Sociology I / Culture, Socialisation and Education
Practice question · Select all that apply

Which claims about cultural relativism are consistent with how sociologists use the term?

Hints
  1. Three of these describe a method; one draws a moral conclusion from it.
  2. Ask whether a researcher who understands a practice thereby loses the standing to evaluate it.
Show the answer
  • B. It requires a practice to be described in the context that gives it meaning before it is judged
  • C. It is a rule about the order of operations in research, not a claim that all practices are equally good
  • D. It was developed partly as a corrective to judging other societies by the standards of one’s own
Why

Relativism as a method says: understand first. The moral version, that understanding forecloses judgement, does not follow, and few working anthropologists or sociologists hold it. The distinction matters practically, because the moral reading is what makes the method look indefensible to outsiders and gets it abandoned along with its usefulness.

Read the lesson: Culture, Socialisation and Education →

Practise Culture, Socialisation and Education

The app has 5 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Sociology I is free to start.

More questions on Culture, Socialisation and Education