Q&A Hero

Q: Durkheim explained that the use of symbols is universal because they are essential in A. the expression and maintenance of a revered system of values in a society. B. the process of myth making. C. the practice of religion. D. the ability to differentiate binary oppositions.

Q: While a symbol is minimally something that represents something else, symbols are a very important area of study because A. the very development of culture is dependent upon the symbolic meaning ascribed to words, otherwise known as language. B. they deal with thoughts and values that are taboo in everyday life. C. they provide people with a way of expressing the abstract.

Q: The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski explained myth A. as a symbolic expression of innate human psychological tensions. B. as a social "charter," or model, for behavior that validates social norms. C. as a means of resolving fundamental binary oppositions, like those between life and death, male and female. D. as a universal construction with only minor differences in the mode of cultural expression.

Q: The ethnographic story must he based on empirical data and an analysis that seeks cultural patterns.

Q: Reflexivity refers to concerns about the ethnographer's proper role in research.

Q: Culture Stock occurs during a set period of time and once this stage of anthropological research has been passed it is no longer an issue for researcher and their findings.

Q: Social tensions explain why people cherish amulets or charms in nearly all societies.

Q: To attempt to understand the recent amulet obsession, Moro takes into account historical cultural patterns and contemporary political and economic pressures.

Q: Anthropologists have studied the relationship and interaction between religious texts and the actual beliefs and practices of devotees.

Q: Anthropologists seek the truth in the religion they are studying, focusing on different concepts depending on their training and theoretical inclinations.

Q: According to Lee, there are many different terms referring to the human relationship with the divine in societies in which religion is widespread.

Q: Lee asserts that while religion permeates most of material culture, economic systems seem to be predominantly unaffected.

Q: Harris showed that animism isn't universal, as Tylor had proposed, because Buddhism lacks beliefs in gods or souls.

Q: Harris concluded that Western notions such as superstition and luck are modern manifestations of true religious concepts.

Q: Malinowski used his work with the Trobriand Islanders to distinguish "primitive thought" as a distinctive mode of reasoning.

Q: Lvi-Strauss emphasized the symbolic structure of "homemade" taxonomies, or systems of classification, in understanding cultural forms.

Q: All the major anthropological thinkers asserted that religious behavior functions principally to produce social cohesion.

Q: Howells posited that there are four main characteristics that distinguish "primitive" religions from the world's "great faiths."

Q: Anthropologists often understand religion as a way to A. Clear one's mind from the hardships of daily life. B. Control and understand forces that are uncontrollable and unexplainable. C. Distinguish one culture from another. D. Create solidarity within a group of diverse peoples

Q: What does Spiro argue is the relationship between Buddhist texts and daily practices of the people? A. Common people are well versed in Buddhist texts which greatly influences daily practices. B. Most common people are familiar with basic Buddhist principles but key ideals seem to be separate from attitudes and day-to-day practices. C. Only religious leaders are keenly aware of Buddhist principles and the daily lives of common people are separate from religion. D. Buddhist texts are strictly learned by all but do not greatly influence daily life.

Q: The anthropologist must pay attention to _____ when studying religion. A. cross-cultural similarities and differences on a global level and varieties of experiences amongst members of the same society B. how assertions by scholars from other disciplines are correct or incorrect C. whether or not beliefs and practices provide a positive function for the society D. topics the society may view as taboo

Q: What factors influenced Moro's preconceptions of Thai Buddhism? A. Her own religious beliefs. B. Non scholarly works read while researching the subject. C. Various iconic media images of the time period. D. Experiences at Buddhist wats (temples) in California.

Q: Lee discusses the importance of personal autonomy among Crow and Sioux Indians to demonstrate A. how some groups consider the spiritual world to be full of evil-willing beings. B. how understanding the worldview of a society can lend insight into past and present cultural expressions. C. the overwhelming similarities with other Native American Indian religions such as that of the Hopi. D. that not all Native American religions emphasize a personal relationship with the spirit world.

Q: Lee points out that the concept of harmony between man and the universe A. is present in nearly all primitive religions. B. is actually a Biblical concept. C. is vitally important to understand if you are to understand Navajo religion, rhythms, stories, art, and life. D. has its closest Western counterpart in the concept of balance and/or justice.

Q: Which of the following groups is not an example of how agriculture is often an expression of a people's religious relatedness to the universeA. the Tikopia of the Solomon Islands.B. the Navajo IndiAns:C. the Baiga in India.D. the Maya IndiAns:

Q: Lee asserts that religion in primitive societies A. usually involves an immediate personal relatedness with the divine. B. always recognizes a certain spiritual worth and dignity in the universe that prevents the exploitation of nature. C. exerts a greater influence over daily life than any of the modern religions do.

