Culture 6 Flashcards
1
Q
BELIEF SYSTEM
A
- Is the way in which a culture collectively constructs a model or framework for how it thinks about something.
- A religion is a particular kind of belief system.
- Other examples of general forms of belief systems are ideologies, paradigms and world-views also known by the German word Weltanschauung.
- In addition to governing almost all aspects of human activity, belief systems have a significant impact on what a culture deems worthy of passing down to following generations as its cultural heritage.
- This also influences how cultures view the cultural heritage of other cultures.
- Many people today recognize that there is no one correct belief system or way of thinking. This is known as relativism or conceptual relativism.
- This contrasts with objectivism and essentialism, both of which posit a reality that is independent of the way in which people conceptualize.
- A plurality of belief systems is a hallmark of postmodernism.
2
Q
BIAS
A
- A realist approach to bias depicts this as consisting of any systematic error that obscures correct conclusions about the subject being studied.
- Typically, such bias may be caused by the researcher, or by procedures adopted for data gathering, including sampling.
- The concept makes little sense from a relativist standpoint, though provision of a reflexive account of the research process can help in addressing issues of trust that the concept of bias was intended to resolve.
3
Q
BICULTURALISM
A
- The simultaneous identification with two cultures when an individual feels equally at home in both cultures and feels emotional attachment with both cultures.
- The term started appearing in the 1950s.
4
Q
BIETHNIC
A
- Of two ethnic groups: belonging or relating to two different ethnic groups.
- Usually used in reference to a person.
- For example: if a person’s father is French and mother English, she is biethnic though not biracial.
- See also biracial.
5
Q
BIG MAN
A
- In anthropology the most influential man in a tribe of horticulturalists and pastoralists; a person with power in a community.
- The big man usually occupies no formal office and has no coercive authority but creates his reputation through skills, wisdom, entrepreneurship and generosity to others.
- His wealth or his position may not pass to his heirs.
6
Q
BIG-MAN
A
A form of leadership in tribes where the leader achieves power and influence based on ability.
7
Q
BILATERAL KINSHIP CALCULATION
A
Is a system in which kinship ties are calculated equally through both sexes: mother and father, sister and brother, daughter and son, and so on.
8
Q
BILINEAL
A
Descent in which the individual figures kinship through both the father’s and mother’s descent group.
9
Q
BILINGUAL EDUCATION
A
- Teaching a second language by relying heavily on the native language of the speaker.
- The background theory claims that a strong sense of one’s one culture and language is necessary to acquire another language and culture.
10
Q
BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
A
The study of human biological variation in time and space; includes evolution, genetics, growth and development, and primatology.
11
Q
BIOLOGICAL DETERMINISTS
A
Are those who argue that human behaviour and social organization are biologically determined and not learnt.
12
Q
BIRACIAL
A
- Of two races.
- Usually used to refer to people whose parents come from two different races, e.g., father is Chinese and mother English.
13
Q
BLACK ENGLISH VERNACULAR (BEV)
A
- A rule-governed dialect of American English with roots in southern English.
- Is spoken by African-American youth and by many adults in their casual, intimate speech-sometimes called “ebonics.”.
14
Q
BOOLEAN SEARCHES
A
- Searches for material (such as references or segments of coded text) using combinations of keywords linked by operators such as ‘and’, ‘or’ or ‘not.’
- Databases (for example, library catalogues) and qualitative analysis software (such as NVIVO) commonly support such searches.
