IB SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
IB SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
A STUDY AND TEST PREPARATION GUIDE
PAMELA S. HALEY, PH.D.
IB Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Study and Test Preparation Guide
Copyright © 2016 Pamela S. Haley
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
BrownWalker Press
Boca Raton, Florida • USA
2016
ISBN-10: 1-62734-605-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-62734-605-4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio
Shadowed Lives: Undocumented Immigrants in American Society
CHAPTER 3: INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
What to avoid in your observation
Limitations of the observation
Criterion B: Description and analysis
Criterion C: Focus, assumptions, and bias
Criterion D: Critical reflection
Strategies to score high on Paper 1
Criterion A (Conceptual knowledge and analysis
Criterion B (Use of ethnographic material)
CHAPTER 6: THE IMPORTANCE OF WRITING
CHAPTER 7: FINAL THOUGHTS: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY IS MORE THAN A TEST!
Appendix A: Sample Class Syllabus
Appendix B: Internal Assessment Requirements
Appendix C: Sample Internal Assessment Observation Report
Appendix D: Internal Assessment Directions
Appendix E: Internal Assessment Ethical Guidelines
Appendix G: Marks for Critique
Appendix H: Critique Checklist
Appendix I: Paper 2 Model Response for first essay
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
I have taught standard level International Baccalaureate Social and Cultural Anthropology (IBSCA) Standard Level for about 12 years. During those 12 years, only two students failed the exam, and that was in my first years. But through the years, I have studied every (well, many) aspects of social and cultural anthropology (SCA), and I plan to keep studying it until I draw my last breath.
Unlike some disciplines, social and cultural anthropology is very easy to connect to our daily lives, because SCA is not just studying other cultures; it is about learning about all humanity, including ourselves. Specifically SCA explores how we think, judge, interpret, and analyze humanity. In a sense, we are all anthropologists. We all observe other people; we look for patterns; we compare one group to the other; some of us even record our observations in a journal or diary. And “certified” anthropologists do all of that, too. But the difference between the experienced and certified anthropologists and everyday anthropologists is that formally trained anthropologists make a conscious effort to rid themselves of biases, assumptions, and moral judgments when observing others. In addition, they often spend years studying a specific group. The study the history and past ethnographies. It is not uncommon, for example, for anthropologists to spend their entire academic careers studying one