Q: Harris noted that the types of spirit beings found in pre-state societies A. differ dramatically from the types of spirit beings found in modern religions. B. were considered to be more personal than modern deities. C. have their analogues or exact prototypes in modern religions. D. were based entirely upon superstition.

Q: According to Harris, the mystery of death is made humanly sensible through A. the concept of a supreme plan or order. B. the concept of a soul. C. the idea of divine regeneration. D. natural observation.

Q: Harris refers to Tylor's concept of animism in order to A. disprove it. B. demonstrate that it needs to be broadened in order to include a belief in mana and/or superstitions. C. distinguish religious belief from other forms of causal beliefs. D. demonstrate the difference between true religious concepts and the concept/phenomenon that Tylor studied.

Q: Which of the following does Harris consider to be a true religious concept? A. mana B. luck C. superstition D. animism

Q: Harris asserts that non-human species A. display sound evidence to convince us that they too hold spiritual beliefs. B. do not display anything seemingly religious that it similar to human superstition. C. display false associations of causality, like human superstitions, which are not to be counted as true religious behavior. D. have a sense of ancestor worship.

Q: All following are principles proposed by Spradley to maintain objectivity in recording of participant observations EXCEPT. A. "The exclusion syntax principle" B. "The language identification principle" C. "The concrete principle" D. "The verbatim principle"

Q: Two issues that anthropologists encounter and struggle with in ethnographic or participant-observation fieldwork that Wagner discusses are: A. Loyalty and trust B. Loyalty and "the exclusion syntax principle" C. Loyalty and "the concrete principle" D. Loyalty and avoiding anti-popular culture biases

Q: All of the following are examples of anthropologists embracing a less humanist, more scientific perspective and methodology EXCEPT: A. Discouraging narrative and subjectivity or personal accounts in research findings. B. Maintaining distance from research subjects. C. Exploring and reporting how the subject or society being studied have affected the internal thoughts and processing of the researcher. D. Engaging in what Spradley describes as "passive" rather than "active" participation in the culture being studied.

Q: All of the following are signs that the researcher is attaining an ever-increasing understanding discussed by Wagner EXCEPT: A. Ability to participate in the culture's activities with greater ease. B. Actions of the culture seem "normal" when compared to actions of the researcher's native culture. C. Ability to explain cultural phenomena in both emic (native) and etic (outsider) terms. D. Actions of the culture's actors become predictable.

Q: Wagner describes the six stages of anthropological fieldwork/research in order as: A. (1) gaining entree, (2) establishing rapport, (3) experiencing culture shock, (4) attaining an ever-increasing understanding of the culture, (5) analyzing and interpreting what has been learned, and (6) leaving the field. B. (1) gaining entree, (2) establishing rapport, (3) experiencing culture shock, (4) attaining an ever-increasing understanding of the culture, (5) leaving the field, and (6) analyzing and interpreting what has been learned. C. (1) gaining entree, (2) experiencing culture shock, (3) establishing rapport, (4) attaining an ever-increasing understanding of the culture, (5) analyzing and interpreting what has been learned, and (6) publishing research findings. D. (1) gaining entree, (2) experiencing culture shock, (3) establishing rapport, (4) attaining an ever-increasing understanding of the culture, (5) leaving the field, and (6) analyzing and interpreting what has been learned.

Q: What makes the anthropological study of religion different from other approaches? A. Use of a comparative or cross cultural perspective, holism, and cultural relativity B. Reliance on self-reflection C. reliance on one theoretical ideology D. Comparison of other cultures

Q: Why does Eller argue that a holistic approach must be used to analyze religion anthropologically? A. Holism is present across other disciplines of psychology and biology; anthropology had to adopt this principle B. Holism provides solutions to immediate problems posed by religion C. Humans have perceived and received different truths across time and space D. None of the above

Q: How is Anthropology like Science? A. It seeks to explain its subject matter by reducing it to a single theoretical perspective B. It seeks to explain its subject matter by constructing a model to identify the different theoretical processes or mechanisms working within a single phenomenon C. It seeks to explain its subject matter within one culture/society D. It seeks to explain its subject matter by establishing a truth

Q: Eller discusses what Talal Asad suggests is involved in Anthropology as a discipline defining anthropology as: A. Ethnography B. Fieldwork and participant observation C. Comparison of embedded concepts D. All of the above

Q: How is religion distinct from the other domains of culture? A. The objects or players in religion are non-human or non-living B. The objects or players in religion are not social and are outside of society C. The objects or players in religion are commoditized and are therefore not distinct from the other domains D. The objects or players in religion are not affected by environment or other pervasive factors such as gender or language

Q: Eller describes the four domains of culture as: A. Economics, Kinship, Religion, and Social Interaction B. Economics, Language, Politics, and Religion C. Economics, Politics, Kinship, and Religion D. Politics, Kinship, Language, Environment

Q: When A.F.C. Wallace studied various forms of religious behavior he concluded that A. differences in religious practice are arbitrary. B. there are five major approaches to religion corresponding to five geographical regions. C. there are different "types," from simple to complex, of religious forms, which often correspond to the level of social structure in the society. D. "primitive" belief systems lack important characteristics of religion as a genre.

