Cultural Anthropology Test
Questions
Course Introduction
Cultural Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures in all their diversity across time and space. The course examines how culture shapes the ways people live, think, organize social life, communicate, form identities, and respond to global challenges. Students will explore concepts such as kinship, religion, language, economic systems, power relations, and globalization, using ethnographic research and case studies from around the world. By analyzing cultural practices and beliefs, the course fosters a deeper appreciation of both cultural similarities and differences, encouraging critical thinking about how cultural norms influence our everyday lives.
Recommended Textbook
Cultural Anthropology A Toolkit for a Global Age 2nd Edition by Kenneth J. Guest
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Chapter 1: Anthropology in a Global Age
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Q1) In order to gain a complete understanding of any aspect of human behavior, the field of anthropology adopts what strategy?
A) four-field approach
B) cultural evolution
C) physical anthropology
D) ethnobiology
Answer: A
Q2) Many large corporations-Walmart, General Motors, and others-routinely operate larger numbers of factories in places like China in order to take advantage of very cheap wages, putting workers in their home country out of a job. What is this an example of?
A) uneven development
B) workload migration
C) flexible accumulation
D) global regulation
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Culture
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Q1) The development of simple stone tools by early hominids led to the ability to procure meat more efficiently. This led to increased amounts of protein in their diet. Many scholars believe that this shift in diet was a significant part of how our ancient ancestors adapted so quickly to a varied set of environments, and how they were able to begin cultural development. This demonstrates the intimate connection between ________.
A) evolution and technology
B) language and culture
C) nature and nurture
D) biology and psychology
Answer: C
Q2) In many European and Latin American cultures, people commonly greet one another with a kiss on the cheek. In the United States, people may be more likely to greet one another with a hug or a handshake. An anthropologist would call these ________ actions.
A) symbolic
B) spatial
C) value
D) normative
Answer: A
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Fieldwork and Ethnography
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Sample Questions
Q1) What aspect of life did Nancy Scheper-Hughes find particularly useful when decoding radically different cultures?
A) relationships
B) ethnocentrism
C) patterns
D) language
Answer: C
Q2) How would you describe the problems pertaining to the vulnerability of research subjects involved in a study of Facebook groups?
A) The study population might be self-selecting, and therefore nonrepresentative.
B) The researcher would not be able to establish meaningful connections.
C) The population would not have the chance to say things in their own words.
D) The participants would not have anonymity.
Answer: D
Q3) Define zeros and explain their significance for ethnographers.
Answer: Zeros are the elements of a story or picture that are not told or seen; they are key details omitted from the conversation. This omission offers insight into which topics are too sensitive to discuss publicly.
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5
Chapter 4: Language
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Sample Questions
Q1) Consider a used car salesperson who must be highly skilled at using words to persuade people to spend money. This illustrates that linguistic skills as a form of cultural capital:
A) are not needed to make a good living.
B) are often used to cheat others out of their money.
C) can be converted into monetary gain.
D) are a useful tool for car sales, but not for financial careers.
Q2) The book mentions how recent uprisings like the Arab Spring relied on the proliferation of digital communication technologies. Based on what you read in the text, name and describe one opportunity and one challenge that innovations in communication technology might present for future social movements.
Q3) What might an anthropologist interested in kinesics study?
A) the origins of human language
B) dialects of the same language
C) how body language varies across cultures
D) how paralanguage varies across cultures
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6
Chapter 5: Human Origins
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Q1) What makes the Acheulian stone tools associated with Homo erectus different than those made by earlier hominids?
A) The stone used was stronger.
B) Acheulian tools all had decorative markings.
C) These tools were of a greater variety and accomplished a wider range of tasks.
D) These tools were used in the act of war.
Q2) Although DNA provides a blueprint for an individual's growth, other environmental factors such as nutrition and disease can impact the human life cycle. This describes what kind of adaptation?
A) genetic
B) developmental
C) acclimatized
D) cultural
Q3) Discuss the current thinking regarding the fate of the Neandertals.
Q4) Genetic studies of mtDNA indicate that:
A) all living humans have a common matrilineal ancestor.
B) there is less genetic variation in African populations.
C) early hominids had a very high incidence of disease.
D) there is more genetic variation farther from Africa.
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Chapter 6: Race and Racism
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Q1) A Saint Bernard and a Chihuahua are of the same species but look very different. It is possible to breed the two and get a puppy that might look like something else entirely but still be a dog. The study of dogs might be of interest to an anthropologist because it: A) could help resolve the question of race.
