StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Short answer - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
Culture is interpreted as a collection of “practices and beliefs that are fundamental to the functioning of different societies”, (Throsby, 1999). Culture embodies the…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.6% of users find it useful
Short answer
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Short answer"

Running Head: Concepts in Anthropology of Module #, Assignment # The definitionof culture encompasses the social and cognitive elements surrounding a human being. Culture is interpreted as a collection of “practices and beliefs that are fundamental to the functioning of different societies”, (Throsby, 1999). Culture embodies the attitudes, values and customs a person has either formed or learned over his lifetime (Throsby, 1999.). Since culture passes on from generation to generation, it represents a heritage that has passed on for generations and in the study of anthropology the origin of man is explored, it is very important to study cultural variations in the prevalent pressures of globalization and how the changing dynamics of the world are impacting culture.

I have a Chinese friend, whose mother scolds him frequently and he listens quietly, that lies in contrast with the way I am and I feel it is the cultural difference between the two of us that makes him revere elders comparatively more. Generalized reciprocity refers to giving something such as a gift to someone without expecting a gift in return. Balanced reciprocity on the other hand refers to giving someone a gift while having the expectation of a return gift which may not necessarily be of the same value.

While the first two forms of reciprocity have relationship building as a goal, negative reciprocity is largely motivated by self-interest. It refers to exchange of things with the expectation of gaining personally by the exchange (Uhl-Bien & Maslyn, 2003). Since anthropology deals with studying human interactions, studying reciprocity becomes an imperative. When I was a child I used to give my friends gifts on their birthdays with the expectation of getting return gifts on my birthday, which can be an example of balanced reciprocity.

Over the years the family structures have evolved from extended to nuclear families, particularly in the Asian countries. In an extended family system property and income is joint in a family comprising of brothers, sisters, parents who may choose to live together under a roof or separately. In the nuclear family structure a man lives alone with his wife and children with no shared income and property with the rest of his family (Bahadur & Dhawan, 2008). Since the study of anthropology entails studying the changing social and cultural landscape, thus studying the family structures is but a part of anthropology.

My Chinese friend told me that in China there exists an extended family system where all members of a family live together which seems so different than how families in America have more nuclear structures.Kinship is referred to as those relations who can genetically be traced back to a generation, therefore culture holds kinship together as well (Read, 2000). It is in this regard that we see how intertwined the given concepts are. In the study of anthropology, human histories, origins, interactions are studied and the study of kinship is but a part of cultural anthropology which is why we must study it.

An example of kinship is how we differentiate between our relations as blood relations and non-blood relations, those who are our blood relations such as cousins form a part of our kinship whereas friends and family friends do not.Norms are that part of a society which guide behavior. The general understanding of norms amongst individuals in a society dictates social protocol and the expected way in which individuals are expected to behave. Transgression on the other hand refers to the violation of the social norms which can lead to awkward situations (Fointiat, 2008).

Since anthropology is a study of human interactions and culture, we need to study how norms originated in order to understand the premise behind human behavior. An example of norms is that when my Chinese friend came to my home, he was strangely asking my parents for permission to watch TV, which is contrary to what happens at our house since the established norm of the house is that we do not need to seek permission before doing what we want, at least on a trivial matter such as watching TV.

ReferencesBahadur, A., & Dhawan, N. (2008). Social Value Of Parents And Children In Joint And Nuclear Families. Journal Of The Indian Academy Of Applied Psychology, April, Vol. 34, Special Issue , 74-80 .Fointiat, V. (2008). Being Together In A Situation Of Induced Hypocrisy. Current Research In Social Psychology (Vol. 13, No. 12) , 145-153.Read, D. W. (2000). Formal Analysis Of Kinship Terminologies And Its Relationship To What Constitutes Kinship. An International Journal, November, Volume 1 No. 1 , 7-46.Throsby, D. (1999.).

