Cultural Anthropology - Final Exam
Question and answers already passed
2025/2026
anthropology - correct answer ✔the study of humankind - of ancient & modern people and their ways
of living
holism - correct answer ✔-approach that assumes any single aspect of culture is integrated with other
aspects (all aspects of culture interact)
-no single dimension of culture can be understood in isolation!
fieldwork - correct answer ✔-firsthand experience with the people being studied
-integration into community through long-term residence and knowledge over language/customs while
maintaining rule of observer
fieldnotes - correct answer ✔-data collected by anthropologists (through fieldwork)
-ex: journals, logs, interviews, diaries, observations, audiotapes, collection of artifacts, pictures, videos
interviews - correct answer ✔-rely entirely on research subjects as sources of knowledge
-one of the main ways of gathering info in anthro
-imply detailed notes/recordings
participant observation - correct answer ✔-places the ethnographer at the scene, where a combination
of direct observation & interviews provides the evidence from which ethnographic accounts are
constructed
-you're physically inside of the culture that you're looking at
,culture shock - correct answer ✔feeling of anxiety/disorientation that develops in an unfamiliar
situation when there is confusion about how to behave and what to expect
informants - correct answer ✔-people through whom anthropologists learn about the culture through
observation and by asking questions
-people being observed
ethnography - correct answer ✔-firsthand description of a living culture based on personal observation
-based on information through fieldwork
-seeks to describe a single culture holistically
**one culture!
ethnology - correct answer ✔-study of a particular topic/problem in more than one culture using a
comparative perspective
-investigates an issue or a set of issues cross-culturally
-more than one cultures involved
-comparative
humanistic approach - correct answer ✔-describes/interprets each culture on its own terms
-believes comparisons distort the unique qualities of a given culture
scientific approach - correct answer ✔-aims to explain cultural differences/similarities
-believes that regularities exist across cultures and can be discovered through empirical data collection
and systematic comparison
Culture - correct answer ✔-the learned, socially acquired traditions of thought and behavior found in
human societies
, -it is shared, acquired ways of thinking, feeling, and acting
Subculture - correct answer ✔-members share certain cultural features that are significantly different
from those of the rest of society
-groups based on ethnic, religious, and class distinctions
Ethnocentrism - correct answer ✔-sense that one's own ethnic group is superior to others
-belief that one's own patterns of behavior are always natural, good, beautiful, or important and that
strangers, to the extent that they live differently, live by savage, inhuman, disgusting, or irrational
standards
-value judgement assuming that one's own culture is better aligned with nature than other cultures
Cultural Relativism - correct answer ✔-behavior in a particular culture should not be judged by the
standards of another
-disavowing any absolute, universal moral standards that can be used to rank cultural beliefs and
practices as good or evil, superior or inferior, right or wrong
Falsification - correct answer ✔-entails the rejection of a theory because the prediction is not
supported by the data
-there should be an unambiguous way of testing the idea to determine if it is true or false...not
attainable in anthro. because it is not a hard science
Diffusion - correct answer ✔-takes place when culture contact leads to borrowing and passing on of
culture traits
-passing of cultural traits from one culture/society to another
Emic/Emics - correct answer ✔-strongly favors the insider's point of view
-describes a culture/people in terms they would understand, emphasizes a culture's own categories of
thought/values, more holistic understanding
Question and answers already passed
2025/2026
anthropology - correct answer ✔the study of humankind - of ancient & modern people and their ways
of living
holism - correct answer ✔-approach that assumes any single aspect of culture is integrated with other
aspects (all aspects of culture interact)
-no single dimension of culture can be understood in isolation!
fieldwork - correct answer ✔-firsthand experience with the people being studied
-integration into community through long-term residence and knowledge over language/customs while
maintaining rule of observer
fieldnotes - correct answer ✔-data collected by anthropologists (through fieldwork)
-ex: journals, logs, interviews, diaries, observations, audiotapes, collection of artifacts, pictures, videos
interviews - correct answer ✔-rely entirely on research subjects as sources of knowledge
-one of the main ways of gathering info in anthro
-imply detailed notes/recordings
participant observation - correct answer ✔-places the ethnographer at the scene, where a combination
of direct observation & interviews provides the evidence from which ethnographic accounts are
constructed
-you're physically inside of the culture that you're looking at
,culture shock - correct answer ✔feeling of anxiety/disorientation that develops in an unfamiliar
situation when there is confusion about how to behave and what to expect
informants - correct answer ✔-people through whom anthropologists learn about the culture through
observation and by asking questions
-people being observed
ethnography - correct answer ✔-firsthand description of a living culture based on personal observation
-based on information through fieldwork
-seeks to describe a single culture holistically
**one culture!
ethnology - correct answer ✔-study of a particular topic/problem in more than one culture using a
comparative perspective
-investigates an issue or a set of issues cross-culturally
-more than one cultures involved
-comparative
humanistic approach - correct answer ✔-describes/interprets each culture on its own terms
-believes comparisons distort the unique qualities of a given culture
scientific approach - correct answer ✔-aims to explain cultural differences/similarities
-believes that regularities exist across cultures and can be discovered through empirical data collection
and systematic comparison
Culture - correct answer ✔-the learned, socially acquired traditions of thought and behavior found in
human societies
, -it is shared, acquired ways of thinking, feeling, and acting
Subculture - correct answer ✔-members share certain cultural features that are significantly different
from those of the rest of society
-groups based on ethnic, religious, and class distinctions
Ethnocentrism - correct answer ✔-sense that one's own ethnic group is superior to others
-belief that one's own patterns of behavior are always natural, good, beautiful, or important and that
strangers, to the extent that they live differently, live by savage, inhuman, disgusting, or irrational
standards
-value judgement assuming that one's own culture is better aligned with nature than other cultures
Cultural Relativism - correct answer ✔-behavior in a particular culture should not be judged by the
standards of another
-disavowing any absolute, universal moral standards that can be used to rank cultural beliefs and
practices as good or evil, superior or inferior, right or wrong
Falsification - correct answer ✔-entails the rejection of a theory because the prediction is not
supported by the data
-there should be an unambiguous way of testing the idea to determine if it is true or false...not
attainable in anthro. because it is not a hard science
Diffusion - correct answer ✔-takes place when culture contact leads to borrowing and passing on of
culture traits
-passing of cultural traits from one culture/society to another
Emic/Emics - correct answer ✔-strongly favors the insider's point of view
-describes a culture/people in terms they would understand, emphasizes a culture's own categories of
thought/values, more holistic understanding
