Anthro Exam 1

Basic Characteristics of Culture

The shared beliefs, behaviors, values, customs, and artifacts that members of a society use to live and interact with each other.

Fieldwork

The collection of data through direct observation and participation in the daily lives of people being studied.

Sociolinguistics

The study of how language is used in social contexts, focusing on the relationship between language and social factors like class, gender, and ethnicity.

Heritage Speaker

Someone who has been exposed to a language at home but may not speak it fluently.

Nonheritage Speaker

Someone who learns a language as a second language later in life.

Hypodescent

The practice of classifying someone with mixed racial ancestry as belonging to the socially subordinate racial group, commonly known as the 'one-drop rule.'

Code Switching

The practice of alternating between two or more languages, dialects, or cultural behaviors in a conversation.

Comparative Perspective

An approach in anthropology that examines cultures and societies by comparing them to identify similarities and differences.

Acculturation

The process of cultural exchange and adaptation that occurs when two or more cultures come into contact.

Language Revitalization

Efforts to preserve, promote, or restore endangered languages at risk of disappearing.

Research Ethics

The moral guidelines and standards that researchers must follow to ensure the safety, privacy, and respect of study participants.

Language Shift

The process in which a community gradually stops using its native language in favor of a more dominant language.

Key Informants

Individuals who provide valuable insights or knowledge about a specific culture or group based on their experiences or expertise.

Ethnology

The branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes cultures to understand patterns of human behavior.

Dialect

A variety of language spoken by a particular group of people, often distinguished by regional, social, or cultural differences.

Cultural Relativism

The idea that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, without judgment.

Mechanisms of Power

The ways in which power is distributed and exercised within societies, including systems of control, influence, and authority.

Racial Formation

The social, political, and historical processes by which racial categories are created, shaped, and maintained.

Whiteness

A social and cultural construct used to define and maintain societal privileges for people categorized as 'white.'

Digital World / Physical World

The distinction between virtual spaces created by digital technologies and the physical, real-world environments we live in.

Enculturation

The process by which individuals learn and adopt the customs, values, and behaviors of their own culture.

Applied Anthropology

The use of anthropological knowledge and methods to address practical, real-world problems.

Rapport

The building of trust and understanding between the researcher and the people being studied.

Photoethnography

A research method that combines photography with ethnographic research to capture and analyze cultural practices.

Ethnographic Research Strategy

A research method where the researcher immerses themselves in the community to observe and participate in daily life.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own culture or group is superior to others, leading to the judgment of other cultures.

Emic Perspective

The perspective of an insider, or a member of the culture being studied.

Folk Taxonomy

The way people in a particular culture classify and categorize the world around them.

Agency

The capacity of individuals or groups to act independently and make choices.

Social Construction

The idea that many aspects of society are created through social processes and interactions.

Etic Perspective

The perspective of an outsider, who seeks to understand a culture from an analytical standpoint.

Uneven Development

The idea that economic, social, and political development is not equally distributed across different regions or groups.

Armchair Anthropology

Early anthropological research based on second-hand accounts or literature.

Historical Particularism

A school of thought arguing cultures should be understood in their own historical context.

Assimilation

The process by which a minority group adopts the customs of the dominant culture.

Moral Judgment

The evaluation of actions or cultural practices based on a set of ethical standards.

Racism

Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed at individuals based on their race or ethnicity.

Survivance

The survival and persistence of a culture or community despite historical trauma.

Hashtag Activism

The use of social media hashtags to raise awareness and advocate for social or political causes.

Cultural Imperialism

The imposition of one culture’s values and practices on another culture.