Culture 28

Question 1

MELANESIA

Answer 1

• One of the three principle divisions of Oceania; it includes the islands of the Pacific, Northeast of Australia including New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji.
• The Melanesian land divers were from the village of Bunlap on Pentecost Island of Vanuatu which under colonial control was called the New Hebrides.

Question 2

MELANIN

Answer 2

Substance manufactured in specialized cells in the lower layers of the epidermis (outer skin layer); melanin cells in dark skin produce more melanin than do those in light skin.

Question 3

MEME

Answer 3

• Is a theoretical concept introduced by Richard Dawkins, in his book The Selfish Gene in 1976. Meme is derived from a shortening of the Greek “mimeme” (something imitated) and shortened so that it sounds similar to “gene”.
• Meme refers to any unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice, idea or concept, which one mind transmits (verbally or by demonstration) to another mind.
• Examples of cultural memes are thoughts, ideas, theories, opinions, beliefs, moods, poetry, habits, dance, tunes, catch-phrases, fashions, ways of building arches.
• Memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process broadly called imitation very similarly how genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leading from body to body via sperm or eggs.

Question 4

MERITOCRACY

Answer 4

• A system of government based on rule by ability or merit rather than by wealth, race or other determinants of social position.
• Nowadays this term refers to openly competitive societies like the USA where large inequalities of income and wealth accrued by merit rather than birth is accepted.
• In contrast egalitarian societies like the Scandinavian countries aim to reduce such disparities of wealth.

Question 5

MESTIZO

Answer 5

A term used to refer to people of partly Native American descent. From Spanish.

Question 6

METAPHOR

Answer 6

Application of a word or phrase to an object or concept in order to suggest a comparison.

Question 7

METHODOLOGY

Answer 7

• Concerns the theoretical, political and philosophical roots and implications of particular research methods or academic disciplines.
• Researchers may adopt particular methodological positions (for example, concerning epistemology or political values) which establish how they go about studying a phenomenon.
• Method, on the other hand, generally refers to matters of practical research technique.

Question 8

MICRONESIA

Answer 8

The small islands of western Oceania.

Question 9

MINORITY GROUP

Answer 9

• A group that occupies a subordinate position in a society.
• Minorities may be separated by physical or cultural traits disapproved of by the dominant group and as a result often experience discrimination.
• Minorities may not always be defined along social, ethnic, religious or sexual lines but could be broad based e.g. Non-citizens or foreigners.

Question 10

MODAL PERSONALITY

Answer 10

The personality characteristic held by the most people in the group.

Question 11

MODE OF PRODUCTION

Answer 11

• Way of organizing production.
• It is a set of social relations through which labour is deployed to wrest energy from nature by means of tools, skills, and knowledge.

Question 12

MODERNIZATION

Answer 12

The process by which cultures are forced to accept traits from outside.

Question 13

MOIETY

Answer 13

Division of a society into two halves based on descent.

Question 14

MONOCHRONIC

Answer 14

• In monochronic cultures, people try to sequence actions on the “one thing at a time” principle.
• Interpersonal relations are subordinate to time schedules and deadlines.

Question 15

MONOETHNIC

Answer 15

Belonging to the same ethnic group.