Chapter 1 Vocab

Question 1

Anthropology

Answer 1

The study of humanity.

Question 2

Holism

Answer 2

The study of human societies as systematic sums of their parts, as integrated wholes.

Question 3

Physical Anthropology

Answer 3

The study of human biology and evolution

Question 4

Archaeology

Answer 4

The study of prehistoric people from the analysis of their physical and cultural remains.

Question 5

Linguistics

Answer 5

The study of language.

Question 6

Cultural Anthropology

Answer 6

The study of contemporary human societies and their cultures.

Question 7

Participant observation

Answer 7

A research method whereby the anthropologist lives in a community and participates in the lives of the people under study while at the same time making objective observations

Question 8

Ethnography

Answer 8

The descriptive study of human societies

Question 9

Ethnographic present

Answer 9

Speaking or writing about cultures in the present tense although what is described might no longer exist.

Question 10

Culture area

Answer 10

A geographical area in which societies share many cultural traits.

Question 11

Etic analysis

Answer 11

The study of a society using concepts that were developed outside of the culture.

Question 12

Emic analysis

Answer 12

The study of a society through the eyes of the people being studied.

Question 13

Ethnocentrism

Answer 13

Using one’s own culture as the basis for interpreting and judging other cultures.

Question 14

Cultural relativism

Answer 14

Attempting to analyze and understanding cultures other than one’s own without judging them in terms of one’s own culture.

Question 15

Postmodernism

Answer 15

An emphasis on subjectivity over objectivity and a tendency towards reflexivity, or self-consciousness; all knowledge is seen as being a human construction that scholars must seek to deconstruct.

Question 16

Modernity

Answer 16

A philosophical movement based on ideas of rationality, objectivity, reason, and science as the means of gaining knowledge, truth, and progress.

Question 17

Culture

Answer 17

Human beliefs and behaviors of a society that are learned, transmitted from one generation to the next, and shared by a group of people.

Question 18

Symbol

Answer 18

A shared understanding about the meaning of certain words, attributes, or objects; something that stands for something else.

Question 19

Operant definition

Answer 19

A definition in which we define our terms so that they are observable and measurable, and therefore can be studied.

Question 20

Analytic definition

Answer 20

A definition that focuses on the way religion manifests itself or is expressed in a culture.

Question 21

Animism

Answer 21

A belief in spirit beings.

Question 22

Functional definition

Answer 22

A definition that is based on the role that religion plays in a society.

Question 23

Essentialist definition (also known as substantial)

Answer 23

A definition that looks at the essential nature of religion.

Question 24

Supernatural

Answer 24

Entities and actions that transcend the natural world of cause and effect.

Question 25

Sacred

Answer 25

An attitude wherein the subject or object is set apart from the normal, everyday world and is entitled to reverence and respect.

Question 26

Religion

Answer 26

The realm of culture that concerns the sacred supernatural.

Question 27

Evolutionary approach

Answer 27

An approach that focuses on the questions of when and how religion began and how it developed through time.

Question 28

Positivism

Answer 28

A philosophy that emphasizes empiricism, or observing and measuring, saying that the only real knowledge is scientific knowledge and any knowledge beyond that is impossible.

Question 29

Animatism

Answer 29

The belief in an impersonal supernatural power.

Question 30

Functional approach

Answer 30

An approach that is based on the function or role that religion plays in a society.

Question 31

Collective conscious

Answer 31

A set of beliefs shared by members of a social group that function to limit the natural selfishness of individuals and promote social cooperation.

Question 32

Psychosocial approach

Answer 32

An approach to the study of religion that is concerned with the relationship between culture and personality and between society and individual.

Question 33

Cognition

Answer 33

The processes of the human brain, including perception, attention, learning, memory, concept formation, and problem solving.

Question 34

Agnosticism

Answer 34

The idea that the nature of the supernatural is unknowable, that it is as impossible to prove the nonexistence of the supernatural as it is to prove its existence.

Question 35

Empirical

Answer 35

evidence based

Question 36

Objective

Answer 36

not being subjective or too systematic/specific (this is what we strive for).

Question 37

Comparative

Answer 37

looking for patterns

Question 38

Cross-Cultural

Answer 38

looking at relationships across cultures to see patterns

Question 39

Cultural Relativism

Answer 39

the principle that an individual's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture.

Question 40

4 fields relates to anthropology

Answer 40

1. Physical - Stones & bones, Physical evidence 2. Archaeology - Historic and preserved items 3. Linguistics - Study of language 4. Cultural (“Social”) - Study of contemporary social groups