Test Bank Docx Chapter 3 Vivanco Ethnography

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.

Fieldwork involves

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.

“Going native” refers to a process whereby the anthropologist

A)

buys only local products

B)

loses the ability to be an engaged observer

C)

starts a nongovernmental organization

D)

learns the local language

5.

The people anthropologists gather data from are called

A)

partners

B)

employees

C)

informants

D)

subjects

6.

Which term 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)

participant observation

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 community at large

D)

protect themselves

13.

Long-term immersion in a community is called fieldwork.

14.

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

15.

Systematic conversations with informants to collect data are called interviews.

16.

Open-ended questions encourage informants to talk about what they find particularly meaningful.

17.

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

18.

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

19.

In order 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 of the 1880s are referred to as “armchair anthropologists” because they never traveled abroad and they gathered data from other people's reports.

A)

True

B)

False

23.

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

A)

True

B)

False

24.

Anthropology is a discipline that relies solely on

A)

primary materials

B)

secondary materials

C)

both primary and secondary materials

D)

primary and secondary materials are widely disregarded by anthropologists

25.

A word that best describes participant observation is

A)

Easy

B)

Comfortable

C)

Unstructured

D)

Obvious

26.

The difference between a survey and a structured interview is

A)

survey questions are asked orally; in a structured interview they are written

B)

survey questions are closed-ended; structured interviews are not

C)

the goal of using survey questions is typically to produce qualitative data, while for structured interviews it is to produce quantitative data

D)

there is no difference between surveys and structured interviews

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 fieldnotes 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)

protecting informants' blood samples and other biological information

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.

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

36.

Early anthropologists used the comparative method to establish models of social evolution.

37.

Anthropologists often disguise the identity of their informants.

38.

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

39.

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

A)

True

B)

False

40.

Anthropologists use just three methods—interviews, fieldnotes, and participant observation.

A)

True

B)

False

41.

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

42.

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

A)

True

B)

False

43.

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

A)

ethnohistory

B)

ethnoscience

C)

comparative method

D)

genealogical method

44.

If you wanted to have consistent responses, what kind of interview would you use?

A)

open-ended, unstructured interview

B)

survey interview

C)

casual interview

D)

structured interview

45.

Which project would be best suited to parachute ethnography?

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

46.

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)

participant observation

47.

If you studied sex workers in your city, as Philippe Bourgois studied crack dealers in New York City, you might find that

A)

people threaten you when you witness illegal activities

B)

you would get little respect from colleagues

C)

people are comfortable with you except when you take fieldnotes

D)

maintaining confidentiality is an ongoing challenge

48.

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

49.

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

50.

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?

51.

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

52.

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

53.

How do you think a researcher might combine ethnographic research techniques with quantitative research techniques?

54.

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?

55.

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

56.

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

57.

Discuss the advantages and dilemmas of using the ethnographic method.

58.

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