Nwssu - mod-in-Socio-Cultural Anthropology

SOCIO-CULTURAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
[Learning Module]
“Muslims in the Philippines” by Nationalist Artist Abdulmari

Source: https://philippinesthetic.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/first-blog-post/
Raymundo S. Canizares
Associate Professor I
College OF Management
2021
Socio-Cultural Anthropology
VISION
A provide of relevant and quality education to a
society where citizens are competent, skilled,
dignified and community- oriented.
MISSION
An academic institution providing technological,
professional, research and extension programs to
form principled men and women of competencies
and skills responsive to local and global
development needs.
QUALITY POLICY
Northwest Samar State University commits to
provide quality outcomes-based education,
research, extension and production through
continual improvement of all its programs, thereby
producing world class professionals.
CORE VALUES
Resilience. Integrity. Service. Excellence.
INSTITUTIONAL GRADUATE OUTCOMES

Creative and critical thinkers
Life-long learners
Effective communicators
Morally and socially upright individuals
Rationale
This Socio-Cultural Anthropology module is course designed to increase

knowledge and general appreciation on the study of human similarities and
differences and their impact on a wide range of social phenomena. This course
provides the study the necessary understanding on how anthropology plays a central
role in an era when global understanding and recognition of diverse ways of critically
seeing the world in terms of its social, political and economic importance. Social
anthropology uses practical methods to investigate philosophical problems about the
nature of human life in society.
This course module includes a broad series of lessons and activities that offer
a variety of modalities and methods uniquely suited to studying social phenomena at
different scales within a historical and political context. Each module/unit contains a
series of lessons that include introduction of content, virtual demonstration of that
content, and repeated opportunity to practice that content, along with a quiz per
lesson, exam per unit, and final exam at the end of the course.
Table of Contents
Rationale ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… i
Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ii
Course Syllabus ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. iii
Module 1: Introduction 1
What is Anthropology? ...............................................
Brief History of Anthropology ........................................
Subject- matter and Scope of Anthropology .................
Distinguishing Features of Anthropology .....................
The Sub-Fields of Anthropology ..................................
Contributions of Anthropology ......................................
The Relationship of Anthropology to Other Disciplines...........
Module 2: Theories and Research Methods in |Socio-Cultural Anthropology
Theories in Sociocultural Anthropology ........................
Research Methods in Sociocultural Anthropology ........
Module 3: The Concept of Culture
The Concept Culture ....................................................
Main Features of Culture .............................................
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism .........................
Components of Culture .................................................
Some Important Concepts Related to Culture............
Language and Culture ..................................................
Culture and Its Influence on People’s Behavior ...........
Module 4: Kinship, Marriage, and the Family

What is Kinship? ........................................................
Defining Marriage .........................................................
Types of Marriage ........................................................
Rules of Marriage .........................................................
Marriage Payments .....................................................
Definition and Types of the Family ...............................
The Functions of Family ...............................................

Trends in and Problems of Contemporary Marriage and the Family ...................
Module 5: Gender, Ethnicity and Race
Defining the Concept of Gender ...................................
Gender Role Socialization ...........................................
Gender Stereotypes and Stratification ..........................
Gender Stereotypes .......................................
Gender Stratification .....................................
Implications of Gender Role Socialization for Health ..........................
Differentiating Ethnicity and Race ................................
Ethnic and Racial Stereotypes/Discriminations .........................................
Module 6: The Anthropology of Religion
What is the Anthropology of Religion? .........................
Definition of Religion ....................................................
Types and Functions of Religion ..................................
Religion and Health ......................................................
The Course Syllabus
Course Code: SS 10
Course Title: Socio-Cultural Anthropology
Course Description:
This course is a three-unit course that introduces students to the field of sociocultural
anthropology. Sociocultural anthropology will familiarize students with the basic ideas,
issues, concepts and principles of anthropology that deals with kinship, political economy and
other social dimensions of human societies. The course also allows the students to describe
the meaning, scopes, methods, history and uses of anthropology, and its relations to other
disciplines. This will help them learn how to “think like an anthropologist” through the
critical examination of other cultures and more importantly through the examination of their
own Filipino culture.
The material selected for this course presents information about cultural worlds that may be
very different from the students’ own, as well as information about cultural worlds that are
very close to Filipino society. The juxtaposing of different types of culture will challenge the
students to critically think outside of their own cultural assumptions. Through the use of
critical tools used by anthropologist, students will begin to examine their own common sense
assumptions about society and human nature and in turn come to approach cultural diversity
with thoughtfulness and sensitivity.
Course Outcomes:
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:

