1 Foundations of Kinship Free Online FlashCards

What is kinship?

Kinship is a culturally recognized network of relationships that shapes connection, belonging, and obligation.

What does relatedness mean?

Relatedness is how people understand, create, and experience connections with others.

What does consanguineal mean in kinship studies?

Consanguineal describes relationships understood as connected through birth or descent.

How do biological relatedness and socially defined kinship differ?

Biological relatedness concerns reproduction and ancestry; socially defined kinship concerns relationships recognized and given meaning by people and institutions.

What can genetic evidence not establish on its own?

Genetic evidence may identify ancestry, but it cannot by itself establish whom a community considers a parent, sibling, or other relative.

When does recognition make a relationship socially consequential?

Recognition makes a relationship socially consequential when people act on it, shaping belonging, support, duties, restrictions, or authority.

Why are kinship terms not a complete map of relationships?

Kinship terms provide evidence about relationships, but they do not fully map them: words can group or distinguish people differently across systems and contexts.

How does participant observation help researchers study kinship?

Participant observation involves observing everyday interactions over time, such as caregiving, shared residence, and public treatment as relatives.

How can interviews support kinship research?

Interviews ask people how they describe relationships, belonging, and responsibility, using their own categories to guide follow-up questions.

What can genealogies and relationship diagrams show—and what can they not prove?

They record connections as participants describe them; they are research tools, not proof that one biological model defines kinship for everyone.

What does analysis of kinship language and practice compare?

Researchers compare kinship terms with patterns of interaction, care, recognition, and obligation.

Why compare kinship accounts across people and settings?

Comparing accounts across generations, households, institutions, or individuals helps researchers notice differences rather than assume one uncontested community view.