Chapter 1

Question 1

Anthropology

Answer 1

The study of human beings, their biology, their prehistory and histories, and their changing languages, culture, and social institutions.

Question 2

Applied anthropology

Answer 2

Anthropological research commissioned to serve an organization’s needs

Question 3

Archaeology

Answer 3

The study of past cultures, by excavating sites where people lived, worked, farmed, or conducted some other activity (researchers study the effects of environmental change past societies; how changes in material culture reflect ongoing social, economic, and political changes; and the processes through which complex state societies were formed and disintegrated)

Question 4

Biological anthropology

Answer 4

The study of the biological aspects of the human species, past and present, along with those of our closest relatives, the nonhuman primates (researchers study the specific processes of human evolution, and how our bodies and genetic makeup change in relation to environmental changes, migration, diseases, and other dynamics)

Question 5

Colonialism

Answer 5

The historical practice of more powerful countries claiming possession of less powerful ones

Question 6

Comparative method

Answer 6

A research method that derives insights from careful comparisons of aspects of two or more cultures or societies

Question 7

Cultural anthropology

Answer 7

The study of the social lives of living communities (researchers study topics as diverse as how and why religious change happens; what happens when a dominant economic system like socialism collapses or a new one like capitalism is incorporated into a traditional economy; and how ad why political violence can erupt in societies experiencing rapid social change)

Question 8

Cultural relativism

Answer 8

The moral and intellectual principle that one should withhold judgment about seemingly strange or exotic beliefs and practices

Question 9

Culture

Answer 9

The taken-for-granted notions, rules, moralities, and behaviors within a social group

Question 10

Diversity

Answer 10

The sheer variety of ways of being human around the world

Question 11

Empirical

Answer 11

Verifiable through observation rather than through logic or theory

Question 12

Ethics

Answer 12

Moral questions about right and wrong and standards of appropriate behavior

Question 13

Ethnocentrism

Answer 13

The assumption that one’s own way of doing things is correct, while dismissing other people’s practices or views as wrong or ignorant

Question 14

Ethnographic method

Answer 14

A prolonged and intensive observation of and participation in the life of a community

Question 15

Evolution

Answer 15

The adaptive changes organisms make across generations

Question 16

Holism

Answer 16

Efforts to synthesize distinct approaches and findings into a single comprehensive interpretation

Question 17

Linguistic anthropology

Answer 17

The study of how people communicate with one another through language and how language use shapes group membership and identity (researchers study how new languages are formed when different languages come together; and how social changes, such as changes in gender relations, are reflected in and emerge from how people communicate with each other

Question 18

Practicing anthropology

Answer 18

Anthropological work involving research as well as involvement in the design, implementation, and management of some organization, process, or product

Question 19

Qualitative methods

Answer 19

A research strategy producing an in-depth and detailed description of social activities and beliefs.

Question 20

Quantitative method

Answer 20

A methodology that classifies features of a phenomenon, counting or measuring them, and constructing mathematical and statistical models to explain what is observed

Question 21

Salvage paradigm

Answer 21

The paradigm which held that it was important to observe indigenous ways of life, interview elders, and assemble collections of objects made and used by indigenous peoples

Question 22

Scientific method

Answer 22

The standard methodology of science that begins from observable facts, generates hypotheses from these facts, and then tests these hypotheses

Question 23

Theory

Answer 23

A tested and repeatedly supported hypothesis

Question 24

Industrialization

Answer 24

The economic process of shifting from an agricultural economy to a factory-based one

Question 25

How did Anthropology begin?

Answer 25

~the disruptions of industrialization
~the theory of evolution
~colonial origins of cultural anthropology

During the nineteenth century, the rise of industrialization, the influence of evolutionary theory, and colonial contact with less industrialized cultures led to the discipline of understanding how cultures operate and interact

Anthropologists are still fascinated-and challenged-by the contrasts and changes in culture worldwide as a result of globalization

Question 26

What are the four subfields of anthropology and what do they share in common?

Answer 26

~culture
~cultural relativism
~human diversity
~change
~holism

Anthropologists in all subfields share certain fundamental approaches and concepts including culture, cultural relativism, diversity, change, and holism

Some anthropologists continue to debate the idea that the subfields, with their distance methods and specialized research interests, belong together in the same discipline

Question 27

How do anthropologists know what they know?

Answer 27

~the scientific method in anthropology
~when anthropology is not a science: interpreting other cultures

Anthropology has a strong relationship with the scientific method; all anthropologists use theories, collect data, and analyze that data

While most cultural anthropologists reject the possibility of a completely objective analysis of human culture, other subfields of anthropology, such as archaeology and biological anthropology, are thoroughly committed to the scientific method

Question 28

How is anthropology put to work in the world?

Answer 28

~applied and practicing anthropology: “the fifth subfield”?
~putting anthropology to work

All four of the subfields have both theoretical and applied aspects. Applied research uses the insights of anthropological theory to solve problems

Most anthropologists see an anthropological approach as providing a better way of understanding people from different backgrounds that of any other discipline, but anthropologists continue to disagree among themselves about how to apply that understanding to address human problems

Question 29

What ethical issues does anthropology raise?

Answer 29

~do no harm. But is that enough?
~to whom are anthropologists responsible?

Issues of ethics-moral questions about right and wrong and standards of appropriated behavior-are at the heart of anthropology

Certain ethical issues have no easy resolution, such as the ideal that anthropologists should do no harm, or how to resolve sometimes conflicting responsibilities anthropologists have to different communities and public

Question 30

Can you think of something you do at your college or university that feels “natural” but is probably done somewhat differently at another college? Consider, for example, how you experiences in high school classes may have led you to expect something different from your college classes

Answer 30

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Question 31

Can you suggest ways that you may learn how people in your town or city view college students from your campus?

Answer 31

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Question 32

How might you use a comparative perspective even if you only visit just one country while on vacation? Consider the other cultural contexts you have experienced and how these might provide a comparative framework for experiencing a novel society and culture

Answer 32

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Question 33

Compare how an anthropologist and an engineer might each approach a problem involving where to situate a bridge or highway in a heavily populated area

Answer 33

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Question 34

If you were studying a local head start program with few resources and observed problems with local funding for the facility, could you suggest some “action anthropology” projects that might help the organization?

Answer 34

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