01
Front
What is cultural relativism in anthropology?
Back
It is an anthropological method of interpreting beliefs and practices in their cultural and historical contexts.
Free Online Flashcard Deck
1 Cultural Relativism and Anthropological Perspective Free Online FlashCards
Study 1 Cultural Relativism and Anthropological Perspective with 12 free online flashcards. Review key terms, definitions, and concepts with this interactive flashcard deck.
12 cards
02
Front
Does cultural relativism require approval of every practice?
Back
No. It is a method for understanding a practice in context, not a requirement to approve of it.
03
Front
What is ethnocentrism?
Back
Ethnocentrism evaluates other cultures using one’s own culture as the natural or correct standard.
04
Front
How does cultural relativism differ from moral relativism?
Back
Cultural relativism is an anthropological method; moral relativism is a broader philosophical position about whether moral judgments depend on cultural norms.
05
Front
What does suspending judgment during research not prove?
Back
Suspending judgment during research does not establish that no practice can be judged ethically.
06
Front
What is participant observation?
Back
It involves spending time with people, observing everyday activities, and sometimes participating in them.
07
Front
What can participant observation reveal?
Back
It can reveal how people explain their actions and how meanings vary across situations—details a brief outside observation may miss.
08
Front
How can researchers move from an initial reaction to an evidence-based interpretation?
Back
Record observations, ask participants how they understand them, compare accounts across people and situations, and examine historical and social context.
09
Front
Why should one participant’s account not stand for an entire community?
Back
Participants may disagree, so an ethnographer should not assume that one person represents the whole community.
10
Front
Why is cultural interpretation never automatically complete or value-free?
Back
Interpretation is not complete or value-free; language, access, perspective, and time can limit what researchers understand.
11
Front
How do internal diversity and change complicate cultural interpretation?
Back
Cultures are internally diverse and change over time, so a single account cannot necessarily define their meanings.
12
Front
How can power affect ethnographic interpretation?
Back
Power can shape whose explanations are heard, affecting which perspectives appear in an ethnographic account.
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