1. Understand the role of social and cultural anthropology in the holistic approach of
the anthropology.
2. Demonstrate mastery of basic socio-cultural anthropology vocabulary words and
the analytical ideas that underlie their usage.
3. Become familiar with a variety of theoretical perspectives that have been used in
anthropology to illuminate micro- and macro-scale social and cultural processes
over time and space.
4. Display familiarity with a variety of anthropologists and their contributions to the
discipline.
5. Define culture, and articulate its historical relationship to the concepts of
biological, social, and political identity of the Filipino Society.
6. Apply anthropological terms and concepts in cross-cultural contexts to reflect and
write substantively on ways in which human beings find fulfillment in
community.
7. Apply anthropological methods of inquiry to socio-cultural data and while
engaging in cultural relativism.
8. Demonstrate a capacity for coherent, principled analysis of concrete social and
cultural problems utilizing emic and etic perspectives.
9. Contextually recall case studies from around the world to demonstrate the range of
human variability in the arenas of traditional anthropological inquiry (e.g.,
kinship, economics, politics, religion, linguistics).
10. Articulate the contribution made by applied socio-cultural anthropology to

understanding the contemporary world, including the legacy of colonial world
systems, imperialism, and globalization in culture change and extinction.
Course Content:
The table below shows the outline of the topics to be discussed in the module per
week vis-à-vis the course outcomes. It is designed based on the course syllabus approved by
the college Dean in the College of Education.
Date of
Course Learning Outcomes Topics Assessment Week
Submission
Demonstrate understanding Module 1: Introduction Online tests 3rd week of Weeks 1
the role of social and cultural Topic Essay August -2
A. What is Anthropology?
anthropology in the holistic B. Brief History of Anthropology
approach of the anthropology. C. Subject- matter and Scope of
Anthropology
D. Distinguishing Features of
Anthropology
E. The Sub-Fields of Anthropology
F. Contributions of Anthropology
G. The Relationship of Anthropology
to Other Disciplines

Become familiar with a Module 2: Theories and Online tests
variety of theoretical Research Methods in |Socio- Topic Essay 1st Week of
perspectives that have been Cultural Anthropology September
used in anthropology to A. Theories in Sociocultural
illuminate micro- and macro- Anthropology
B. Research Methods in Sociocultural
scale social and cultural Anthropology
processes over time Week 3

and space -4
Display familiarity with a

variety of anthropologists and
their contributions to the
discipline.

Define culture, and articulate Module 3: The Concept of Online tests 3rd Week of Week 5
its historical relationship to the Culture Topic Essay September -6
concepts of biological and A. The Concept Culture
B. Main Features of Culture
social identity. C. Ethnocentrism and Cultural
Relativism
Apply anthropological terms D. Components of Culture
and concepts in cross-cultural E. Some Important Concepts Related
to Culture
contexts to reflect and write F. Language and Culture
substantively on ways in G. Culture and Its Influence on
which human beings find People’s Behavior
fulfillment in community

Contextually recall case Module 4: Kinship, Online tests 1st Week of
studies from around the world Marriage, and the Family Topic Essay October
to demonstrate the range of A. What is Kinship?
B. Defining Marriage
human variability in the arenas C. Types of Marriage
of traditional anthropological D. Rules of Marriage
inquiry (e.g., kinship, E. Marriage Payments
economics, politics, religion, F. Definition and Types of the Family
G. The Functions of Family
linguistics). H. Trends in and Problems of
I. Contemporary Marriage and the Week 7
Family -8
Create an artwork depicting
the various elements and
principles of design.

Apply anthropological Module 5: Gender, Ethnicity Online tests 4th Week of Week 9
methods of inquiry to cultural and Race Topic Essay October - 10
data and while engaging in A. Defining the Concept of Gender
B. Gender Role Socialization
cultural relativism. C. Gender Stereotypes and
Stratification
Demonstrate a capacity for D. Gender Stereotypes
coherent, principled analysis E. Gender Stratification
F. Implications of Gender Role
of concrete social problems Socialization for Health
utilizing emic and etic G. Differentiating Ethnicity and Race
perspectives. H. Ethnic and Racial
Stereotypes/Discriminations

Contextually recall case Module 6: The Online tests 2nd Week of Week 11
studies from around the world Anthropology of Religion Topic Essay November - 12
to demonstrate the range of and Health
A. The Anthropology of Religion
human variability in the arenas B. Definition of Religion
of traditional anthropological C. Types and Functions of Religion
inquiry (e.g., kinship, D. Medical Anthropology: Definition,
History and Concerns
economics, politics, religion,
E. Some Theories of Health, Culture
linguistics)
and Society
F. Disease, Society and Economic
Articulate the contribution Activity
made by applied anthropology G. Theories of Disease Causation
to understanding the H. Health Care Systems
contemporary world, including
the legacy of colonial world
systems, imperialism, and
globalization in culture change
and extinction.

