social science
● concerned with society and human behaviors and
relationships
● anthropology, sociology, political science
sociology ● examines the organization,
structure, and change of
social groups and institutions
● mass media, the
environment, racism, gender
issues, class, and deviance
and social control
anthropology ● compares human societies
across the globe and across
time
● compare present and past
forms of government or legal
and religious belief systems
political science ● focuses on the theory and
practice of government and
politics at the local, state,
national, and international
levels
common denominator = society and man
● sociology, anthropology, and political science
complement each other in showing different
facets of how humans structure their societies
● these three disciplines can depict how human
societies operate individually and with each other
three sociological perspectives
a. symbolic interactionism (micro level)
● argues that we construct society through a
range of symbols (ex. words, gestures) and
social interactions – people make up their
roles as the interact
● emphasizes the fact that humans react to
their perceived definition of their
circumstances, as opposed to what you
might call an objective evaluation
● focus of study is dynamic interplay between
the individual and society
● advantage: understanding of human beings
as active agents in social life
● disadvantage: difficulty dealing with social
structure
ex. for me, the word ‘dog’ may evoke a happy and warm feeling
but to someone who got bitten by a dog the word may evoke fear
b. structural functionalism (macro level)
● argues that social stability is essential for a
healthy and strong society – abrupt social
change harms social order
● social institutions contribute towards social
stability – each aspect of society is
interdependent and contributes to society's
stability and functioning as a whole
● focus of study is social order
● advantage: understanding of social
structure and social stability
● disadvantage: ineffective dealing with social
change
ex. good education in a society contributes to society’s stability
while bad education harms society’s stability
c. social conflict theory (macro level)
● argues that society is built upon enduring
inequality on the basis of social class,
gender, race, etc.
● society is made of power struggles
● focus of study is social conflict and social
change
● Karl Marx is the father of the social conflict
theory
● advantage: uncovers historical processes
that lead to social change
● disadvantage: a weak understanding of
social consensus and social stability
ex. racism, discrimination, environmental issues, etc.
social structures
● refer to any relatively stable pattern of social
behavior found in social institutions
social functions
● refer to the consequences for the operation of
society as a whole
cultural heritage
● cultural legacy inherited from previous generations
● legacy which we often want to identify and preserve
because it reinforces our cultural identity
● associated with a particular people or group
culture
● way of life, ordinary behavior and habits, attitudes
towards each other, moral and religious beliefs
● everything that a person learns and shares a
member of society
● is learned and transmitted through socialization and
enculturation
● person's belief system, set of behaviors, and
material possessions
subculture
● social group within a national culture that has
distinctive patterns of behavior and beliefs
● person's belief system, set of behaviors, and
material possessions
material culture
● all tangible and visible parts of culture
a. archeological sites
b. historic sites
c. monuments
 d. graves hiya
e. culturally significant landscapes ● literal translation: embarrassment or shame
f. sacred places ● a virtue when it controls and restrains selfish
g. monuments desires for the welfare of the other
h. clothing ● quality of one’s loob that makes him control or
i. tools sacrifice an individual desire
j. foods
characteristics of a culture
nonmaterial culture a. culture is learned
● intangible parts of culture i. enculturation
a. ideas, knowledge ● process of learning your own
b. language culture
c. oral histories ● family, school, church, social
d. beliefs, practices, rituals, customs institutions
e. traditions ● a cultural practice that you learned
f. music, dance, crafts, other arts from your family & a cultural
● culturally approved truths that deal with the specific practice that you acquired from
parts of human life (ex. superstitious beliefs) your immediate community (school,
● concepts that are culturally determined — church, friends)
separates what is acceptable and what is taboo ii. acculturation
● modification of an individual, group,
“loob” or people by adapting to or
● english translation: “inside” of a physical object borrowing traits from another
● talks about “rational will” that is directed towards culture
others / kapwa ● takes place as a result of constant
● filipino culture strives for harmony and order interactions between societies
