MH Anthropology 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In structural-functionalism, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown argued that social institutions should be understood primarily by:
- Their historical origins and development
- Their function in maintaining social structure (Correct answer)
- Their symbolic meanings for individual members
- Their relationship to economic production
Correct answer: Their function in maintaining social structure
Radcliffe-Brown held that social institutions exist to maintain social structure and solidarity, analogous to organs maintaining a biological organism.
Question 2: Which concept describes the practice of marrying outside one's own defined social group?
- Endogamy
- Exogamy (Correct answer)
- Polygyny
- Moiety
Correct answer: Exogamy
Exogamy requires individuals to marry outside their own clan, lineage, or community, which is common in many societies as a way to build inter-group alliances.
Question 3: The 'culture of poverty' thesis, associated with Oscar Lewis, has been criticized primarily because:
- It overstated the role of kinship in poverty
- It blamed the poor for structural economic inequalities (Correct answer)
- It ignored the role of religion in economic behavior
- It conflated poverty with racial identity
Correct answer: It blamed the poor for structural economic inequalities
Critics argue that Lewis's thesis incorrectly attributed poverty to internalized cultural values rather than systemic economic and political structures.
Question 4: Paleoanthropology is primarily concerned with:
- The linguistic patterns of ancient civilizations
- The biological and cultural evolution of early humans (Correct answer)
- The archaeological remains of prehistoric urban centers
- The genetic diversity of modern human populations
Correct answer: The biological and cultural evolution of early humans
Paleoanthropology studies human origins and evolution through fossil evidence, stone tools, and other physical remains of early hominins.
Question 5: Marcel Mauss's concept of the 'total social fact' suggests that social phenomena:
- Can only be studied through quantitative data
- Simultaneously involve multiple dimensions of social life (Correct answer)
- Are determined entirely by economic conditions
- Must be analyzed in isolation from other cultural elements
Correct answer: Simultaneously involve multiple dimensions of social life
A total social fact, like the gift, is simultaneously economic, legal, moral, religious, and aesthetic, touching every dimension of social life at once.
Question 6: Which term describes the anthropological study of how people classify and categorize natural phenomena in their environment?
- Ethnobotany
- Ethnoecology
- Ethnoscience (Correct answer)
- Ethnotaxonomy
Correct answer: Ethnoscience
Ethnoscience (also called cognitive anthropology) studies how different cultures organize and classify knowledge about the natural and social world.
Question 7: The concept of 'agency' in contemporary anthropological theory emphasizes:
- The determining power of social structures over individuals
- The capacity of individuals to act independently and make choices (Correct answer)
- The role of economic incentives in cultural behavior
- The biological drives that shape human social organization
Correct answer: The capacity of individuals to act independently and make choices
Agency refers to the capacity of individuals to act intentionally and influence their social environment, often studied in tension with structural constraints.
MH Anthropology 3
In structural-functionalism, A.R.
Radcliffe-Brown argued that social institutions should be understood primarily by: