UNDERSTANDING CULTURE,

SOCIETY, AND POLITICS

Quarter 1- Module 2

Culture and Society

Q1-Week 2-MELCs: Analyze the concept, aspects, and changes in/of

culture and society.

Overview
For the Learners

Welcome to the hustle bustle of Understanding Culture, Society and Politics! Prepare
yourself for a journey of a lifetime as you discover the concept, aspects, and changes in/of
culture and society in your Module 2. Uncover what you already know, what you need to
know, what you have learned, and how you will be able to apply your learnings in the real
world as you practice and accomplish activities provided in this learning material.

This module will help you develop your daily life skills by deepening your understanding
about culture and society as anthropological and sociological concepts. Furthermore, this
will aid you face the demands of the curriculum aligned with the Most Essential Learning
Competencies (MELCs) of the K-12 program in a distance learning set-up ensuring the
enhancement of your skills and development of your capacity to think critically and
logically.

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Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you are expected to:
1. Compare culture and society as anthropological and sociological concepts.
2. Recognize the value of culture and society from the perspectives of anthropology
and sociology.

Key Terms
To better understand the contents of this module, here are the major terms that
you will encounter in this lesson:
Culture: The beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that constitute a
people’s way of life.
Society: A group of people sharing a common culture.
Beliefs: The tenets or convictions that people hold to be true.
Values: A culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in a society
Tradition: A group’s beliefs and behaviors that are passed down from one
generation to another.

Pre-Test
Direction/s: Choose the letter of the best answer and write your answer in your
activity sheet/notebook.
_______1. Culture is a way of life of people. According to Edward B. Tylor, culture is
regarded as “a complex whole.” The word “complex” is synonymous to the word
________________.
a. simple b. plain c. complicated d. easy
_______2. Which of the following choices is not part of the so-called concepts of culture?
a. Language b. Institution c. Religion d. Traditions
_______3. Analyze all the given statements. Trace which one is the best description of the
complexity of culture and society.
a. Society can exist without culture.
b. Culture can exist without society.
c. Society can operate without culture command.
d. People carry and transmit culture as members of society
_______4. Edward B. Tylor described culture as “a complex whole.” Which of the following
choices supports Tylor’s description on culture?
a. Culture as a complex whole means it encompasses traits and values of the society.
b. Culture as a complex whole means it includes laws and norms in the government.
c. Culture as a complex whole means it deals with everything that a person learns
and shares as a member of the society.
d. Culture as a complex whole means it refers to the beliefs and traditions of modern
Filipinos

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_______5. How do we learn our culture?
a. through social interaction b. by reading books
c. biologically inherited d. All choices are correct.
_______6. Which of the following is not a definition of society through the eyes of
sociology?
a. Society is the whole complex of relations of man to his fellows.
b. Society is the collection of people with similar interests, essentially residing in
one geographic place.
c. Society is a web of social relations which is always changing.
d. Society is a group of people who live in a particular territory and are aware of
having distinct identity from other groups around them.
_______7. Reuter wrote: “Just as life is not a thing but a process of living, so society is not a
thing but a process of associating.” Which characteristic of society best suits this
thought?
a. Society as a system of social stratification
b. Cooperation and conflict in society
c. Society is abstract
d. Likeness and difference in society
_______8. “Culture is not something that an individual alone can possess.” Which
characteristic or aspect of culture is best described by the said statement?
a. Culture is learned b. Culture is shared.
c. Culture is continuous. d. Culture is transmitted.
_______9. All of the following items are parts of complexity in a society. Which one does
not belong to the group?
a. Organization b. Beliefs c. Food d. Symbols
_______10. Analyze all the given statements. Trace which one is the best description of the
complexity of culture and society.
a. Society can exist without culture.
b. Culture can exist without society.
c. Society can operate without culture command.
d. People carry and transmit culture as members of society.

Learning Activities
WHAT I KNOW – “PICK YOUR PIC”
Directions: Choose an image from the photos below and write your
interpretation on its designated column. Include what you
know and what you want to know about it. For the images
that you have not picked, write only what you want to know
about them. You are advised not to read the content before
or while you do this activity.

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 Image Interpretation What you What you want
know to know

Practice Task 1 – THINK ABOUT IT!

Direction/s: Analyze the diagram and answer the questions that follow. Write
your ideas in the space provided.

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 CULTURE SOCIETY
nature and nurture; network of relationships
stories, religion, media, between people or
rituals, and language; between groups;
collection of people or
an organisation of
persons

1. What is culture and society? Cite their similarities and differences.

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

2. How is CULTURE and SOCIETY perceived as concepts in anthropology and

sociology?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Read and Analyze!

In the previous lesson you have learned about the nature, goals, and perspectives of
anthropology, sociology, and political science as well as their relevance in understanding
culture, society, and politics. From this point you will further enhance the knowledge you have
gained by exploring the nature and aspects of culture and society as concepts in these
disciplines. As you read and comprehend the contents of this module try to recall the concepts
you have accumulated in Module 1. To help you do it, try to write down on your notebook the
things you recall about anthropology, sociology, and political science.

