AnthropologyLesson 1 of 3 in the course Forming Family through Kinship

Kinship as Culture: Anthropological Methods and Terminology

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

Save course
Lesson progress
0 / 5

Your progress is kept in this browser only.Sign up to save it

Summary

Kinship is a way societies define relationships and organize family life. This lesson explains why kinship is more than a matter of genetics and why anthropologists study it.

Kinship is a network of social and biological relationships that people interpret and give meaning to through culture. All human societies have ways of defining kinship, but the rules for deciding who is related—and how closely—vary across cultures.

All flashcards

What is kinship?
A culturally meaningful network of relationships that can include biological connections and relationships recognized through social practices.
What is a sociocultural construction?
A category or set of rules shaped by social and cultural criteria rather than fixed biological truths.
What does adoption demonstrate about kinship?
People without a necessary genetic connection can be recognized as family through legal, cultural, and everyday social practices.
What distinction did Lewis Henry Morgan make between kinship terms?
Descriptive terms specify a particular relationship; classificatory terms group different relationships under one term.
What is the genealogical method?
A systematic approach to kinship inquiry that asks about relatives to learn how a community defines family and family roles.

Quiz questions

  1. In Morgan's account of kinship terminology, what do classificatory terms do?Answer: Group different relationships under one term.
  2. What is the genealogical method associated with W. H. R. Rivers designed to investigate?Answer: How a community defines family and family roles through questions about relatives.
  3. What did A. R. Radcliffe-Brown emphasize in his study of kinship?Answer: How kinship practices create social roles and statuses.
  4. Which statement correctly distinguishes terms of address from terms of reference?Answer: Terms of address are used when speaking directly to a relative.
  5. In a matrilineal society, through whom are descent and inheritance traced?Answer: Through mothers and grandmothers.

Based on Introduction to Anthropology by Jennifer Hasty, David G. Lewis, Marjorie M. Snipes (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

More in Anthropology

All Anthropology lessons
AnthropologyFour Paradoxes of Culture: Continuity, Mobility, Contestation, and Variation5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →AnthropologyAnthropological Approaches to Gender, Sexuality, and Human Variation5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →AnthropologyReciprocity, Redistribution, Markets, and Money5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →AnthropologyModes of Subsistence: Strategies, Shared Elements, and Overlap5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →AnthropologyVisual Anthropology and Ethnographic Film: Methods, Representation, and Ethics5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →AnthropologyKinship Systems, Descent, and Residence in Anthropological Context5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →