BSocSc Bachelor of Social Science Bachelor of Social Science Anthropology 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which anthropological concept refers to the practice of studying a culture from the perspective of its own members rather than imposing outside frameworks?
- Ethnocentrism
- Cultural relativism (Correct answer)
- Diffusionism
- Structural functionalism
Correct answer: Cultural relativism
Cultural relativism holds that a culture's beliefs and practices should be understood on their own terms, without external judgment.
Question 2: In kinship terminology, what does a 'bilateral descent' system mean?
- Descent traced exclusively through the father's line
- Descent traced exclusively through the mother's line
- Descent traced equally through both parents' lines (Correct answer)
- Descent traced through a ceremonially chosen elder
Correct answer: Descent traced equally through both parents' lines
Bilateral descent recognizes kin relationships through both the maternal and paternal lines equally, as is common in the United States.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'liminality' as developed by Victor Turner?
- A permanent social role assigned at birth
- An in-between threshold state during ritual transition (Correct answer)
- The economic surplus produced by a community
- The sacred objects used in initiation ceremonies
Correct answer: An in-between threshold state during ritual transition
Liminality describes the ambiguous, transitional phase in a rite of passage where individuals are 'betwixt and between' social statuses.
Question 4: What is 'participant observation' in ethnographic fieldwork?
- Conducting structured surveys with community members
- Analyzing historical documents left by a community
- Immersing oneself in daily community life while systematically recording observations (Correct answer)
- Observing a community through one-way glass without interaction
Correct answer: Immersing oneself in daily community life while systematically recording observations
Participant observation involves living within a community, taking part in its activities, and systematically documenting behavior and meanings.
Question 5: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (linguistic relativity) proposes that:
- All human languages share the same deep grammatical structure
- The language people speak shapes how they perceive and think about the world (Correct answer)
- Language acquisition is entirely biologically determined
- Spoken language is always more complex than written language
Correct answer: The language people speak shapes how they perceive and think about the world
Linguistic relativity argues that the structure and vocabulary of a language influence its speakers' worldview and cognitive categories.
Question 6: Which term describes the process by which minority cultures gradually adopt elements of a dominant culture while retaining some of their own traits?
- Assimilation
- Acculturation (Correct answer)
- Enculturation
- Transculturation
Correct answer: Acculturation
Acculturation refers to cultural change that occurs when two cultures come into sustained contact, with minorities often adopting dominant cultural elements.
Question 7: In Clifford Geertz's interpretive anthropology, what does he mean by 'thick description'?
- Providing extensive demographic statistics about a population
- Interpreting the layered meanings and context behind cultural behaviors (Correct answer)
- Creating detailed physical maps of fieldwork sites
- Collecting large samples of material artifacts
Correct answer: Interpreting the layered meanings and context behind cultural behaviors
Thick description involves not just recording what people do but interpreting the webs of significance and cultural context that give those actions meaning.
BSocSc Bachelor of Social Science Bachelor of Social Science Anthropology 2
Which anthropological concept refers to the practice of studying a culture from the perspective of its own members rather than imposing outside frameworks?