Anthropology Exam 2

What are the three things that set anthropology apart from sociology and other sciences?

Long-term fieldwork, cultural relativism, and participant observation

Why does the AAA have ethical guidelines?

To protect research participants and prevent harm

What is participant observation?

Actively participating in a culture while studying it

What are some advantages to participant observation?

It enhances rapport, enables fieldworkers to distinguish between stereotypes, and allows for first person observation

What are some disadvantages to participant observation?

Only practical for a small sample size, difficult to obtain data, incomplete data

What is reflexivity?

Researchers examining their own bias and roles within a study.

What is reflexive (also known as narrative) ethnography?

Focuses more on the interaction between the ethnographer and the research participant

What is the IRB’s primary purpose?

Protecting human subjects from harm

How has fieldwork changed through the years as a result of ethics?

It has shifted from extractive, objective observation to collaborative, participant-driven research

What was the Human Terrain System (HTS)?

It was a US army program that embedded civilian social scientists into combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan

Why did many anthropologists, like David Price, see an issue with the HTS?

They viewed it as a violation of professional ethics. Hippocratic oath, no informed consent, no transparency

What is the difference between a hypothesis and a theory?

A hypothesis is a tentative prediction/explanation for something, a theory is a well-established and rigorously tested framework

What did the Jamaican Agroforestry Project illustrate?

Environmental conservation and economic survival can go hand in hand

What makes language different from animal communication?

Arbitrariness and displacement

What is arbitrariness is language?

The lack of inherent connection between a word and what it represents

What is displacement in language?

The ability to talk about things not physically present

Do languages stay the same over time?

No, languages are constantly changing

What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis propose?

That language shapes or influences how people perceive reality

What did the Navajo study suggest?

That language categories can influence how people classify and interpret the world

What is diglossia?

The use of two forms of language in the same social setting

What is proxemics?

Use of personal space

What is kinesics?

Communication through body language and gestures

Is BEV (Black English Vernacular) slang?

No, it is a rule-governed dialect with consistent grammatical patterns

What are the five major food production strategies?

Foraging, horticulture, pastoralism, agriculture, and industrialized agriculture

What is foraging?

Hunting, fishing, and gathering wild resources

What is horticulture?

Small-scale farming using simple tools

What is agriculture?

Large-scale farming using plows, animals, or machinery

What is industrialized agriculture?

Mechanized, large-scale farming for commercial production

What are some of the advantages of agriculture?

Food surplus, population growth, and permanent settlements

What are some of the disadvantages of agriculture?

Diseases spreading, social inequality, and nutritional decline early on

Where did domestication begin?

There were multiple independent starting points, including China, Africa, and Mesoamerica

What is the difference between horticulture vs. agriculture?

Horticulture is slash-and-burn, small plots, with no heavy machinery, and agriculture is intensive using irrigation and plow animals

What is Swidden agriculture?

Clearing land by burning vegetation for cultivation

What is nomadism vs. transhumance?

The entire group moves with the livestock vs. seasonal movement between fixed locations

What is the optimal foraging theory?

The theory that people choose food sources that maximize energy return for effort

What was the neolithic age?

New Stone Age. The beginning of agriculture and domestication

Formal economic theory __?

Assumes rational individuals maximizing profit

Economic anthropology __?

Looks at economic behavior in cultural contexts

How does economic anthropology differ from formal economic theory?

It studies economic behavior within cultural contexts rather than assuming profit-maximizing individuals

What are the three major distribution systems?

Reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange

What is reciprocity?

Exchange without money

What are the three forms of reciprocity?

Generalized, balanced, and negative

What is generalized reciprocity?

Sharing without immediate expectation

What is balanced reciprocity?

Equal exchange is expected

What is negative reciprocity?

Trying to get something for less than what it’s worth

What is redistribution?

Goods are collected by a central authority and then redistributed to members of society

What are big men/big women?

Leaders who gain status by redistributing wealth