Review UCSP Q3 Lesson 1: Nature, Goals, Anthropology

Society and Culture

• Society refers to a constitution of social actors in constant interaction.
• Interpretative perspective sees society as an outcome of multiple interactions of people, which makes succeeding interactions meaningful and possible.
• Structural functionalism views society as a system with parts that have respective roles to promote solidarity and stability.
• Conflict theory sees society as an arena of competition for scarce resources, generating conflict or change among social groups and institutions.

Culture

• Culture refers to a set of practices and traditions that define a specific society.
• Critical perspective views culture as a tool of the elites to manipulate the lower class and create a false consciousness.
• Folklore embodies history, beliefs, ideas, values, and practices that define a society.
• Language is a set of symbols that enables members of society to communicate and express their ideas, and is considered the "soul of the culture."
• Customs are traditional patterned behaviors that are widely accepted.

Norms and Folkways

• Norms are guidelines, standards, or shared rules on what is right or wrong, and provide sanctions when violations are made.
• Folkways are patterns of repetitive behavior that refer to everyday habits, customs, and traditions without moral and ethical significance.

Anthropology

• Anthropology is the systematic study of the biological, cultural, and social aspects of man.
• Ethnography is a methodology of documenting one's engagement with a different culture, where people are observed in their natural environment.

Sociology

• Sociology is the study of human social behavior from a group perspective.
• Goal of sociology is to look at the pattern of interaction between individuals.
• Emile Durkheim is considered the Father of Modern Sociology for studying the significance of beliefs, norms, and values in maintaining cohesion.

Social Change and Sociological Imagination

• Social change is the alteration of mechanisms within the social structure, characterized by changes in cultural symbols, rules of behavior, social organizations, or value system.
• Sociological imagination is a consciousness of being aware of the structure of the society.

Political Science

• Political Science is the systematic study of the state and government.
• "Science" is integrated in the discipline of Political Science because it studies using rational and empirical approaches in examining policies.

Learn about the systematic study of biological, cultural, and social aspects of man in anthropology, along with the methodology of ethnography and the study of human social behavior in sociology.