Cultural Anthropology Exam 1

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applied anthropology

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area of anthropology that applies techniques and theories of the field to problem solving outside of traditional academic settings.

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ethnology

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Aspect of cultural anthropology involved with building theories about cultural behaviors and forms.

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Cultural Anthropology

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The study of cultural behavior, especially the comparative study of living and recent human cultures.

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medical anthropology

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Discipline that bridges cultural and biological anthropology, focusing on health and disease in human populations.

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globalization

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The rapid transformation of local cultures around the world in response to the economic and other influences of a dominant culture.

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biological anthropology

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The study of human origins and biological diversity.

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linguistic anthropology

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Study of language and communication and the relationship between language and other aspects of culture and society.

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Cultural resource management

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The application of archaeology to preserve and protect historic structures and prehistoric sites.

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indigenous societies

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People who are now minority groups in state societies, but who were formerly independent and have occupied their territories for a long time.

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ethnography

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Aspect of cultural anthropology involved with observing and documenting people's ways of life.

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ethnocentrism

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Widespread human tendency to perceive the ways of doing things in one's own cultural as normal and natural and that of others as strange, inferior, and possibly even unnatural or inhuman.

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Cultural Relativism

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An approach in anthropology that stresses the importance of analyzing cultures in their own terms rather than in terms of the culture of the anthropologist.

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forensic anthropologist

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Biological anthropologist who analyze human remains in the service of criminal justice and families of disaster victims.

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enculturation

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Process of learning one's culture through informal observation and formal instruction.

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innovation

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Process by which new technologies and systems of knowledge are based on or built from previous tools, knowledge and skills.

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Cultural knowledge

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Information that enables people to function in their society and contributes to the survival of the society as a whole.

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acculturation

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Process by which a group adjusts to living within a dominant culture while at the same time maintaining. its original cultural identity.

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global culture

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A constellation of technologies, practices, attitudes, values, and symbols that spread internationally from one broad cultural origin, most recently from the Anglo-European-American cultural complex.

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subculture

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A group whose members and others think of their way of life as in some significant way different from that of other people in the larger society.

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Diffusion

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Spread of ideas, material objects, and cultural practices from one society to another through direct and indirect cultural contact.

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Symbol

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A word, image, or object that stands for cultural ideas or sentiments.

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Taboos

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Norms specifying behaviors that are prohibited in a culture.

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Emic

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Subjective, based on insiders views, as in explanations people have for their own cultural behavior.

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Etic

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Objective, based on outsiders views as in explanations of people's behavior by anthropologist or other observers.

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materialist perspectives

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Explanations of cultural cultural differences that emphasize environmental adaptation, technologies, and methods of acquiring or producing food.

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functionalism

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View that cultural traits have social functions that contribute to the smooth operation of the whole society.

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Empiricism

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The practice of conducting studies through direct observation and objective description.

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Conflict Perspectives

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Understanding cultural differences as a consequence of conflict in the interests and goals of various groups within a society and focusing on issues of power and resistance.

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Survey Research

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Use of formal questionnaires, administered to a random sample of subjects, eliciting social data that can be analyzed statistically.

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reflexive anthropology

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The anthropology of anthropology, which focuses on the labels that anthropologist use, the impacts of anthropologist on the people they study, and professional ethics.

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culture contact

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Direct interaction between peoples of different cultures through migration, trade, invasion, or conquest.

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culture shock

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Feeling an anthropologist may have at the start of fieldwork of being out of place in unfamiliar surroundings.

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Life histories

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A research methodology focusing on collecting narratives of the life experiences of research participants, including their places of residence, work, family composition, social interactions, and roles within their communities.

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informed consent

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The full disclosure to research participants of the research goals, methods, types of analyses, and reporting procedures.

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Achieved Status

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A social position attained by a person's own efforts and skills.

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Ascribed Status

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A social position that a person attains by birth. A person is born into an ascribed status.

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Ethnicity

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Social category based on a complex mix of ancestry, culture, and self-identification.