Chapter 3 Flashcards
what is the most important method by which cultural authors gather data?
fieldwork
what is cultural determinism?
people’s behaviour is determined by culture and environment only, biology has a little role
what did the Body Ritual Among the Nacirema exhibit?
satire of how anthers write about the “other” in a way making them seem exotic
what is a thick description?
explaining behaviour/cultural event in context it occurs and its anthro interpretation of it
what is participant-observation?
participating in activities with people being studied
what is an emic description?
insider perspective
what is an etic description?
outsider/observer perspective
what is verandas?
observations from far-away (on the porch)
what did Sir James Frazer believe in the Golden Bough?
mankind progresses from magic to religious belief to scientific thought
what was the problem with The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer?
he didn’t do research himself and his info wasn’t anthropological
what is salvage ethnography?
sought to preserve, document, collect artifacts of cultures researchers believe are disappearing
what is the image of a noble savage?
Indigenous people are innocent and uncorrupted by negative characteristics of civilization
what is holism?
integrating all aspects of culture in order to understand the complex whole
what is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
language determines perception and categorization of experience
what are critiques of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
deterministic and assumes lack of agency
what is diasporas?
geographical scattering of migrators and the groups they form in certain locations
what is multi-sited ethnography?
research conducted in multiple locations
what is the idea behind multi-sited ethnography?
people don’t just live in one realm, we live in different settings and contexts
what is problem-oriented research and does it use deductive/inductive approaches?
research occurs before study and illuminates a certain issue; uses a deductive approach
what is a deductive approach?
a previously-identified issue guides the study
what is an inductive approach?
focus of the study emerges during time in the field
what is a pro of quantitative methods?
able to reach large population and typically more valid
what is the guiding philosophy of anthropology?
cultural relativism
what is objective/activist anthropology?
aims to help others while researching
what does symbolic and interpretive anthropology believe?
there is no objectivity and culture is like a body of “texts”
what is genealogy?
connections of kinship and overall social system
what is the Ego in a kinship chart?
individual all relationships in the chart relate to
what are the ethical considerations in the Code of Ethics?
- informed consent
- accessibility of results
- benefit to community
- do no harm
- anonymity and confidentiality
what is ethnographic authority?
how ethnographers present themselves and their informants in their text
what is polyvocality?
to have more than one perspective
what is reflexivity?
to acknowledge impossibility of objectivity and how there will always be factors impacting research and analyses
what is contested identity?
dispute within a group about collective identity or identities of the group
who are key informants?
people more knowledgable about their culture than others and who are particularly helpful to the anthro
what is land tenure?
how property rights to land are allocated within societies
what are remittances?
money that migrants send back to their hometowns and families
what does it mean to be undocumented?
living in a country without formal authorization from the state
