Anthropology 2030: Cultural Antrhopology

Keycode: 2065
Progress Evaluation 1

20 questions, 1 point each, 20 total points.

Multiple-choice. Choose the one best answer.

1.	What is the branch of anthropology that deals primarily with the physical remains of past cultures? A. physical anthropology B. archaeology C. cultural anthropology D. applied anthropology

2.	What is the branch of anthropology that deals with the evolution of the species, Homo sapiens? A. physical anthropology B. archaeology C. linguistic anthropology D. cultural anthropology

3.	Which of the following most closely reflects Harris's preferred definition of "culture?" A. learned, socially acquired traditions of thought and behavior B. the creative achievements and standards of living of elites C. learned rules governing appropriate ways to think and act D. none of the above

4.	What is the term for an organized group of people living in a common area and dependent on one another for their survival? A. a culture B. a subculture C. a society D. a sociocultural system

5.	What is a subculture? A. impoverished sectors of a society B. a group with values and patterns of life which differ from the rest of society C. a group of people sharing common patterns of thought and behavior D. a group of people living in a given territory

What is enculturation?

A. the coming together of cultural traits from diverse sources to form a new cultural pattern
B. the process by which anthropologists come to understand the societies they study
C. the process by which a larger society absorbs cultural variation from its various subsocieties
D. the conscious and unconscious learning through which children learn the values and appropriate behaviors of their own society

7.	What is the term for the idea that all cultures are of equal intrinsic worth? A. materialism B. infrastructural determinism C. cultural relativism D. ethnocentrism

Which of the following aspects of the human experience cannot be attributed to enculturation?

A. the adoption of gender-specific thoughts and behaviors in children
B. continuity in the manner in which a society makes a living
C. chop-stick use among the Chinese
D. the perpetuation of poverty from generation to generation

9.	What is the interpretation of other people's behavior in terms of one's own cultural values and traditions known as? A. ethnocentrism B. materialism C. cultural relativism D. none of the above

10.

Which of the following is not an accurate statement about scientific inquiry?

A. It obligates researchers to expose their biases as explicitly as possible.
B. It rests on observations that can be replicated by independent observers.
C. It seeks to eliminate uncertainty and to establish absolute truths.
D. All of the above statements are true.

11.	According to Harris, why is it that absolute truth cannot be obtained by science? A. All "truth" is culture-specific. B. A better theory might one day arise. C. Objectivity is impossible given that we all have moral values shaping our interpretation of reality. D. none of the above

12.	What is diffusion? A. a society adopting a trait independently B. the way in which children absorb the values of their parents C. one generation borrowing traits from a previous one D. one culture borrowing traits from a neighboring one

13.	According to Harris, neither enculturation nor diffusion are capable of explaining A. similarities among cultures. B. differences among cultures. C. the independent emergence of similar traits. D. both B and C.

14.	Which of the following is cited by Harris as the most distinctive method of anthropological research? A. administering structured surveys B. conducting formal and informal interviewing C. engaging in participant observation D. collecting detailed life histories of select informants

15.	Which of the following is true of cultural rules? A. They include rules for breaking rules. B. They are never conscious. C. They are unrelated to actual behavior. D. They are always conscious.

16.

What is a good test of the adequacy of emic descriptions?

A. whether or not native informants find the description to be meaningful
B. whether or not the researcher made accurate behavioral observations
C. their ability to generate theories about sociocultural differences and similarities
D. whether or not they coincide with etic descriptions

17.

Which of the following is true of emic and etic methods of analysis?

A. They facilitate inquiry into thought and behavior, respectively.
B. They facilitate inquiry into behavior and thought, respectively.
C. They can both be used to study patterns of thought, but not behavior.
D. They can both be used to study either thought or behavior.

18.

How might we describe the observation that Hindus in Kerala act to shorten the lives of some cattle in spite of the religious prohibition against doing so?

A. as an etic observation
B. as an emic observation
C. as a reflection of the lag of thought behind behavior in the context of a rapidly changing society
D. as a reflection of an unwillingness of informants to admit that they do not actual believe in Hinduism

19.

Which of the following is true of cultural materialism?

A. It emphasizes the determinative role of production and reproduction.
B. It dismisses mental and spiritual aspects of a culture as unimportant.
C. It emphasizes the determinative role of emic aspects of infrastructure.
D. It refers to the high value our society places on consumption.

20.	Harris seeks to explain cultural variability based principally on an evaluation of which of the following? A. infrastructure B. structure C. superstructure D. emic aspects of infrastructure

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