Comparative Cultures Question Bank
Course Introduction
Comparative Cultures is an interdisciplinary course that examines the key beliefs, values, customs, and social structures that shape different societies around the world. Through the analysis and comparison of various cultures including their histories, traditions, languages, and artistic expressions students gain insight into the diversity and complexity of human experience. The course encourages critical thinking about cultural similarities and differences, fosters intercultural awareness, and explores how cultural factors influence global interactions and personal identities. Students will engage with case studies, readings, and projects to develop a nuanced understanding of the interconnectedness of cultures in a globalized world.
Recommended Textbook
Cultural Anthropology 9th Edition by Raymond Scupin
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1080 Verified Questions
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Anthropology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Linguistic anthropologists are concerned with discovering how sites and middens are formed and what can be learned from studying these ancient structures.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Research on artifacts found in the remains of slave quarters at an eighteenth-century tobacco plantation in Virginia is an example of __________.
A) historical archaeology
B) forensic anthropology
C) applied anthropology
D) classical archaeology
Answer: A
Q3) Anthropological scientific knowledge is absolute, complete, and usually the final truth.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Human Evolution
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Sample Questions
Q1) What was the stone tool industry associated with Neandertal populations called?
A) Oldowan complex
B) Mousterian tradition
C) Acheulian technology
D) chopper tool system
Answer: B
Q2) Scientific theories are based on the belief that the universe operates according to regular, observable processes.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Fossil and archaeological evidence suggests that the first hominins to practice intentional burial of their dead were __________.
A) modern Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens
B) Homo erectus
C) Neandertals
D) Homo habilis
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) A society and a culture are synonymous.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Anthropologists have determined that specific food preferences are biologically based and not culturally influenced.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) What did Nancy Rosenberger find during her research in Uzbekistan?
A) A national cuisine based on meat is inaccessible to the poorer segments of the population.
B) Global restaurant chains have created problems for local business owners.
C) Menopausal women express complaints through physical symptoms.
D) Inexpensive food is often less nutritious.
Answer: A
Q4) Culture consists of both material and nonmaterial components.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Psychological and Cognitive Anthropology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Studies have shown that Japanese children are raised in such a way as to lose their sense of individuality in favor of group identity.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Discuss anthropology's approach to understanding human emotions. Does this differ from a psychological approach? If so, how? How might recent approaches to human emotions influence how we understand the work of Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict?
Q3) Margaret Mead got most of her information on the behavior of adolescents in Samoa from __________.
A) accounts of travelers and missionaries
B) newspaper accounts and government reports
C) watching ethnographic films
D) interviewing young women
Q4) Incest avoidance is a universal practice among all known human societies. A)True
B)False
Q5) Humans cannot ignore or override their basic, inborn drives.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Language
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Sample Questions
Q1) One goal of anthropological linguistics is to determine the number of phonemes that exist in different languages. This goal is accomplished by examining the use of
A) minimal pairs
B) phone taps
C) maximal differences
D) syntax units
Q2) The ability to build an infinite number of sentences within sentences is known as
A) proxemics
B) recursion
C) dynamics
D) semantics
Q3) How do animal communication systems differ from human language and communication systems? Explain the features of human language that differentiate it from other forms of communication.
Q4) What is African-American Vernacular English? How did it emerge? How is it related to pidgin and creole languages? Discuss the controversies surrounding AAVE.
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Chapter 6: Anthropological Explanations
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Q1) Compare and contrast the perspectives of the cultural materialists and Marxists. Are these theoretical views similar in any manner, or are they mutually exclusive and contradictory in nature? Explain.
Q2) The existence of a "joking relationship" (one in which interactions are typified by friendly teasing) between a man and his brothers-in-law would be explained by anthropologist A. R. Radcliffe-Brown as __________.
A) a structured relationship whose function is to reduce potential hostility
B) evidence for cultural influences on individual personality
C) an example of the importance of cultural relativism in kinship roles
D) the basis for materialistic behavior
Q3) According to general evolutionists such as Leslie White, since the degree of societal development is measured by the amount of energy harnessed by the sociocultural system, the greater the energy, the more highly evolved the system.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Compare and contrast the perspectives of the symbolic anthropologists with the Marxists and the cultural materialists.
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Chapter 7: Analyzing Sociocultural Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Changes associated with the Industrial Revolution occurred during the eighteenth century in Europe.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Most anthropologists find the term "chiefdom" to be outdated and no longer useful for anthropological research.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The purpose of time-allocation analysis is to __________.
