Chapter 3 Test Bank

KNOWLEDGE OF KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

1. Cultural anthropologists do research by

a) building trusting relationships with people over a long period of time.

b) gathering data to produce statistical models.

c) focusing on single dimensions of people's lives.

d) studying economic data.

2. Which of the following is the defining methodology of the discipline of anthropology?

a) fieldnotes

b) fieldwork

c) observation

d) interviews

3. Anthropological fieldwork would not involve

a) speaking through a state-provided interpreter.

b) becoming involved in people's lives.

c) excavating sites without written documents.

d) statistical analysis of gendered distributions of labor.

4. Anthropologists deploy the method of ethnohistory toa) provide state officials a verifiable history of a particular community or group.

b) use purely archival documents in their research.

c) study cultural change in periods for which a community had no written histories.

d) blend quantitative and qualitative data to produce a concise timeline for the development of a particular community.

5. The people anthropologists gather data from are called

a) partners.

b) employees.

c) informants.

d) subjects.

6. Which of the following terms refers to the knowledge about other people that emerges from relationships?

a) objective

b) subjective

c) intersubjective

d) ethnographic

7. An anthropologist interested in a cultural insider’s perspective on that insider’s culture is seeking

a) an emic perspective.

b) tunnel vision.

c) an etic perspective.

d) primary sources.

8. The comparative method

a) compares cognate words in different languages.

b) focuses on one society over a long period of time.

c) uses data from many different societies.

d) emphasizes statistical regressions.

9. Multisited ethnography is an example of which method?

a) action research

b) geographical method

c) comparative method

d) ethnohistory

10. Which method is an extended conversation that can shed light on how social institutions change over time?

a) ethnohistory

b) genealogy

c) etic interviews

d) life histories

11. Research committed to making social change and improving the lives of marginalized people is called

a) rapid appraisal.

b) development anthropology.

c) action anthropology.

d) participant observation.

12. An important ethical concern for anthropologists is to

a) protect their informants.

b) protect the ethnographic data.

c) protect the first amendment.

d) protect themselves.

Fill in the Blank

13. Long-term immersion in a community is called ____________________.

fieldwork

14. ____________________ is a key element of anthropological fieldwork because it is a systematic research strategy of “just hanging out.”

Participant observation

15. Systematic conversations with informants to collect data are called ____________________.

interviews

16. ____________________ questions encourage informants to talk about what they find particularly meaningful.

Open-ended

17. Bronislaw Malinowski developed the ____________________ method, which requires the researcher to live with people for years in order to develop the “native's point of view.”

ethnographic

18. A ____________________ is when anthropologists enter into a community for a few weeks to collect focused data.

rapid appraisal

True/False

19. To study culture one must travel to distant, far-off places.

a) True

b) False

20. Cultural anthropology is one of the most quantitative of the social sciences.

a) True

b) False

21. Anthropologists do not consider unstructured, casual conversations to be data.

a) True

b) False

22. Anthropologists cannot write about areas where there is social conflict or war because they do not have access to any information.

a) True

b) False

23. Fieldnotes are usually written on the spot, not after the fact.

a) True

b) False

COMPREHENSION OF FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

24. Anthropology is a discipline that relies on

a) primary materials.

b) secondary material.

c) both primary and secondary materials.

d) neither primary nor secondary materials.

25. A word that best describes participant observation is

a) easy.

b) comfortable.

c) unstructured.

d) obvious.

26. Anthropologists and journalists are similar in which of the following ways?

a) Both have constitutional protections that allow them to conceal their sources.

b) Their data come directly from daily involvement.

c) Their first priority is to “do no harm.”

d) Both interview people to learn what is happening in the community.

27. This type of interaction may include playing basketball, cooking, dining, or having coffee with informants.

a) unstructured interviewing

b) structured interviewing

c) open-ended interviewing

d) participant observation

28. A central technique involved in an informal, open-ended interview is to

a) make sure you ask questions from the printed script exactly as they are written.

b) figure out the main goal of the interview ahead of time.

c) allow questions to emerge in the course of the interview.

d) hang out.

29. Using life history interviews, researchers are able to

a) detect genetic traits linked to disease.

b) what myths society tells its members.

c) what plants are used for.

d) understand how a person's age affects his or her role in the community.

