UNDERSTANDING

CULTURE AND SOCIETY

 OBJECTIVES

Define society and discuss its essential characteristics and elements;

Describe the growth and development of different societies;

Define culture and discuss its various aspects and components;

Discuss anthropology, its essential features and main concerns, and how it
contributes in understanding culture and society;

Discuss sociology, its essential features and main concerns, and how it
contributes in understanding culture and society; and

Discuss political science, its essential features and main concerns, and how it
contributes in understanding culture and society.
 SOCIETY
A group of individuals
sharing common culture,
geographical location,
and government.

Societies enable
individuals to acquire
necessary survival skills,
maximize their potential,
and share resources.
MAJOR TYPES OF SOCIETIES
The basic social
and economic
units were the
family and local
clan which
organized
hunting and
gathering
activities and
distributed the
accumulated
food supply. HUNTING AND GATHERING
Emergence was
brought about
by the gradual
shift from the
hunting-and-
gathering
lifestyle to a
more sedentary
life, and the
introduction of
agriculture as a
more stable food HORTICULTURAL AND PASTORAL
production
method.
Food production
became more
efficient due to
the new
methods of
farming, the
invention of
more advanced
tools, and the
establishment of
permanent
settlements. AGRICULTURAL
Technological
advancements
resulted in the
invention of
machines that
improved
production.

INDUSTRIAL
Knowledge is a
commodity and
technological
innovation is
key to long-
lasting growth
and
development.

POST-INDUSTRIAL
 CULTURE
Set of beliefs, ideas,
values , practices,
knowledge, history and
shared experiences,
attitudes, as well as
material objects and
possessions accumulated
over time and shared by
the members of society.
 CATEGORIES OF CULTURE

1. Material culture
– physical or tangible objects produced, shared, and
utilized within society such as tools or implements,
paintings and other works of art, architectural styles,
weaponry, and toys.

2. Nonmaterial culture
– intangible properties and elements of society that
influence the patterns of action and behavior of its
members such as language, beliefs, values, attitudes, ideas,
and norms shared among members of society.
 COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

1. Symbols
– things that convey meaning or represent an idea.

2. Language
– set of symbols that enables members of society to
communicate verbally and nonverbally.

3. Values
– shared ideas, norms, and principles that provide members
of society the standards that pertain to what is right or wrong,
good or bad, desirable or undesirable.
 COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

4. Norms
– shared rules of conduct that determine specific
behavior among society members.

a. Folkways
– socially approved behaviors that have no moral
underpinning.

b. Mores
– norms related to moral conventions.
 COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

c. Taboos
– behaviors that are absolutely forbidden in a specific
culture.

d. Laws
– rules and regulations that are implemented by the
state, making them the prime source of social control.
ANTHROPOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY,
AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
 ANTHROPOLOGY
The word anthropology is
taken from two Greek words
logos which means “study”,
and anthropos which means
“man.”

Anthropology can be defined

as the study of people―their
origins , their development,
and contemporary variations,
wherever and whenever they
have been found on the face
of the earth.
 SUBDISCIPLINES

1. Archaeology
– examines the ancient and historical human
populations to promote an understanding of how
humans have adapted to their environment and
developed.

2. Cultural Anthropology
– promotes the study of a society’s culture through
their belief systems, practices, and possessions.
 SUBDISCIPLINES

3. Physical Anthropology
– looks into the biological development of humans and
their contemporary variation.

4. Linguistic Anthropology
– examines the language of a group of people and its
relation to their culture.
 SOCIOLOGY
The word sociology has
been derived from two
terms, logos which means
“science” or “study”, and
socius which means
“group” or “partners.”

Sociology is the scientific

study of society, including
patterns of social
relationships, social
interaction, and culture.
 SUBDISCIPLINES

1. Social Organization
– covers the study of the various social institutions,
social groups, social stratification, social mobility,
bureaucracy, ethnic groups and relations, and other
similar subject.

2. Social Psychology
– deals with the study of human nature as an outcome
of group life, social attitudes, collective behavior, and
personality formation.
 SUBDISCIPLINES

3. Social Change and Disorganization

– includes the study of the change in culture and social
relations and the disruption that may occur in society.

4. Human Ecology
– studies the nature and behavior of a given
population and its relationships to the group’s present
social institutions.
 SUBDISCIPLINES

5. Demography
– concerned with the study of population number,
composition, change, and quality as they influence the
economic, political, and social systems.

6. Applied Sociology
– uses sociological research and methods to solve
contemporary problems.
 POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political science comes
from two Greek words
polis refers to the “city-
state” in ancient Greece,
and scire means “to
know.”

It is the systematic study

of governance by the
application of empirical
and generally scientific
methods of analysis.
 SUBDISCIPLINES

1. Political Theory
– examines the contemporary application of political
concepts such as human rights, equality, peace, and
justice.

2. Comparative Politics
– aims to provide context to the differences in
government and political systems.
 SUBDISCIPLINES

3. International Relations
– study of state-to-state relations and the wider margin of
the impacts of globalization and climate change such as
terrorism, piracy, and democratization of non-Western
territories fall into the category of international relations.

4. Political Behavior
– covers the attitudes, knowledge, and actions of an
individual in response to political variables such as policies
created by the government, behavior or politicians, and
general political environment.
 SUBDISCIPLINES

5. Public Policy
– inquires on the types of governmental policies and
the underlying motivations for their enactment and
implementation.

