Anthropology Midterm Exam Questions
with Correct Answers
Anthropology - Answer-The study of humans
Archaeology - Answer-reconstructs, describes, and interprets past human behavior
through analysis of material remains
Artifacts - Answer-Something created by and used humans.
Ecofacts - Answer-Something naturally made, used by humans.
Linguistic Anthropology - Answer-"Studies language in its social and cultural context
Kanzi - Answer-male bonobo featured in several studies on ape language
Biological/Physical Anthropology - Answer-The study of human biological diversity
across time and space
Charles Darwin - Answer-English natural scientist who formulated theory of evolution by
natural selection (1809-1882).
Cultural Anthropology - Answer-The study of human society and culture, analyzes social
and cultural similarities and differences
Culture - Answer-The learned shared knowledge that people use to generate behavior
and interpret experience
Universality - Answer-the ability to be applied to everyone in every situation.
Generality - Answer-culture pattern or trait that exists in some but not all societies
Particularity - Answer-distinctive or unique culture trait, pattern, or integration
5 Themes of Cultural Anthropology - Answer-1. Comparative perspective
2. Holistic perspective
3. Systems and processes
4. Emic/etic perspectives
5. Case study
Colonialism - Answer-The often forceful control or governing influence of a nation over a
dependent country, territory or people
, Armchair anthropologists - Answer-Early anthropologists who gathered data from
travelogues and books rather than from their own direct research
Bronislaw Malinowski - Answer-Father of ethnography, introduced participant obervation
(1884-1942)
Fieldwork - Answer-Method of anthropology in which the anthropologist lives with the
people he is studying.
Participant Observation - Answer-observing of behavior as well as participating;
combining the emic/etic perspectives.
Ethnocentrism - Answer-belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group
Cultural Relativism - Answer-the value of any social practice or belief is relative to the
society in which it is practiced
Cultural Evolutionism/Stagism - Answer-cultures evolve, in stages, all cultures move
through these stages at different times
Lewis Henry Morgan - Answer-societies evolve through stages of savagery, barbarism,
and civilization
Franz Boas - Answer-father of modern American anthropology; argued for cultural
relativism and historical particularism
Historical Particularism - Answer-All societies or cultures have their own unique history,
cannot be reduced to a category in some universalist scheme of development (Eriksen)
Margaret Mead - Answer-Noted for her claims about adolescence and sexual behavior
in Polynesian cultures (1901-1978)
Ethnography - Answer-Discovering and describing a particular culture (Spradley).
Naïve realism - Answer-All people define the real world of objects, events, and living
creatures the same way (Spradley).
Explicit culture - Answer-cultural knowledge you can talk about; learned mostly by
hearing it from the other; parents, teachers, etc
Tacit culture - Answer-the shared knowledge of which people usually are unaware and
do not communicate verbally
Universals - Answer-characteristics that can be observed in every human culture and
society such as ethic, gestures, and superstitions
with Correct Answers
Anthropology - Answer-The study of humans
Archaeology - Answer-reconstructs, describes, and interprets past human behavior
through analysis of material remains
Artifacts - Answer-Something created by and used humans.
Ecofacts - Answer-Something naturally made, used by humans.
Linguistic Anthropology - Answer-"Studies language in its social and cultural context
Kanzi - Answer-male bonobo featured in several studies on ape language
Biological/Physical Anthropology - Answer-The study of human biological diversity
across time and space
Charles Darwin - Answer-English natural scientist who formulated theory of evolution by
natural selection (1809-1882).
Cultural Anthropology - Answer-The study of human society and culture, analyzes social
and cultural similarities and differences
Culture - Answer-The learned shared knowledge that people use to generate behavior
and interpret experience
Universality - Answer-the ability to be applied to everyone in every situation.
Generality - Answer-culture pattern or trait that exists in some but not all societies
Particularity - Answer-distinctive or unique culture trait, pattern, or integration
5 Themes of Cultural Anthropology - Answer-1. Comparative perspective
2. Holistic perspective
3. Systems and processes
4. Emic/etic perspectives
5. Case study
Colonialism - Answer-The often forceful control or governing influence of a nation over a
dependent country, territory or people
, Armchair anthropologists - Answer-Early anthropologists who gathered data from
travelogues and books rather than from their own direct research
Bronislaw Malinowski - Answer-Father of ethnography, introduced participant obervation
(1884-1942)
Fieldwork - Answer-Method of anthropology in which the anthropologist lives with the
people he is studying.
Participant Observation - Answer-observing of behavior as well as participating;
combining the emic/etic perspectives.
Ethnocentrism - Answer-belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group
Cultural Relativism - Answer-the value of any social practice or belief is relative to the
society in which it is practiced
Cultural Evolutionism/Stagism - Answer-cultures evolve, in stages, all cultures move
through these stages at different times
Lewis Henry Morgan - Answer-societies evolve through stages of savagery, barbarism,
and civilization
Franz Boas - Answer-father of modern American anthropology; argued for cultural
relativism and historical particularism
Historical Particularism - Answer-All societies or cultures have their own unique history,
cannot be reduced to a category in some universalist scheme of development (Eriksen)
Margaret Mead - Answer-Noted for her claims about adolescence and sexual behavior
in Polynesian cultures (1901-1978)
Ethnography - Answer-Discovering and describing a particular culture (Spradley).
Naïve realism - Answer-All people define the real world of objects, events, and living
creatures the same way (Spradley).
Explicit culture - Answer-cultural knowledge you can talk about; learned mostly by
hearing it from the other; parents, teachers, etc
Tacit culture - Answer-the shared knowledge of which people usually are unaware and
do not communicate verbally
Universals - Answer-characteristics that can be observed in every human culture and
society such as ethic, gestures, and superstitions