30. An important element required for successful “rapid appraisal” data collection is

a) a parachute.

b) a good translator.

c) good general knowledge of the area/topic being studied.

d) a comfortable armchair.

31. The purpose of field notes is to

a) provide written records of information that an anthropologist collects.

b) avoid collecting personal information about informants.

c) engage in deep analysis of the data.

d) record results from blood samples.

32. When anthropologists go into the field, they

a) go as a completely clean slate, without reading anything about the topic beforehand.

b) never change the focus of their question to fit what they are seeing.

c) seek to interrupt the flow of everyday life.

d) go with a set of questions they want to ask and have answered.

33. Ethical issues facing ethnographers include all of the following except

a) ensuring informant confidentiality.

b) leaving the community unchanged.

c) controlling and protecting access to fieldnotes.

d) being open about their research.

34. An anthropologist might consider doing “anthropology at a distance” because

a) he or she has ample research funding to go into other field sites.

b) statistical evidence suggests that participant observation is unnecessary.

c) there is little data about the field site produced by others.

d) there is conflict or violence in the field site.

35. Which method is least likely to be used by a cultural anthropologist studying tuberculosis in a small community?

a) drawing blood from informants to analyze the exact strain of the virus

b) observing the intake practices at a local clinic

c) speaking with individuals with tuberculosis

d) reading local media coverage of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases

Fill in the Blank

36. _____________________ are important for an anthropologist to write down because they reflect his or her private observations, which can also be useful data.

Head notes

37. According to Johannes Fabian, anthropological observations and data are neither objective or subjective but the product of _____________________.

intersubjectivity

38. Anthropologists often disguise the identity of their _____________________.

informants

39. _____________________, such as newspapers, are important in fieldwork because they can help provide a broader context for what the anthropologist hears and observes.

Secondary materials

True/False

40. Anthropologists believe that the “native point of view” is better than their own.

a) True

b) False

41. Anthropologists use just three methods—interviews, field notes, and participant observation.

a) True

b) False

42. A critical reason for taking fieldnotes is that there may be a long lag time between fieldwork and writing and publishing about it.

a) True

b) False

43. Anthropology is different from journalism because journalists' data are protected by law.

a) True

b) False

APPLICATION OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

44. Which method would be best when doing a study on the genetic propensity for cancer in a given population?

a) ethnohistory

b) ethnosciencec) comparative method

d) genealogical method

45. If you wanted to let informants discuss a topic and make connections to other issues in that process, what kind of interviews should you conduct?

a) open-ended interview

b) survey interview

c) casual interview

d) structured interview

46. Which project would be best suited to rapid appraisal?

a) a study of landscape change

b) a study of community response to a disaster

c) a study of how people become religious leaders

d) a study of marriage practices

47. If you wanted to study patterns of kin relations in a community, which method would you use?

a) comparative method

b) genealogical method

c) ethnohistory

d) action anthropology

48. If you were designing a participatory action research study on immigrant rights in your community, who should be doing the bulk of the investigation, analysis, and planning?

a) you

b) immigrant rights lawyers

c) immigrants

d) social workers

49. An anthropologist who practices participatory-action research would most likely use this method in a study of

a) top managers at General Motors.

b) medical practitioners in a hospital.

c) kinship relations among middle-class families in India.

d) a low-income neighborhood where a toxic waste dump is located.

Short Answer

50. What are the primary benefits of using the comparative method? Give an example of a project in which you might employ it.

51. Of all the research techniques anthropologists have at their disposal, which one(s) might you use to study how politicians make decisions in Washington, DC?

52. If you wanted to conduct ethical research on a vulnerable population, such as undocumented migrant workers, what issues would you be especially concerned about?

Essays

53. Why is using different methodologies to collect different types of data important for anthropologists?

54. How do you think a researcher might combine two different ethnographic research techniques within one study?

55. Are there some projects that are better suited to ethnographic research methods than others? If so, give an example and explain why. If not, why not?

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS

Essays

56. What are some of the dilemmas facing anthropologist of their own society, and how do they deal with those dilemmas?

57. How does fieldwork help anthropologists decipher the “informal logic of everyday life”?

58. Discuss the advantages and dilemmas of using the ethnographic method.

59. What are the ethical concerns that anthropologists have to face when doing their research?