Final Exam Review

More than a century of anthropological research has determined that

• heterosexual marriage is the best foundation for a stable society.

• stable and humane societies can be supported by a range of different family structures.

• polyandry is the best marriage structure for a just society.

• it would be better if we did away with marriage entirely.

The nuclear family unit is

• the most common kinship structure found cross-culturally.

• the most rare kinship structure found cross-culturally.

• the kinship structure with the clearest foundation in biology.

• only one of many possible kinship structures.

Analysis of descent groups allows anthropologists to

• trace who counts as a “relative” in different cultural contexts.

• determine which individuals share a biological or genetic relationship.

• identify the best kinds of family structures.

• find out how transnational adoptions should be handled.

Companionate marriage as an ideal for marriage is

• a belief shared almost universally across cultures.

• the form of marriage most supported by biological tendencies.

• a relatively new and relatively Western ideal.

• the form of marriage that leads to the best results.

Highly class-stratified societies

• have been the standard throughout human history.

• were invented after the American Revolution.

• didn’t always exist in their present form.

• are only found in the West.

The framework of intersectionality shows

• how factors such as class interact to shape a person’s life chances.

• how race and gender are more important than class.

• how poverty is an individual choice.

• how class is the most important factor in understanding life chances.

Studies of ranked societies demonstrate that

• wealth and social status function the same way in all societies.

• some cultures do not have social status.

• wealth inequality is a part of human nature.

• wealth and social status are not inherently linked.

What contributes to the construction of class status in the United States?

• income

• wealth

• cultural capital

• all of the above

What is NOT one of the three key stages of economic activity?

• industrialization

• consumption

• production

• distribution

Contemporary economic systems of major industrialized nations are best characterized as

• generalized reciprocity systems.

• hunter-gatherer systems.

• market exchange systems.

• barter and trade systems.