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 Political
Anthropology Sociology Science
e.g. “the study of e.g. a social
people—their e.g.
science that encompassing
origins, their
development, and studies human studies of all the
contemporary societies, their societal, cultural,
variations, interactions, and and psychological
wherever and the processes factors that
whenever they that preserve and mutually
have been found change them. influence the
on the face of the operation of
earth” government and
the body politic

• WHAT IS CULTURE AND SOCIETY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF

ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY?

When you hear about culture, the first things that come into your mind
probably are tradition and beliefs including dances, rituals, and folklores.
Although these ideas are right, in anthropology and sociology culture is not
limited to these things.
According to Edward B. Tylor, culture is “the complex whole which
encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts,
symbols, knowledge, and everything that a person learns and shares as a
member of society.”
This “complex whole” suggests that culture cannot be simply broken
down into a set of characteristics. It means that an understanding of a part can
only be achieved in relation to other parts of the system. This requires an
approach where all at once, one can get an appreciation of what culture is all
about without being bothered by its complexity or by any definition that
attempts to capture such complexity.1
John Honigmann, an anthropologist, pointed out that there are three
components that go together to make up culture: ideas, activities, and artifacts.
Ideas are thoughts, beliefs, and rules (e.g. cancel culture, the Holy Trinity, and
bayanihan). Ideas also include abstract concepts such as love, peace, and
happiness, and the Ten Commandments. Activities on the other hand, are the
dynamic components of culture (e.g. abandoning and shaming an influencer,
going to church, and celebrating Christmas). Finally, artifacts are man-made
products of ideas and activities: the computer, the altar, the Chinaware used in
the feast.

1 Melanie A. Arcangel, Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics, Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 2: Concepts, Aspects, and Changes in/of Culture and Society First Edition,
2020

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 CHARACTERISTICS of CULTURE

1. Culture is social because it is the product of behavior.

• Culture does not exist in isolation. It is a product of society. It develops through social
interaction. No man can acquire culture without association with others.
2. Culture varies from society to society.
• Every society has a culture of its own that differs from other societies. The culture of
every society is unique by itself. Cultures are not uniform. Cultural elements like
customs, traditions, morals, values, and beliefs are not constant.
3. Culture is shared.
• Culture is not something that an individual alone can possess. Culture, in sociological
sense, is shared. For example, people of a society share all customs, traditions, beliefs,
ideas, values, morals, etc.
4. Culture is learned.
• Culture is not inborn. It is learned. Unlearned behavior then, is not culture. Shaking
hands, saying thanks, etc. are cultural behaviors. Not all behaviors are learned, but most
of these can be. Combing hair, standing in line, telling jokes, criticizing the president,
and going to movies all constitute behaviors that need to be learned.
5. Culture is transmitted among members of society.
• Cultural ways are learned by people from others. Many of these ways are handed
down from elders, parents, teachers, and others (most likely individuals of older
generation), while other cultural behaviors are handed up to elders. Transmission of
culture is made possible by language. Language is the main vehicle of culture.
Transmission of culture may take place also through imitation as well as through
instruction.
6. Culture is continuous and cumulative.
• Culture exists as a continuous process. In its historical growth, it tends to become
cumulative. Ralph Linton called culture “the social heritage” of man. No culture ever
remains constant or permanent. It is subject to slow but constant variation. Likewise,
culture is responsive to the changing conditions of the physical world; hence, it is
dynamic.
7. Culture is gratifying and idealistic.
• Culture provides proper opportunities for the satisfaction of our needs and desires.
Our needs, both biological and social, are fulfilled in cultural ways. Culture consists of
the intellectual, artistic, and social ideals, and institutions where members of the society
profess and strive to confirm.

How sociologists view society?

As against its commonsense usage, sociologists use this term in a specific sense and in
a precise way. It was taken to mean as tissues of manners and customs that hold a group of
people together.

Two angles of how society is defined:

1. In abstract terms, as a network of relationships between people or groups
2. In concrete terms, as a collection of people or an organization of persons.

Talcott Parsons (Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 1934) wrote: “Society – may be
regarded as the most general term referring to the whole complex of relations of man to his
fellows.”