6. Public Administration
– examines the various administrative schemes
implemented by government officials.
 ANTHROPOLOGY

The word anthropology is taken from the Greek

word logos which means “study”, or logia to “study”
and anthropos which means man”.

Anthropology can be defined as the study of people –

their origins, their development, and contemporary
variations, wherever they have been found on the
face of earth.
 Subdiscipline

1. Archaeology
Examines the remains of ancient and historical human
populations to promote an understanding of how humans
have adapted to their environment and developed.
The main evidences for evaluating prehistoric societies
are fossils, and artifacts.
Fossil are remains of the past that have organic life which
withstood the test of time and forces of nature.
On the other hand, artifacts are man-made and man-
conceived remains or pre-historic times that have
endured through time.
 Subdiscipline

2. Cultural Anthropology
This is also known as social anthropology.

Promotes the study of a society’s culture through

their belief systems, practices, and possessions.

Human beings are distinct from other animals in

that they have a culture – that is, social heritage,
transmitted noy biologically through the germ cells
but independently of genetic inheritance.
 Subdiscipline

3. Physical Anthropology
This is also known as biological anthropology.

Looks into the biological development of humans

and their contemporary variation.

It traces the evolutionary development of man and

studies the biological variation with the species.
 Subdiscipline

4. Linguistic Anthropology
Examines the language of a group of people and its
relation to their culture.

It refers to the systematic study of recorded and

unrecorded languages all over the world.

It deals with how culture affects language, and vice

versa.
 SOCIOLOGY

The word sociology has been derived from two

terms, logos, which means “science” or “study”, and
socius, which means “group” or “partners”.

Sociology is the scientific study of society, including

patterns of social relationships, social interaction,
and culture.
 Subdiscipline

1. Social Organization
This area covers the study of the various social
institutions, social groups, social stratification, social
mobility, bureaucracy, ethnic groups and relations,
and other similar subject.

Topics like the family, education, politics, religion,

economy, etc. are studied in this area.
 Subdiscipline

1. Social Organization
This area covers the study of the various social
institutions, social groups, social stratification, social
mobility, bureaucracy, ethnic groups and relations,
and other similar subject.

Topics like the family, education, politics, religion,

economy, etc. are studied in this area.
 Subdiscipline

2. Social Psychology
This area deals with the study of human nature as an
outcome of group life, social attitudes, collective
behavior, and personality formation.

It deals with group life and the individual’s traits,

attitudes, beliefs, etc. as influenced by group life.
 Subdiscipline

3. Social Change and Disorganization

This area includes the study of the change in culture
and social relations and the disruption that may
occur in society.

It deals with the study of such current social

problems in society as juvenile delinquency,
criminality, drug addiction, family conflicts, divorce,
population problems, and other similar subjects.
 Subdiscipline

4. Human Ecology
It studies the nature and behavior of a given
population and its relationships to the group’s
present social institutions.

For instance, studies of this kind have shown the

prevalence of mental illness, criminality,
delinquencies, prostitution, and drug addiction in
urban centers and other highly developed places.
 Subdiscipline

5. Population/Demography
This is concerned with the study of population
number, composition, change, and quality as they
influence the economic, political, and social systems.

It inquires on the interrelationship between

population characteristics and dynamics with that of
a political, economic, and social system.
 Subdiscipline

6. Applied Sociology
It uses sociological research and methods to solve
contemporary problems.

This area utilizes the findings of pure sociological

research in various fields such as criminology, social
work, community development, education, industrial
relations, marriage, ethnic relations, family
counseling, and other aspects and problems of daily
life.
 POLITICAL SCIENCE

Political science comes from two Greek words polis,

refers to the “city-state” in ancient Greece, and scire,
means “to know”.
Combining the two meanings, political science aims
to know the activities within the state; such activities
include human interaction and conflict, human and
state relations, and power distribution.
It is the systematic study of governance by the
application of empirical and generally scientific
methods of analysis.
 Subdiscipline

1. Political Theory
Examines the contemporary application of political
concepts such as human rights, equality, peace, and
justice.
It seeks to address the variance of its
implementation in societies with the aim of
understanding the nature of these concepts and the
elements that affect it
 Subdiscipline

2. Comparative Politics
A branch of political science that aims to provide
context to the differences in government and
political systems.

It examines the parallelism and divergence of

political systems to provide analyses on the factors
that make governments efficient and the factors that
make them fail
 Subdiscipline

3. International Relations
The study of state-to-state relations and the wider
margin of the impacts of globalization and climate
change such as terrorism, piracy, and
democratization of non-Western territories fall into
the category of international relations.

This field also covers the interaction between states

and nonstate global actors such as international
organizations and human groups.
 Subdiscipline

4. Political Behavior
This field covers the attitudes, knowledge, and
actions of an individual in response to political
variables such as policies created by the government,
behavior or politicians, and general political
environment.

These types of studies are important for drafting

election campaigns and gauging the electorates’
inclination to support a policy.
 Subdiscipline

5. Public Policy
This field inquires on the types of governmental
policies and the underlying motivations for their
enactment and implementation.

Due to the nature of this field, it operates with other

subdisciplines to create a comprehensive analysis.
 Subdiscipline

6. Public Administration
This branch examines the various administrative
schemes implemented by government officials.

It analyzes the strategies applied by administrative

units in implementing the existing policies and the
feedback mechanism that they use to gain the
opinion of the public