At the end of the nineteenth century, a rising interest in

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At the end of the nineteenth century, a rising interest
in Native American customs and an increasing desire to
understand Native American culture prompted ethnologists
to begin recording the life stories of Native Amer-
(5) ican. Ethnologists had a distinct reason for wanting to
hear the stories: they were after linguistic or anthropological
data that would supplement their own field
observations, and they believed that the personal
stories, even of a single individual, could increase their
(10) understanding of the cultures that they had been
observing from without. In addition many ethnologists
at the turn of the century believed that Native American
manners and customs were rapidly disappearing,
and that it was important to preserve for posterity as
(15) much information as could be adequately recorded
before the cultures disappeared forever.
There were, however, arguments against this method
as a way of acquiring accurate and complete information.
Franz Boas, for example, described autobiogra-
(20) phies as being “of limited value, and useful chiefly for
the study of the perversion of truth by memory,” while
Paul Radin contended that investigators rarely spent
enough time with the tribes they were observing, and
inevitably derived results too tinged by the investi-
(25) gator’s own emotional tone to be reliable.
Even more importantly, as these life stories moved
from the traditional oral mode to recorded written
form, much was inevitably lost. Editors often decided
what elements were significant to the field research on a
(30) given tribe. Native Americans recognized that the
essence of their lives could not be communicated in
English and that events that they thought significant
were often deemed unimportant by their interviewers.
Indeed, the very act of telling their stories could force
(35) Native American narrators to distort their cultures, as
taboos had to be broken to speak the names of dead
relatives crucial to their family stories.
Despite all of this, autobiography remains a useful
tool for ethnological research: such personal reminis-
(40) cences and impressions, incomplete as they may be, are
likely to throw more light on the working of the mind
and emotions than any amount of speculation from an
ethnologist or ethnological theorist from another
culture.

8. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would
be most likely to agree with which of the following
statements about the usefulness of life stories as a source
of ethnographic information?
(A) They can be a source of information about how
people in a culture view the world.
(B) They are most useful as a source of linguistic
information.
(C) They require editing and interpretation before they
can be useful.
(D) They are most useful as a source of information
about ancestry.
(E) They provide incidental information rather than
significant insights into a way of life.

for question (2) option would be C (is it correct ?)
for question (6) option would be C(is it correct ?)
Reason - 2)
The ethnologist acc. to his own perception determines (by comparing it with his culture )what are the imp. points about the life story
(which may fail to drive home the point intended by the informant as he may believe other inf. to be more imp.)

Same is the case with a sports announcer(suppose he is a cricket buff and commenting on tennis); he will judge the more imp. points of the game
by comparing it with cricket (which may lead to disaster!!!)



6)
option A) incorrect -- they were conducting studies earlier also, so mute point (mentioned)
option B) incorrect -- mute point again, they were using their language earlier (what will be the use of study if they use incomprehendable lang??)
option D) incorr. -- they were editing it.
option E) incorr. -- every research(or study) has stringent guidelines to preserve data

this leaves option (C)(it is clearly mentioned that it was a marked shift from theoretical research in the passage)
pls post the OA for all the ques(1-8)

C D E E C C A

man truly was pointless posting my questions in this forum...seems like no one ever answers a question until a year or several months later...lol!!

1. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) The historical backgrounds of two currently used research methods are chronicled.
(B) The validity of the data collected by using two different research methods is compared.
(C) The usefulness of a research method is questioned and then a new method is proposed.
(D) The use of a research method is described and the limitations of the results obtained are discussed.
(E) A research method is evaluated and the changes necessary for its adaptation to other subject areas are discussed.
2. Which of the following is most similar to the actions of nineteenth-century ethnologists in their editing of the life stories of Native Americans?
(A) A witness in a jury trial invokes the Fifth Amendment in order to avoid relating personally incriminating evidence.
(B) A stockbroker refuses to divulge the source of her information on the possible future increase in a stock’s value.
(C) A sports announcer describes the action in a team sport with which he is unfamiliar.
(D) A chef purposely excludes the special ingredient from the recipe of his prizewinning dessert.
(E) A politician fails to mention in a campaign speech the similarities in the positions held by her opponent for political office and by herself.
3. According to the passage, collecting life stories can be a useful methodology because
(A) life stories provide deeper insights into a culture than the hypothesizing of academics who are not members of that culture
(B) life stories can be collected easily and they are not subject to invalid interpretations
(C) ethnologists have a limited number of research methods from which to choose
(D) life stories make it easy to distinguish between the important and unimportant features of a culture
(E) the collection of life stories does not require a culturally knowledgeable investigator
4. Information in the passage suggests that which of the following may be a possible way to eliminate bias in the editing of life stories?
(A) Basing all inferences made about the culture on an ethnological theory
(B) Eliminating all of the emotion-laden information reported by the informant
(C) Translating the informant’s words into the researcher’s language
(D) Reducing the number of questions and carefully specifying the content of the questions that the investigator can ask the informant
(E) Reporting all of the information that the informant provides regardless of the investigator’s personal opinion about its intrinsic value
5. The primary purpose of the passage as a whole is to
(A) question an explanation
(B) correct a misconception
(C) critique a methodology
(D) discredit an idea
(E) clarify an ambiguity
6. It can be inferred from the passage that a characteristic of the ethnological research on Native Americans conducted during the nineteenth century was the use of which of the following?
(A) Investigators familiar with the culture under study
(B) A language other than the informant’s for recording life stories
(C) Life stories as the ethnologist’s primary source of information
(D) Complete transcriptions of informants’ descriptions of tribal beliefs
(E) Stringent guidelines for the preservation of cultural data
7. The passage mentions which of the following as a factor that can affect the accuracy of ethnologists’ transcriptions of life stories?
(A) The informants’ social standing within the culture
(B) The inclusiveness of the theory that provided the basis for the research
(C) The length of time the researchers spent in the culture under study
(D) The number of life stories collected by the researchers
(E) The verifiability of the information provided by the research informants
8. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the usefulness of life stories as a source of ethnographic information?
(A) They can be a source of information about how people in a culture view the world.
(B) They are most useful as a source of linguistic information.
(C) They require editing and interpretation before they can be useful.
(D) They are most useful as a source of information about ancestry.
(E) They provide incidental information rather than significant insights into a way of life.

Please discuss Q 2 , 6 and 8

For ques 8 ans would be A
reason- see the lst few lines
Despite all of this, autobiography remains a useful
tool for ethnological research: such personal reminis-
(40) cences and impressions, incomplete as they may be, are
likely to throw more light on the working of the mind
and emotions than any amount of speculation from an
ethnologist or ethnological theorist from another
culture.
Thus , the author believes that autobiographies give how an impression is formed in one's mind, based on his cultural beliefs.

option A) They can be a source of information about how people in a culture view the world.
is nothing but impression of a person (how he views the world)

Thank You

the correct answers could be gathered from the official guide review-question 33 onwards

OA for

1 d
2. c
3. a
4. e
5. c
6. b

1D, 2C, 3A, 4E, 5C, 6C, 7C, 8A

1D, 2C, 3A, 4E, 5C, 6C, 7C, 8A

same as above

OA please?

OA's are:
1 D
2 C
3 A
4 E
5 C
6 C
7 C
8 E

Can some body please explain to me why the answer to question number 5 is "C"... The second paragraph cote critiques opinions, how ever, the final para opens with the statement Despite all of this, autobiography remains a useful tool for ethnological research . Based on this statement I was thinking that the author is personally in favor of the method, just that he is laying facts by presenting critiques opinions.

Can somebody explain to me where I am going wrong with this

Hi
Its not necessarry that a critique is always finding faults...
A critique is basically an evaluator(he has to pass a judgement, which the author does in the last para)...hope it helps

6. It can be inferred from the passage that a characteristic of the ethnological research on Native Americans conducted during the nineteenth century was the use of which of the following?
(A) Investigators familiar with the culture under study
(B) A language other than the informant’s for recording life stories
(C) Life stories as the ethnologist’s primary source of information
(D) Complete transcriptions of informants’ descriptions of tribal beliefs
(E) Stringent guidelines for the preservation of cultural data

got this one wrong i dont understand why is B preferred over C.