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,Chapter 1: What Is the Anthropological Perspective?
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. In the textbook, anthropology is defined as the study of
* a. Human nature, human society, and the human past.
b. The remains of earlier societies and peoples.
c. The ways of life of contemporary peoples.
d. The physical and mental capacities of human beings.
2. Holism in anthropology is defined in the text as
a. Trying to study everything possible about a people during the course of a research trip.
* b. Integrating what is known about human beings and their activities at an inclusive level.
c. Studying human biology and culture at the same time.
d. Fitting together economics, political science, religious studies, and biology.
3. To say that anthropology is comparative means that
a. Each anthropologist studies many different societies and cultures during his or her career.
* b. Anthropological generalizations must draw on evidence from many different societies and
cultures.
c. Anthropologists use data from many different academic fields of study when they do their
research.
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, d. There is no one way for an anthropologist to do research.
4. Which of the following is NOT an element of the anthropological perspective?
a. Holism.
b. Comparison.
c. An evolutionary approach.
* d. Learning dependent.
5. A study that examines how economics, politics, religion, and kinship shape one another in a specific
society would be
a. Detailed.
b. Cultural.
* c. Holistic.
d. Comparative.
6. An anthropologist studying a social group observes that people shake hands when greeting one another
and concludes that handshaking is universal among human beings. This study is faulty because the
anthropologist has not been
a. Holistic.
b. Evolutionary.
c. Ethnocentric.
* d. Comparative.
7. According to the text, evolution may be understood broadly as
a. Attributes and behaviors that are passed on by the genes.
b. Beliefs and behaviors that are passed on by teaching and learning.
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, * c. Change over time.
d. Transformations of species over time.
8. According to the text, culture consists of
* a. Sets of learned behaviors and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society.
b. Those elements of the human experience that require education and good taste, such as art, music,
and dance.
c. Sets of innate instincts that enable human beings to function in a complex world.
d. Those sets of behaviors and ideas that enable human beings to appreciate differences between one
society and another.
9. To claim that members of a particular social group do not typically eat insects because they have
learned to label insects as inedible is to use an explanation based on
* a. Culture.
b. Biology.
c. Ethnocentrism.
d. Genetic programming.
10. To emphasize that human beings are biocultural organisms means that
a. Human biology and culture both contribute to human behavior.
b. Human biology makes culture possible and human culture makes human biological survival
possible.
c. Instinct must be recognized as an important part of any explanation of human behavior.
* d. Both a and b.
11. When anthropologists say that human beings are biocultural organisms, they mean that
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,Chapter 1: What Is the Anthropological Perspective?
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. In the textbook, anthropology is defined as the study of
* a. Human nature, human society, and the human past.
b. The remains of earlier societies and peoples.
c. The ways of life of contemporary peoples.
d. The physical and mental capacities of human beings.
2. Holism in anthropology is defined in the text as
a. Trying to study everything possible about a people during the course of a research trip.
* b. Integrating what is known about human beings and their activities at an inclusive level.
c. Studying human biology and culture at the same time.
d. Fitting together economics, political science, religious studies, and biology.
3. To say that anthropology is comparative means that
a. Each anthropologist studies many different societies and cultures during his or her career.
* b. Anthropological generalizations must draw on evidence from many different societies and
cultures.
c. Anthropologists use data from many different academic fields of study when they do their
research.
2
, d. There is no one way for an anthropologist to do research.
4. Which of the following is NOT an element of the anthropological perspective?
a. Holism.
b. Comparison.
c. An evolutionary approach.
* d. Learning dependent.
5. A study that examines how economics, politics, religion, and kinship shape one another in a specific
society would be
a. Detailed.
b. Cultural.
* c. Holistic.
d. Comparative.
6. An anthropologist studying a social group observes that people shake hands when greeting one another
and concludes that handshaking is universal among human beings. This study is faulty because the
anthropologist has not been
a. Holistic.
b. Evolutionary.
c. Ethnocentric.
* d. Comparative.
7. According to the text, evolution may be understood broadly as
a. Attributes and behaviors that are passed on by the genes.
b. Beliefs and behaviors that are passed on by teaching and learning.
3
, * c. Change over time.
d. Transformations of species over time.
8. According to the text, culture consists of
* a. Sets of learned behaviors and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society.
b. Those elements of the human experience that require education and good taste, such as art, music,
and dance.
c. Sets of innate instincts that enable human beings to function in a complex world.
d. Those sets of behaviors and ideas that enable human beings to appreciate differences between one
society and another.
9. To claim that members of a particular social group do not typically eat insects because they have
learned to label insects as inedible is to use an explanation based on
* a. Culture.
b. Biology.
c. Ethnocentrism.
d. Genetic programming.
10. To emphasize that human beings are biocultural organisms means that
a. Human biology and culture both contribute to human behavior.
b. Human biology makes culture possible and human culture makes human biological survival
possible.
c. Instinct must be recognized as an important part of any explanation of human behavior.
* d. Both a and b.
11. When anthropologists say that human beings are biocultural organisms, they mean that
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