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Characteristics:
1. Society is abstract:
If society is viewed as web of social relation-ships, it is distinct from physical
entity which we can see and perceive through senses. Social relationships are invisible
and abstract. We can just realize them but cannot see or touch them. Therefore, society
is abstract. Reuter wrote: “Just as life is not a thing but a process of living, so society is
not a thing but a process of associating.”
2. Likeness and difference in society:
Society involves both likeness and difference. If people are all exactly alike,
merely alike, their relationships would be limited. There would be little give-and-take
and little reciprocity. If all men thought alike, felt alike, and acted alike, if they had the
same standards and same interests, if they all accepted the same customs and echoed
the same opinions without questioning and without variation, civilization could never
have advanced and culture would have remained rudimentary. Thus, society needs
difference also for its existence and continuance.
The family rests upon the biological differences between the sexes. There are
natural differences of aptitude, of capacity, of interest. For they all involve relationships
in which differences complement one another, in which exchange take place.
Likeness and difference are logical opposites but for understanding likeness,
comprehension of its relation to the other is necessary. Society exists among those who
have some degree of likeness in mind and in body. F.H. Giddings called this quality of
society as “consciousness of kind” (a sense of likeness). Though likeness and difference
both are necessary for the society to exist, but difference is always subordinated to
likeness in society. Likeness has a predominant share in the constitution of society.
3. Cooperation and conflict in society:
Cooperation and conflict are universal elements in human life. Society is based
on cooperation but because of internal differences, there is conflict also among its
members. This is why, Maclver and Page observed that “society is cooperation crossed
by conflict”. We know from our own experience that a person would be handicapped,
showed down, and feels frustrated if he is expected to do every-thing alone, without the
aid of others.
Though cooperation is essential for the constitution of society modern conflict
theorists (such as Marx) have highlighted the role of conflict in society. If there is no
conflict, even in small measure, society may become stagnant and people may become
inert and inactive. However, the expression of disagreement in the form of conflict must
always be held within tolerable bounds.
4. Society is a process and not a product:
“Society exists only as a time sequence. It is becoming, not a being; a process
and not a product” (Maclver and Page, 1956). In other words, as soon as the process
ceases, the product disappears. The product of a machine endures after the machine has
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 been scrapped. To some extent the same is true not only of material relics of man’s past
culture but even of his immaterial cultural achievements.
5. Society as a system of stratification:
Society provides a system of stratification of statuses and classes that each
individual has a relatively stable and recognizable position in the social structure.
A society cannot exist apart from culture. A society may refer to group of people that
follows or shares same cultures. People, as members of the society, possess, produce and also
transmit culture but they cannot consider themselves as culture. No culture can exist without
social interaction in society; meanwhile, society cannot exist in the absence of people who have
learned to live and work together.

Practice Task 2 – Situation-Analysis

Direction/s: Analyze each situation. Identify the feature of culture and society
described in each statement. In addition, the jumbled letters on the right will be
your guide in identifying these characteristics.

Evangelista family was known for their religiosity. Francis, the youngest of the family, learned
how to pray the Holy Rosary and the “Oracion” at the age of 10. According to him, his
grandparents were the ones who taught him the proper way of praying.
Culture is 1. _________________.
ELEADRN
Marco didn’t know how to speak Tagalog well, not until he met his new circle of friends.
They were speaking the said language. His usual interactions and bonding with them made
him well versed in such language, making him a good communicator in Filipino.
Culture is 2.___________________
SLOACI
A gay fashion designer, Roberta, migrated in the U.S.A since 2001. This year, he visited his
former employer in the Philippines to be the guest speaker of an event. Roberta was able to
introduce new fashion techniques he had learned from the States.
Culture is 3. ____________________
SDHEAR
Philippines is a Southeast Asian country. It has a rich culture and is very diverse when it comes
to people, traditions, beliefs, and values. The country has different ethnic groups from its three
main islands- Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. However, despite the diverse groups and ways
of life influenced by different ethnicity and colonizers, they are all bound by the same blood
and nationality which is being a Filipino.
4. _____________________ and difference in society
NESSIKEL

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Shiela tells her friends stories she heard from her grandparents. According to her grandparents
the world has changed drastically from their time. The old days, they say were very slow-paced
since there were no cellphones, computers, bullet trains, and other modern-day technology.
Now, everyone is doing and even eating instant goods. They say, too, in the old times there
were plenty of time to propagate land and raise livestock but now, almost everybody works at
corporations or factories and are professionals.
Society is a 5. _____________________
ROPSESC

Practice Task 3 – NOTE TO SELF!

Reflection: Cite the value of culture and society though the perspective
of anthropology and sociology.
Guide Questions:
1. What is culture and society as an anthropological and sociological
perspective?
2. Why are they important for a senior high school student like you?
Give an example of its value in your life as a student.

From an anthropological and sociological perspective…

❖ Culture is _________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
❖ Society is __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

As a student, I consider these knowledges about culture and society in the

perspectives of anthropology and sociology valuable because ________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________.
As a matter of fact, I can give an example of its value that I can apply in my day to
day life. _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Assessment – WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

Direction/s: Let’s Sum Up! After learning concepts from the previous phases
of the module, answer the “EXIT CARD” and write down your
thoughts on the blanks.

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 Exit Card – 3 Thoughts that you have learned today
2 Things that you want to remember
1 Question you still have in mind.

3 Thoughts I have learned. . .

_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

2 Things I want to remember…

_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

1 Question I have in mind…

_________________________________________________

Sources:
Book and Module
Santarita and Madrid. Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics. Vibal Group. Inc., 2016
Arcangel, Melany C. Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 2: Concepts, Aspects, and Changes in/of Culture and Society First Edition,
2020
Internet
Society: Sociologist Views, Characteristics and Definitions. Puja Mondal. Retrieved from
https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/society/society-sociologist-views-characteristics-and-
definitions/35064
Culture and Society. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-
sociology/chapter/culture-and-society/

“Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a
jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future.”-Albert Camus

Have FUN Learning!

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