Midterm 2 (Ch. 4,5) Flashcards
Theory
is a statement that suggests a relationship among phenomena.
List 4 of the data gathering techniques
Participation-Observation, Interviewing, Census Taking, Mapping.
List the other 3 data gathering techniques
Document Analysis, Collecting genealogies, Photography.
What is the Diffusion Theory?
A theory that stated certain cultural features were originally invented originally in one or several parts of the world and then spread to other cultures.
Societies change as a result of cultures borrowing from one another.
What is Neoevolutionism Theory?
Cultures evolve in proportion to their capacity to harness energy.
Culture is shaped by environmental conditions.
Human populations continuously adapt to techno-environmental conditions.
Individual (personality) factors are de-emphasized.
.
Theorists: Leslie White; Julian Steward
What is Qualitative Data?
People’s words, actions, records, and accounts obtained from participant observation,
interviews, group interviews, and relevant documents
What is Quantitative data?
Data that are counted and interpreted through statistical analysis
What is Phonotype?
Early attempts at human racial classification typically used visible traits (phenotype)
E.g. skin color, hair form, eye structure
What is Genotype?
These don’t reflect genetic (Genotype) material but are the result of different populations biologically adapting in similar ways to similar environmental stressors = Natural selection
How does an unstructured interview work?
The interviewer asks open-ended questions and allows interviewees to respond at their own pace in their own words
Informant decides what to convey
How does a structured interview work?
The interviewer asks all informants the same questions, in the same sequence, and under the same set of conditions (as a safeguard) – Set of data
Asking cultural-specific questions
What is a Nation-State?
A stratified society with a formal, central government
Migration, conquest, & colonialism led most nation-states not to be ethnically homogeneous
What is Ethnocultural?
A shared sense of belonging to, or identification with, a group based on an element of culture (Language, ancestry, religion, etc.)
What is Pluralism?
(political theory) belief that there should be diverse and competing centres of power in society. Legal pluralism, the existence of differing legal systems in a population or area. Pluralist democracy, a political system with more than one center of power.
What is Participant-Observation?
Technique of learning a people’s culture through direct participation in their everyday life for an extended time.
What is the Emic Approach?
The emic approach (insider view) seeks to describe another culture in terms of the categories,concepts, and perceptions of the people being studied.
What is the Etic Approach?
In the etic approach (outsider view), anthropologists use their own categories and concepts to describe the culture under analysis.
Studying Culture in the Field
What are the 3 different types of data required?
- A people’s own understanding of the way things ought to be (values) Emic (Epidemic)
- Extent to which people feel they are following their cultural rules (norms) Informants
- Observed behavior → Etic
Culture, Space and Scale
Traditional ethnographic research focuses on ..
community or culture
Increasing
Treated as more or less isolated and unique in time and space
Increasingly multi-timed and multi-sited
Impossible to find local phenomena that are isolated from global forces
Race in Cesus
What did Canadian census asks about?
“visible minorities”
“persons, other than Aboriginal peoples [aka First Nation in Canada, Native Americans in the United States], who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in color”
What is a Ethnographic Interview?
The interview and the subject almost always speak different first languages
Much broader in scope because it elicits information on the entire culture
Used in conjunction with other data-gathering techniques
Documents – polygamy – tax rolls, marriage records
Genealogies – Kinships
What are the 5 Basic Stages of Field Research
- Selecting a research problem
- Formulating a research design
- Collecting the data
- Analyzing the data
- Interpreting data
What is Ethnography
Description of a culture (Uses)
What is the Holistic Perspective?
View of culture and the relationship between its parts
What does PAR stand for?
Participating-Action Research
Anthropology involves the careful and systematic study of humankind using
____ ____ and _____
Facts
Hypotheses
Theories
What is Holism?
A distinguishing feature of the discipline of anthropology is its holistic approach to the study of human groups.
Anthropology involves both biological and sociocultural aspects of humanity.
The time frame goes from the earliest beginnings of humans to the present.
How is the Ethnographic Interview unique?
The interview and the subject almost always speak different first languages
Used in conjunction with other data-gathering techniques:
Documents – polygamy – tax rolls, marriage records
Genealogies – Kinships
What does HRAF Stand for?
Human Relations Area Files
What is the HRAF
The world’s largest anthropological data retrieval system, used to test cross-cultural hypotheses.
What is Nationalities?
Groups that now have, or wish to have or regain, autonomous political status
Imagined communities (E.g. Kurds – Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria
