Question

If an anthropologist focuses on how people identify and name different categories of relatives, they are studying what is referred to as

A. ways in which members of the culture handle interpersonal conflicts.
B. descent groups.
C. the culture's worldview.
D. the culture's system of kinship terminology.
E. a cognatic descent system.

Answer 1

An anthropologist studying how different cultures identify and name categories of relatives is examining the culture's system of kinship terminology, an area pivotal to understanding societal structures and relationships.

Step-by-step explanation:

An anthropologist focusing on how people identify and name different categories of relatives is studying the culture's system of kinship terminology. This field of study is a cornerstone in understanding human relationships and social structures. Key early researchers include Lewis Henry Morgan, who documented various kinship systems, and later anthropologists like Bronislaw Malinowski and A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, who further explored kinship's connection to other social institutions. Kinship terminology encompasses both terms of reference and terms of address, which articulate the relationships and social roles that shape familial structures and cultural practices.

Kinship systems act as a sociocultural construction, varying across cultures, and represent more than biological connections. They play a vital part in building the fabric of society by determining familial roles, responsibilities, and alliances. Such structures have evolved and adapted to meet the needs of different societies, making the study of kinship an essential component of anthropological research.