B) could help us understand the nature of ethnicity.
C) could help us better understand the relationship between genotype and phenotype. D) provides a vital platform for the study of DNA.
Q2) To apply stereotypical traits to people based on their supposed racial ancestry is referred to as ________.
A) discrimination
B) microaggression
C) segregation
D) racialization
Q3) All human beings of every race share ________ percent of their DNA.
A) 90
B) 95
C) 98
D) 99.9
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Chapter 7: Ethnicity and Nationalism
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Q1) What do we call the process through which new immigrants and their children enculturate into the dominant national culture, but retain a distinct ethnic culture of their own?
A) assimilation
B) biculturalism
C) multiculturalism
D) naturalization
Q2) Identify three things that are used as ethnic boundary markers, and explain in what cultures they are used and how.
Q3) As part of a territorial conflict in Bosnia, ethnic Croats expelled, imprisoned, or killed the Muslim people with whom they had lived peacefully for more than 500 years. What concept does this illustrate?
A) ethnic cleansing
B) patriotism
C) fascism
D) expulsion
Q4) In a brief essay, compare and contrast how the Bafokeng and Native American tribes have formed corporations to achieve specific goals. Use specific examples from the class to illustrate your answer.
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Chapter 8: Gender
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Sample Questions
Q1) In popular conversations, emphasis is often placed on the role of biology in shaping gender identities and behaviors. What does research reveal regarding this topic?
A) Culture constantly shapes and reshapes our bodies throughout our lives.
B) Our DNA remains the same throughout the course of our lives.
C) Biology plays a more significant role than the environmental context.
D) A person's biological sex determines his or her innate personality traits.
Q2) Analyze how idealized gender roles and attributes of both sexes are reflected in the sexual division of labor and jobs that adult men and women tend to pursue in the United States. Provide two examples for each gender.
Q3) The dramatic increase in global migration among large numbers of women has helped create what new occupational niche?
A) caregiving as an international occupation
B) specialized technology work in developing areas
C) laborers in factory-based jobs
D) sex workers providing a service to other immigrant workers
Q4) Define the concept of intersex, and explain how physicians' attitudes toward children born intersex have changed in recent decades in parallel with changes in attitudes toward sexuality.
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Sexuality
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Q1) Cultural and governmental institutions define the age of consent, how marriage and divorce can be obtained, and reproductive rights such as abortion. In regulating these things, what are cultural and government institutions attempting to do?
A) control family planning by using the full extent of legal government power
B) limit the negative influence of practicing "sex for fun" in mainstream culture
C) control sexuality by regulating who can do what with whom and when they can do it
D) limit the spread of disease by regulating acceptable sexual practices
Q2) In Kano, Nigeria, Rudolf Gaudio found that men who have sex with other men use a special "code word" to describe themselves. What is that word?
A) mati
B) 'yan daudu
C) masu harka
D) machista
Q3) Define sexuality and, using a minimum of three examples from the text, describe the ways in which culture influences sexual beliefs and behaviors.
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11
Chapter 10: Kinship, Family, and Marriage
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Q1) Which of the following types of marriage specifically involves the marital union of one woman to two or more men?
A) polyandry
B) monogamy
C) polyamory
D) polygyny
Q2) Both matrilineal and patrilineal patterns of descent build kinship groups through either one genealogical line (the mother's side) or the other (the father's side). What anthropological concept does this reflect?
A) ambilineality
B) unilineality
C) endogamy
D) patrilineality
Q3) How do humans build kinship ties between two people who are not their immediate biological kin?
A) blood
B) marriage
C) school
D) cohabitation
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Class and Inequality
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Q1) A young man decides to take a class about art history, which he has been interested in ever since his parents began taking him to museums when he was a child. He believes that art appreciation and knowledge are good qualities to have. How would Pierre Bourdieu describe this young man's taste for classic art?
A) bourgeoisie
B) habitus
C) social mobility
D) social reproduction
Q2) Which of the following members of a ranked society may not accumulate great wealth but enjoy high prestige?
A) women
B) elders
C) men
D) chiefs
Q3) Which of these is stratified in a ranked society?
A) gender
B) race
C) status
D) wealth
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Global Economy
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Q1) Today fewer than 250,000 people make their primary living from food foraging. Where do the remaining food foragers often live?
A) in environments (cold places, forests, islands) where other strategies for food production are not sustainable
B) in remote regions where inhabitants have never had any contact with other societies or civilizations
C) in very poor countries where agriculture is too expensive
D) in regions where there is an abundance of food and a low population, making agriculture unnecessary
Q2) What is one of the changes that occurs with the transition to intensive agriculture that reflects a distinctly Marxist perspective?
A) Population sizes tend to decrease.
B) Surpluses generated through peasant labor are transferred to a small elite.
C) A more egalitarian lifestyle emerges.
D) Populations become more politically active.
Q3) Explain the controversies associated with neoliberal policies. What is the reasoning behind structural adjustment policies? Use two examples from Jamaica to discuss problems associated with structural adjustment.
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Chapter 13: Migration
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Q1) With which of the following groups do we often associate the idea of remittances?
A) only labor immigrants
B) only professional immigrants
C) only entrepreneurial immigrants
D) all types of immigrants
Q2) What do we call migrants who stay actively connected with social, economic, political, and religious spheres across national borders?
A) second-generation
B) guest worker
C) transnational
D) internal
Q3) Drawing on the discussion in the text about Neha Vora's work among Indian immigrants in Dubai, discuss the ways and extent to which this group of immigrants are treated in their new home. Discuss how these merchants are an example of transnational entrepreneurial migrants. How do these migrants succeed or fail to establish their own culture in Dubai, and what are the results? What is the importance of social networks in their experience?
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Chapter 14: Politics and Power
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Q1) Most of us never consider how our immediate families function in a larger social context in our lives. In reality, though, what aspect of social behavior is strongly present in our family relationships and echoed in our place in society as a whole?
A) power
B) hegemony
C) agency
D) financial success
Q2) The ability of a dominant group to create consent and agreement within a population without the use or threat of force is referred to as what?
A) agency
B) coercion
C) domination
D) hegemony
Q3) Describe the concept of agency and how it works, and give an example that illustrates this concept.
Q4) Discuss the framing process and how it works. Provide an example to support your explanation.
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Chapter 15: Religion
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Q1) Anthropologists typically examine which of the following in order to understand religion's meaning and significance in the life of a community of people?
A) theology and history
B) language and theology
C) theology and political systems
D) economy and theology
Q2) In his research in Niger, West Africa, anthropologist Paul Stoller apprenticed with a local sorcerer as a means of exploring the role of religion in community life there. During his apprenticeship, Stoller's work came to an abrupt end and he fled back home to the United States. What did his research and experience demonstrate regarding the power of religion in people's everyday lives? What risks do anthropologists take by immersing themselves in others' religious belief systems and practices? Do you think it is possible to comprehend another group of people's religious beliefs and practices without accepting that they are real for believers? Why or why not? What does it mean for a religious belief or practice to be considered real, and who should determine whether or not it is real?
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Chapter 16: Health, Illness, and the Body
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Q1) According to the text, what is one consequence of the health transition?
A) Chronic diseases such as cancer have declined as a primary cause of death worldwide.
B) Infectious diseases have increased as the primary cause of death in the United States.
C) Overall human life expectancy has doubled in the past century.
D) There has been a decline in health inequality across the globe.
Q2) What is one of the major problems highlighted in the Village Girl Youth Project (VGYP) by anthropologist Rania Sweis?
A) There is no change in the level of involvement by the parents of the girls.
B) The girls do not actually receive any additional educational opportunities.
C) Menstruation is presumed to be a similar biological experience everywhere.
D) The concept of adolescence is defined through a strictly Western perspective.
Q3) How has Paul Farmer's research shown that medical anthropologists can improve the lives of individuals who are suffering from illnesses? What specifically did he learn about the infrastructure, daily routines, and beliefs about illness that helped him treat illness and combat critical issues such as infant mortality? What was one of Farmer's conclusions about the role of the anthropologist and anthropology after his work was completed?
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Chapter 17: Art and Media
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Q1) Discuss the relationship of art and the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. How did the institutions-galleries, museums, and others-come to a decision about why art might be useful as a means of bridging the cultural "gap" left by the attack? What was the result of their effort? What could have been done differently and why?
Q2) What do anthropologists emphasize in definitions of art?
A) It is solely the domain of elites.
B) It is created only by professional artists.
C) It is a product of individual rather than community production.
D) It is shaped by the viewer's perception as well as the artistic intent.
Q3) As discussed in the text, where is the art known as "wood" and "mud" primarily produced?
A) South Africa
B) West Africa
C) Eastern Africa
D) Central America
Q4) Define the term kinetic orality and describe the circular relationship Kyra Gaunt documented between the games black girls play and commercial hip-hop culture, especially as it pertains to the construction of gender.
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