Kinship Assignment Answer Key

Kinship & Social Organization Answer Key

Below you will find an answer key for the Kinship Assignment in Week 4.  

 

1.   True or False:  The kinship chart below, with respect to ego, shows only consanguineal kin. Explain your answer (1 point).   

This is TRUE.  All are consanguineal or “blood” (genetic) relatives.  The only individuals shown here are those who have a direct genetic relationship to Ego.  There are no “affinal” kin (by marriage) in Ego’s generation or in the general above or below them, other than their parents and grandparents marriage.  They are directly related by blood (genes) to all of those individuals.

2.   If this kinship chart represented a culture that practices matrilocal residence patterns, who did #7 and #8 live with after their marriage?  (1 point) 

      They would have lived with Ego’s mother’s family, #3 and #4.

3.  If this chart represented a culture that practice ambilocal residence patterns, who could #7 and #8 live with after their marriage?  (1 point)    
     
      They could have lived with either sets of Ego’s’ grandparents, #1 and #2 OR #3 and #4.

4.   When #7 and #8 married, if the culture practices dowry, who would have provided this? (1 point)   

      Dowry is traditionally paid by the parents of the woman, so the parents of #8 (#3 and #4) would have been responsible for paying the dowry.

5.   Descent patterns (5 points): 

a.   If ego is male and this culture practices patrilineal descent patterns, which individuals would be part of that patriline?  List the numbers of all the individuals. 

      - 1, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, Ego, 16, 25, 26, 27

b.   If ego is female, which individuals that you listed in part 4a would NOT be in her patrilineage?  Explain why these individuals would not be in her patrilineage.

      - #26 and #27 would not be in Ego’s patriline because she cannot give her patrilineage to her children.  Their patrilineage would come from their father.

c.   If ego is male, would #27 be part of his matrilineage?  Explain your answer.   

      No, #27 would inherit her matrilineage from her mother, Ego’s wife/mate.

d.   Which individuals would be both ego’s patrilineage and matrilineage?  Why?  

       #15 and #16, are Ego’s siblings and share both lineages.

e.   In which type of descent pattern would ego consider both #1 and #4 in their lineage?    

      Bilateral decent patterns.

6.   Kinship patterns (5 points):

a.   For an Eskimo kinship system, how many individuals would Ego consider to a “cousin”?   

      There are eight individuals that would qualify as Ego’s “cousin”, 11- 14 and 17-20

b.   In the Hawaiian system of kinship, Ego would call which individuals by the same title as #8?  

      #5 and #9 are both in Ego’s mother’s generation and both are female like her, so both would be called by the same term as Ego’s mother.

c.   Given the Hawaiian system of kinship, would this culture be more likely to practice patrilineal descent, matrilineal descent or neither?   

      There is no emphasis or preference on either the patrilineage or matrilineage in the Hawaiian kinship system, so neither.

d.   If this chart represented the Iroquois kinship system, which individual would Ego call by the same title as #16?   

      Female parallel cousins #14 and #18

e.   In which of these three kinship systems (Eskimo, Hawaiian, or Iroquois) would Ego’s nuclear family have titles unique from any other kin names?

      Eskimo is the only system of these three that has unique names for its nuclear family members.

7.   Marriage Patterns (6 points):

a.   Identify all of Ego’s cross-cousins.  11, 12, 19, 20

b.   Identify all of Ego’s parallel cousins.  13, 14, 17, 18

c.   If Ego is female in a culture practicing parallel cousin marriage, which male could she marry? 

       #13 or #17

d.   If this culture practices cross-cousin marriage, #27 could marry #25 but only if Ego is…?   

      Ego must be female in order for #25 to be a cross-cousin to #27.

e.   A marriage rule stating that a person must marry cross-cousins is an endogamy or exogamy rule?   

      Endogamous. An endogamy rule tells you what group a person must marry. Exogamy rules tell you who you can’t marry.

f.    If this culture practiced an exogamy rule stating that a person would have to marry a cousin outside of both their patri- and matrilineages, who might Ego (a male) marry from his generation? 

      This is the most complicated of these questions.  You have to figure out what individuals are in the patrilineage and the matrilineage and see what’s left in his generation.

      Patrilineage:  1,5,6,7, 13, 14, 15,16,17,26, 27  (From his generation:  13 and 14)

      Matrilineage:  3,8,9,10,15,16,17,18 (From his generation:  17 and 18)

      Those from his generation left over:  11, 12, 19, 20

      From leftover who are females Ego could marry:  12, 20   Notice that these are also cross-cousins to Ego.