● utang na loob: a debt of gratitude / to owe a debt of ● a cultural practice that you acquired
gratitude from your travels or exposure to
classmates of foreign nationality
kapwa iii. deculturation
● literal translation: other or other person ● happens when the culture of older
● cultural translation: shared self/identity, generation comes into conflict with
‘self-in-the-other’, or ‘together with the person’ the needs and realities of the
younger generation
kagandahang-loob ● takes place when the reason for
● literal translation is ‘beauty-of-will’ towards the the culture has been lost and even
kapwa the cultural trait itself in the process
● manifested throughout an act of generosity or the of being forgotten
goodness of one’s heart (kabaitan) b. culture is shared
● most natural place to exercise this is within the ● values and ideas that is communally owned
family and practiced
● utang na loob is natural response to kagandahang ● it is shared intergenerationally — shared to
loob members of contemporary society who will
in turn teach the younger generation
c. culture affects biology
tribal we help others for the sake of survival of the
element clan ● humans are born into cultures that have
values on beauty and body
familial we help someone because he is family d. culture is adaptive
element ● culture is a tool for survival that humans
use in response to pressures of the
pakiramdam environment
● relational sensitivity or empathy ● both the material and nonmaterial aspects
● requires receptivity to many non-verbal cues such of culture are influenced by the goal of
as subtle facial expressions, tones of voice, and humans to address their needs as dictated
bodily gestures by the environment
Badjao houses = adjusted to environment by building stilt houses
 e. culture is maladaptive
● can cause problems for people who
subscribe to it
● tool for survival that humans use but the
consequence is dysfunctional and
non-productive in the long run (ex. dynamite
fishing)
f. culture is dynamic
● constantly changing = people are not static
= they travel, meet other ppl from different
cultures, social media = exchange ideas
and symbols
● had to adapt to the changes that's why it
changes based on the needs we have to
address in relation to the demands of our
environment
ex. sweden as a cashless society and other societies learning from
them and slowly starting to transition
g. culture is symbolic
● symbol = anything that meaningfully
represents something
● symbols that culture have vary and are
arbitrary (ex. sampaguita as national philippine
flower)
● language = a set of ppl agree to the
meaning set by the symbol/character
h. culture is learned and transmitted
● through socialization and enculturation
society
● group of people sharing a common culture
● organized group of people who generally share a
common territory, language, culture and who act
together for collective survival and well-being
● product of human interactions as they subscribe to
the rules of their culture
● organization that caters to a human's needs for
belongingness to a group
social Interaction
● compilation of ways and means by which humans
interact with each other within the confines of a
society
social change
● variations or modifications in the patterns of social
organizations or subgroups within a society or of
the entire community itself
● ex. feminist movement, lgbtq+ rights movement, blm
movement
cultural change
● modifications in the cultural elements of a society
● everyday doings
● changes in the manner of choosing a spouse, or a
new lifestyle (pandemic), changing religions
political change
● alterations in the governmental aspects of society
● ex. overthrowing of dictatorial government (people power
revolution)
causes of social change
a. discovery
● finding something that has never been
found before or finding something new in
something that already exists
b. invention
● something that has never been made
before
● changes society material invention and
social invention (alphabet, government,
language, etc.)
● ex. jeepney
c. innovation
● process of translating a new idea into
something that can relate value
● takes advantage of an emerging idea or a
technology
● already there but you just try to build on
and improve on what's already there
● ex. e-jeepney
d. diffusion
● involves process of spreading cultural traits
and concepts from one human group to
another
● involves two cultures in contact with one
another
● one factor: colonication (spread of english
language created ‘taglish’)
● ex. ‘gay lingo’ in the philippines
e. acculturation
● cultural blending – modification of an
individual, group, or people by adapting to
or borrowing traits from another culture
● still keep your culture while adding new
traditions
● ex. moving to UP from woodrose – learn UP
culture but still retain woodrose culture
f. cultural assimilation
● occurs when an ethnic minority sacrifices
its own culture to integrate into society
● lose your culture completely
● ex. no more use of baybaying or no more
making harana