A) determine the best time to conduct interviews
B) allocate resources in order to compensate informants for their time and expertise
C) record how much time people in the society spend doing different activities
D) ensure that the anthropologist is using research time wisely and efficiently
Q4) One weakness of cross-cultural studies is that ethnographic reporting across cultures may be inconsistent.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What are the benefits and limitations of conducting cross-cultural research?
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Chapter 8: Environment, Subsistence, and Demography
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Q1) The areas inhabited by most chiefdoms have been characterized by __________.
A) an abundance of natural resources
B) unpredictable climates
C) scarce floral and faunal resources
D) marginal environmental conditions
Q2) Marginal environments often sustain hunting-and-gathering societies where agricultural societies cannot exist because __________.
A) the resource and energy demands of agricultural societies are low
B) foraging societies have lower resource and energy requirements
C) marginal environments have always sustained large populations of foragers
D) most agricultural societies have become industrialized
Q3) Most of the diet of the Ju/'hoansi San comes from __________.
A) meat from hunting
B) nuts, berries, fruits, and roots
C) fish and shellfish
D) agricultural products
Q4) The horticulturalist Iroquois depended solely on cultivated food resources.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Technology and Economies
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Q1) Karl Marx, in contrast to the views espoused by Adam Smith, __________.
A) argued that a market exchange and competition would bring prosperity and high wages to all segments of society
B) offered a gloomier picture of industrial societies by suggesting that a market economy would bring about misery for millions of people
C) suggested that the best way to have a free, democratic, and prosperous society was for the government to take control of the land, resources, and production
D) felt that forager, horticulturalist, and pastoralist societies could all be transformed into modern market economy states within 10 to 15 years
Q2) What was the role of trade and exchange in chiefdom-level societies? Give some specific examples of how goods were acquired and transferred from one individual to another.
Q3) What is meant by the terms "market economy" and "capitalism"? What are the principal advantages and disadvantages of these systems for the individuals who participate in them?
Q4) How do property rights differ in agricultural states from those in horticulturalist societies? Support your answer with specific examples.
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Chapter 10: Social Structure, The Family, Gender, and Age
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Q1) Rules of endogamy in Hawaiian chiefdoms actually resulted in sibling marriages.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Brideservice occurs when an eligible woman offers her domestic services to her future or potential husband's family in exchange for allowing her to marry their son.
A)True
B)False
Q3) When two or more clans recognize that they share a common genealogical relationship, the more general grouping of these clans is known as a __________.
A) patrilineage
B) moiety
C) phratry
D) descent group
Q4) Cross-cultural research has shown that societies engaged in external warfare (warfare at long distances from home) develop matrilocal residence rules.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Politics, Warfare, and Law
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Q1) In Hawaiian chiefdoms, warfare between rival chiefs culminated in which of the following?
A) sacrifice of the losing ruling descent group
B) complete disruption of the political structure of the losing chiefdom
C) intermarriage between the winning and losing descent groups
D) the erection of monuments to delineate new territories
Q2) A type of state that rules on the basis of religious authority is known as a __________.
A) galactic polity
B) radial polity
C) theater state
D) feudal state
Q3) A sense of loyalty to the nation-state based on shared language, values, and culture is called __________.
A) ethnicity
B) nationalism
C) statehood
D) popular sovereignty
Q4) What is the difference between legitimate and illegitimate political power? Give an example of each.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Religion and Aesthetics
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Q1) In Polynesia, the term mana refers to which of the following?
A) a bread-like substance that appears in times of drought
B) elaborate forms of deference and expressions of humility
C) a cosmic force that certain individuals could acquire
D) the ritual of human sacrifice practiced at harvest time
Q2) What is the term shaman used to designate?
A) an individual who had the ability to sicken and to cure, and who often served as a spiritual guide to chiefs
B) a cosmic power that can be increased through brave deeds, diminished through illness, and passed from a chief to his sons
C) the New Year's festival in ancient Hawaii, at which human sacrifices were practiced
D) the principal ancestor in a conical clan
Q3) How do the Inuit incorporate art and/or music into their religious practice?
A) Priestesses recite poetry during puberty initiations.
B) Elders create elaborate paintings of mythical ancestors.
C) Shamans play rhythmic songs to contact the spirits.