Q: Which anthropologist viewed religion as serving three functions corresponding to three human desires? A. Spiro B. Durkheim C. Malinowski D. Tylor

Q: Which thinker used a functionalist approach to explain religious behavior? A. Malinowski B. Tylor C. Turner D. Durkheim

Q: The editors of this book have suggested that religion is a human universal. What other human universal do they point to as a primary impetus and factor in the worldwide emergence of religion? A. celestial observation B. agriculture C. adversity (life is hard) D. divine visitation

Q: What evidence is there to suggest that Neanderthals may have been concerned with an afterlife? A. cave art B. iconical artifacts believed to represent a Shepherd of the Ancestors C. artifacts from burial rituals D. hunting rituals

Q: Globalization promotes intercultural communication, migration, and commerce.

Q: More efficient use of energy could slow global warming.

Q: An ethnoecology is any society's set of environmental practices and perceptions.

Q: The Earth's climate has always remained constant, so any changes must be human-driven.

Q: Conservation projects have traditionally been sensitive to the ethnoecologies of indigenous people.

Q: Deforestation is more likely to occur in a food-producing society than a foraging culture.

Q: The indigenous rights movement has brought about full equality in all Latin American countries.

Q: The use of the Internet is most prevalent among the elderly and poor.

Q: Local communities can use television to preserve, revive, and intensify the scale of traditional ceremonies.

Q: Discuss strategies that can help ensure that economic development and environmentalism benefit, rather than endanger, local communities.

Q: Discuss the evidence for climate change and the specific evidence that climate change is at least partially human-driven. List the human factors that influence climate change.

Q: List the causes and effects of deforestation. Identify how deforestation ties in to climate change, and discuss the traditional approach to combating deforestation. Identify strategies that are more likely to be effective.

Q: Acculturation refers to changes that occur when groups come into direct and continuous contact.

Q: Most migrants live independently, severing all ties to their home communities and identities.

Q: As capitalism has spread globally, the gap between rich and poor has decreased both within and between nations.

Q: Mass media can play an important role in constructing and maintaining national and ethnic identities.

Q: Modern technology plays an important role in both facilitating cultural imperialism and resisting it.

Q: The globalization of risk describes the commercial value of generating new ideas and converting them into products and services that consumers want.

Q: Acculturation can occur with or without firsthand contact between groups.

Q: National boundaries no long restrict forces influencing production and consumption.

Q: Explain the difference between acculturation and indigenization, citing examples of each.

Q: Identify some of the arguments for and against the interpretation of mass media as a form of cultural imperialism.

Q: Autochthony most likely plays a role in A. urban planning. B. mass media. C. finance. D. health care reform. E. immigration policies.

Q: Which of these statements does NOT describe indigenous identities? A. "They emerge through a specific process." B. "They are thriving." C. "They are ways of being someone or something in particular times and places." D. "They are potentially plural." E. "They can be fluid or competing."

Q: In Latin America, the term indio (Indian) is being replaced by indgena (indigenous person) to reflect a change from what previous model to a focus on cultural difference? A. multiculturalism B. acculturation C. assimilation D. essentialism E. social validation

Q: Which of the following is a reasons for people NOT using the Internet? A. lack of education B. increased political involvement C. entertainment D. social connectivity E. availability of information

Q: People are living multilocally when A. migrants maintain ties with their native lands through phoning, e-mailing, visiting, sending money, and watching ethnic TV. B. individuals from warm climates move north to work during the summer, but move home in the winter. C. the indigenous people of a colonized country maintain their own customs while assimilating to the dominant culture. D. families split and live in two different countries to gain the benefits of both. E. offspring live in multiple countries.

Q: ________ keeps the Earth's surface warm. A. The atmosphere B. Global warming C. Ocean currents D. The hothouse effect E. The greenhouse effect

Q: Discuss why the term indigenous people has great political weight. Identify what indigenous movements in Latin America have emphasized in their drive for self-determination.

Q: Differentiate postmodernity and postmodernism. Discuss how postmodernity affected the focus of anthropological study.

Q: Define globalization two ways. Identify when each type began, and give examples of both definitions.

Q: Many scientists prefer "________" over "global warming" to denote changes in the environment. A. deforestation B. climate change C. diaspora D. arctic melting E. global temperature change

Q: The greatest obstacle to slowing climate change is the problem of A. curbing population growth. B. providing enough food. C. ensuring that each culture is considered in any plan to halt climate change. D. stopping deforestation. E. meeting energy demands.