Cultural Capital. Journal Of Cultural Economics 23: , 3–12.Uhl-Bien, M., & Maslyn, J. M. (2003). Reciprocity In Manager-Subordinate Relationships: Components, Configurations, And Outcomes. Journal Of Management , 511-532.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Short answer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/anthropology/1593545-short-answer
(Short Answer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 1)
https://studentshare.org/anthropology/1593545-short-answer.
“Short Answer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 1”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/anthropology/1593545-short-answer.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Short answer

SHORT ANSWER ONLY

Race is defined as a group of people in a geographic location united on the basis of a common history, nationality, culture and possessing genetically transmitted physical characteristics "(Race, n.... .... .... Charles Darwin's “Theory of Evolution” (“Evolution of Man, 2012)… uggested that men originated from primates and through the “combination of environmental and genetic factors, there emerged a variety of ethnicities…” (Ham, et....
3 Pages (750 words) Assignment

Short answer quiz

Solutions to the Gilded Age problems were attained through… The majority of reformers believed that the social and political problems associated with concentration of resources in the urban centers could American History: Short answer Quiz American History: Short answer Quiz Explain the different ways Progressive reformers responded to the problems the nation faced in the Gilded Age The progressive reformisms came with the notion of fixing every problem that had resulted from the Gilded Age with the problem of uneven distribution of resources taking a center stage in the minds of most reformers....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Short Answer questions

In 1989 Probiotic was first time used as a scientific term by Ray Fuller later Tissier identified the bifidobacteria in 1899 and used it for the treatment of diarrhea (Mary Ellen Sanders, 2010).... Probiotic is a combination of two Greek words; Pro-promoting and Biotic-life (Betty… In October 2001, Evaluation of Health and Nutritional Properties of Probiotics in Food held in Argentina, there The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) briefly defined Probiotics as “The living organisms (mainly bacteria) which when Probiotics and Gastrointestinal Diseases Probiotics and Gastrointestinal Diseases IntroductionProbiotics In 1989 Probiotic was first time used as a scientific term by Ray Fuller later Tissier identified the bifidobacteria in 1899 and used it for the treatment of diarrhea (Mary Ellen Sanders, 2010)....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Short answer questions

Instant access to such a broad portion of the population created the potential for system abuses, resulting in the creation of oversight committees such as the… While much attention has been given to the fear that media causes unwanted behaviors, much less is heard about the probability for the mass distribution of information to be used as a benefit to society. One of the most damaging aspects of Effects of Media on Society Here Here Here Here Effects of Media on Society Question Response Therehas been controversy about the impact of media on society since near the onset of mass information exchange....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Short answer quesatuions

Divorce and same sex marriages, which are common occurrences in today's societies, affect Sociology 26 June Short answer Questions Chapter 6: Socialization Families are very important for the social developmentof children, as they socialize them through words and actions.... As children observe the spontaneous behavior of some human interactions, they learn how to socialize through behavior....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Assessment and Care Management for Dementia Patients

Rationalization is a defence means in which contentious feelings and behaviours are warranted and delineated in an apparently rational way to shun the true clarification and made venerable by reasonable means (Department of Health, 2015). Cognitive behavioural therapy refers to… a form of psychoanalysis where depressing sequences of thought about self and the universe are disputed in order to change undesired behaviour patterns (Blue pages, 2014). Dissociation refers to the disjointing of normally associated mental processes, leading to one group A mental status examination refers to an evaluation of a patient's reasoning capability level, expressive mood, appearance and speech....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Short Answer Quiz

Race refers to a people identified as one on the basis of similar characteristics such as skin color while ethnicity refers to a small group of people sharing the same beliefs, values, norms, language and tribe (Stevens & Dworkin, 2014).... In this case, a race covers a wider… Several ethnic groups make a race....
2 Pages (500 words) Assignment

Unit 2 Short answer

While economists quantify human life based on the quality of life, the expected life remaining, and the remaining earning potential of an individual, some disciplines including justice consider human life priceless.... hellip; However the cost of positive train control is unjustifiable because a total of between 700 and 950 deaths have occurred due to train operations but only 85 were passengers while the rest were Module Sociology It is very difficult to assign a monetary value to human life....
2 Pages (500 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us