D) Sacred chants are offered to an all-powerful deity.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Globalization, Culture, and Indigenous Societies
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Q1) The Ju/'hoansi San were protected from exploitation and assimilation by the South African government.
A)True
B)False
Q2) One of the preconditions for modernization is the acceptance of the belief that progress is both necessary and beneficial to society and the individual.
A)True
B)False
Q3) "Ethnocide" refers to the physical extermination of a particular group of people.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A principal belief of the Ghost Dance movement was that __________.
A) white people would go away
B) indigenous people would go to battle against ghosts
C) the world would come to an end
D) Hawaii would be ruled again by traditional chiefdoms
Q5) As the head of state of an underdeveloped nation, what are the public policies that you would implement if you wished to modernize your society?
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Chapter 14: Globalization in Latin America,Africa, and the Caribbean
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Q1) In open peasant communities, crops are raised primarily for __________.
A) local subsistence
B) outside markets
C) barter with other peasant communities
D) feeding livestock
Q2) Ethnographic studies indicate that the behavior of individuals in Latin American peasant communities usually conforms to the ideals of machismo.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Led by Hernando Cortés, the Spanish were able to establish domination over the Aztec Empire in less than three years.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The pattern of inefficient and localized production and marketing characteristic of haciendas is still present in Latin America today.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Globalization in the Middle East and Asia
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Q1) The vast majority of people in the Middle East live in oil-rich countries.
A)True
B)False
Q2) To what does the term purdah refer?
A) the idea of physical attractiveness and sensuality
B) the wearing of the veil and forced seclusion of Muslim women
C) the concept of the traditional extended family
D) bridewealth paid in traditional Islamic families
Q3) One country in Asia that escaped colonization was Thailand.
A)True
B)False
Q4) To what does the term jati refer?
A) a social rank based on marital, economic, and ritual relations
B) the traditional village or homeland of an Indian peasant
C) a category within a system of "scheduled tribes"
D) the practice of burning a wife at the funeral of a prominent man
Q5) Historically, Afghanistan was a buffer zone between the Russian and British empires.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Ethnicity
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Q1) Discuss the processes that affect the ethnic composition of a society, including ethnic violence, segregation, assimilation, and stratification. Explain the philosophy behind each approach and describe a circumstance under which each has occurred.
Q2) "Jim Crow" laws are credited with beginning the process of school desegregation. A)True B)False
Q3) Why do many Asian Americans resent being labeled the "model minority"? Do you think this stereotype is unfair? Why or why not?
Q4) How did German immigrants initially respond to cultural differences in the United States?
A) They resorted to violent confrontations and protests.
B) They required their children to attend public schools and spoke only English at home.
C) They rapidly assimilated to the dominant WASP culture.
D) They attempted to retain their ethnic identity and cultural practices.
Q5) African-Americans are descended from a single African ethnic group. A)True B)False
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Chapter 17: Contemporary Global Trends
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Q1) The introduction of genetically modified crops to rural areas in Africa is likely to result in __________.
A) replacing small farmers with machines
B) increased incomes for local farmers
C) greater biodiversity
D) more affordable food worldwide
Q2) Which of the following countries is likely to have the lowest per capita energy consumption?
A) Sudan
B) Japan
C) Mexico
D) Canada
Q3) How can the anthropological perspective be used to examine global issues such as overpopulation, deforestation, global warming, and the loss of biodiversity? Draw on examples from the text to support your argument.
Q4) If the world economy becomes completely integrated, will the nations of the world become similar in terms of cultural values, ideals, and mores? Will there be a world culture and world government?
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Chapter 18: Applied Anthropology
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Q1) The study of disease, health-care systems, and the theories and methods of curing in cross-cultural perspective is known as __________.
A) epidemiology
B) medical anthropology
C) ethnoscience
D) metamedicine
Q2) The use of anthropology to offer practical solutions to problems faced by a society is known as basic anthropology.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is the central question associated with "cultural patrimony"?
A) What rights do cultural informants have in terms of maintaining anonymity?
B) Who are the forefathers of contemporary Native American populations?
C) What role should anthropologists play in development projects that affect endangered cultural groups?
D) Who has ownership rights over archaeological finds?
Q4) What is applied anthropology? Erve Chambers suggests that there are five roles that applied anthropologists play. Discuss each of these roles as they apply to present-day applied anthropological studies.
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