Exam Flashcards
Define the divisions of anthropology.
The divisions of anthropology are Cultural, Social, and Physical anthropology.
Describe anthropology.
Anthropology is the study of origin, behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural development of people within communities.
Explain cultural anthropology and its divisions.
Cultural anthropology is the study of human cultures, both past and present. Its divisions include Cultural, Linguistics, and Physical anthropology.
What is culture?
Culture is a system of ideas, values, virtues, behaviors, and attitudes of a society, shaped and transmitted through generations.
How does culture influence daily life?
Culture affects every aspect of one’s daily life and heavily influences one’s worldview.
Define ethnocentrism.
Ethnocentrism is the act of evaluating other people’s culture by the standards of one’s own, leading to bias.
What are informants in anthropology?
Informants are individuals within a culture who are knowledgeable and can provide information about their community to an ethnologist.
Describe the types of interviews used by anthropologists.
Anthropologists use unstructured, semi-structured, and structured interviews to gather information.
What is an unstructured interview?
An unstructured interview allows the interviewer to gain a variety of information without pre-established questions.
Explain a semi-structured interview.
A semi-structured interview involves prepared questions but allows flexibility in the responder’s answers.
What characterizes a structured interview?
A structured interview has a set list of questions, and the respondent provides clear answers, typically yes or no.
What methods do anthropologists use besides interviews?
Anthropologists count people, map physical locations, take photos, and view diagrams to understand the culture being studied.
Define ethnology.
Ethnology is the study of humans as cultural beings and how culture affects humans.
What do ethnologists study?
Ethnologists study the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them through participant observations.
Explain participant observation in anthropology.
Participant observation is a research method where an anthropologist lives with a group to observe and take notes about their culture.
Differentiate between subjective and objective research.
Subjective research is based on facts and data without personal bias, while objective research is influenced by the researcher’s own bias and cultural norms.
What challenges are associated with participant observation?
Challenges include potential bias in the researcher’s observations and the risk of exaggeration or incorrect accounts of the culture.
Describe cultural relativism.
Cultural relativism is the theory that an anthropologist cannot compare two cultures, as each culture is unique with its own internal rules and practices.
Describe Functional Theory in the context of culture.
Functional Theory posits that aspects of a culture exist to serve a purpose for the people within that culture, ensuring preservation and continuation of practices as long as they meet the people’s needs.
Explain Cultural Materialism and its significance.
Cultural Materialism suggests that a culture’s location influences its development, with the environment impacting ideologies and practices necessary for the community’s long-term survival.
Define linguistic anthropology.
Linguistic anthropology is the study of the history and structure of languages, focusing on how humans use language.
Identify the three types of linguistic anthropology and provide a brief explanation of each.
- Historical Linguistics: Studies language structures to understand relationships and immigration patterns. 2. Structured Linguistics: Examines the basic structures shared by all languages, such as grammar. 3. Sociolinguistics: Investigates how language is used within cultures, including variations in speech based on social context.
How does the Sapir-Whorf theory relate language to thought?
The Sapir-Whorf theory posits that the language a person speaks influences their thinking and worldview, exemplified by different interpretations of the same event based on language structure.
What is archaeology and its primary focus?
Archaeology is the study of past cultures to gain insights into both historical and contemporary societies.