
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. Every cultural practice is equally moral.
Learning Objective: Question 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Ethnocentric Fallacy and the Relativist Fallacy
Difficulty Level: Medium
4. Anthropologists remain outsiders during the course of their ethnographic fieldwork.
Learning Objective: 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Endangered Anthropologist
Difficulty Level: Medium
5. Cultural anthropologists can study their own cultures.
Learning Objective: Question 1.5: What can learning about other peoples tell Americans about themselves?
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Question 1.5: What Can Learning About Other Peoples Tell Americans About Themselves?
Difficulty Level: Medium
Short Answer
1. Is it valid to say that one culture is superior to another from an anthropological perspective? Why or why not?
Learning Objective: 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Ethnocentric Fallacy and the Relativist Fallacy
Difficulty Level: Hard
2. Discuss the moral dilemma faced by anthropologists who study the disenfranchised, poor, and powerless.
Learning Objective: 1.2: How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Objectivity and Morality
Difficulty Level: Hard
3. Is it possible for an anthropologist to fully understand the cultures they study? Support your answer.
Learning Objective: 1.3: Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Question 1.3: Is It Possible to See the World Through the Eyes of Others?
Difficulty Level: Hard
4. Choose one of the following items or cultural practices and discuss how it can reveal meaningful information about both individuals and a culture as a whole: clock/watch, classroom, cockfight, or football game.
Learning Objective: 1.4: How can the meanings that others find in experience be interpreted and described?
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Question 1.4: How Can the Meanings That Others Find in Experience Be Interpreted and Described?
Difficulty Level: Hard
5. Would the anthropological (outsider) explanations of the Happy Meal resonate with the average American Happy Meal consumer (insider)? Which perspective, the insider or the outsider, is more useful in understanding the Happy Meal and why?
Learning Objective: 1.5: What can learning about other peoples tell Americans about themselves?
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: An Anthropologist Looks at a “Happy Meal”
Difficulty Level: Hard
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Complete Test Bank | Cultural Anthropology Problem 8e
By Richard H. Robbins