Week 18 - Deadline for submission of All Requirements

7.1.
............................................................................. 166
7.2. Some Theories of Health, Culture and Society............. 168
7.2.1. The Functionalist Perspective ........................ 168
7.2.2. The Medical Ecological Perspective .............. 169
7.2.3. Cultural Interpretationist Perspective ............ 169
7.2.4. The Critical Perspective ................................. 170
7.3. Roles of Anthropologists and Contributions of
Anthropology to Health ....................................................... 170
7.4. Disease, Society and Economic Activity…………… ..... 173
7.5. Theories of Disease Causation ................................... 175
7.6. Health Care Systems ................................................... 180
Course Requirements:
In general, the requirements of SS 10 are as follows:
1. One local (barangay or municipal/city level) ethnographic research of any
of the topics in the course outline.
2. Video documentary production of their own local
barangay/municipality/city socio-cultural setting.
3. One article review on any journal article from an appropriate socio-cultural
anthropology journal, using anthropological writing and citation styles.
Grading Criteria:
Requirement/Assessment Task Percentage
Major Course Output 50%
Major Exams 30%
Class Standing 20%
TOTAL 100%
Module 1
Module Title:
Introduction on Socio-cultural Anthropology
“Muslims in the Philippines” by Nationalist Artist Abdulmari

Source: https://philippinesthetic.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/first-blog-post/
Module Description:
This module presents to the students the introductory issues such as the definition,
history, branches, subject-matter and importance of anthropology and its relations to other
disciplines. Through this module, the students will be able to describe the meaning, scopes,
methods, history and uses of anthropology, and its relations to other disciplines. The students
will be also able to appreciate the relevance of sociocultural anthropology in their personal
and future professional practice.
Purpose of the Module:
This module gives a basic ideas and knowledge in the science of anthropology in
general and sociocultural anthropology in particular. By learning the materials presented in
this module, it is believed that students will be able to understand and appreciate the
following topics:
1. What is Anthropology?
2. Brief History of Anthropology
3. Subject- matter and Scope of Anthropology
4. Distinguishing Features of Anthropology
5. The Sub-Fields of Anthropology
6. Contributions of Anthropology
7. The Relationship of Anthropology to Other Disciplines
Module Guide: {this must contain instruction how to use the module}
1. The students first have to carefully read and understand all the reading materials
being provided on this module.
2. After reading and understanding all the concepts and lessons being presented, they
have to undertake the different activities prepared and assigned for each
topic/lesson like the pre-test, post-test, case analysis, etc.
[Course Code]: [Course Title] Page 1 of 115

3. Each lesson for each module must be carried on in a sequential manner.
Module Outcomes: {extracted/cascaded from one of the course learning outcomes}

Upon successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:
1. Define anthropology and describe its basic concerns and subject matter;
2. Describe the different sub-fields of anthropology;
3. Explain how and why sociocultural anthropology as a science emerged;
4. Appreciate the contributions and applications of anthropology in personal and
professional lives; and
5. Compare and contrast anthropology with other related behavioral or social sciences.
Module Requirements:
At the end of this module, the students will be able to pass the module summative
exam and Module Essay.

Module Pretest:
Pretest 1.
Identify or describe the object shown?
How old do you think it is?
What do you think it was used for?
What does this object tell you about life in the past?
Do you think the object comes directly from the past or is a replica of the time?
Source: http://middleofhistory.blogspot.com/

Learning Plan
Let’s Get Started:
Introduction
Source: https://www.igorotage.com/p/MVLon5gpz
What is Anthropology?
The term anthropology is a combination of two words derived from Greek language:
anthropos and logos. The term anthropos is equivalent to the word mankind or human being,
while logos means study or science. So putting the two words together, anthropology is the
study or science of mankind or humanity. The following are two important, simple,
definitions of anthropology:
• Anthropology is the study of humanity.
• Anthropology is a broad scientific discipline dedicated to the comparative study of
humans as a group, from its first appearance on earth to its present stage of development.
In a more specific term, anthropology is science which:

• Investigates the strategies for living that are learned and shared by people as
members of human social groups;
• Examines the characteristics that human beings share as members of one species
(homo sapiens) and the diverse ways that people live in different environments; and
• Analyzes the products of social groups: material objects (tools, cloths, houses, etc)
and nonmaterial creations (beliefs, values, practices, institutions, etc). (World Book
Encyclopedia. Vol.1 PP. 545-548)

It should further be stressed that anthropology focuses on (1) the origin of humans, (2)
the evolutionary development of humans, (3) human physical, biochemical and cultural
variations, and (4) the material possessions and cultural heritages of humans.
Anthropology seeks to explain how and why people are both similar and different
through examination of our biological and cultural past and comparative study of
contemporary human societies (Howard and DunaifHattis, 1992:3). Howard and Dunaif-
Hattis (1992) further note that:
Anthropology’s ultimate goal is to develop an integrated picture of humankind—a
goal that encompasses an almost infinite number of questions about all aspects of our
existence. We ask, for example, what makes us human? Why do some groups of
people tend to be tall and lanky, while others tend to be short and stocky? Why do
some groups of people practice agriculture, while others hunt for a living?
Anthropologists are interested in all things human. (P.3)
Anthropology has a strong affinity with natural sciences as well. In fact, anthropology
is well known by that aspect of it which is mainly concerned with the biological/ physical
dimensions of mankind as a biological being in group context. Hence, it may be inappropriate
to say that anthropology is only a social science. It is also a natural science, not in the sense
that it deals with the natural phenomenon or man as an individual entity per se, but in the
sense that one of its main interests is to study man and man's behavior as a product of the
natural processes, and in the context of the animal kingdom (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995).
Misconceptions about Anthropology
There are a number of misconceptions associated with anthropology due to

lack of appropriate awareness of its nature. The following are some of the
misconceptions:
 One misconception about anthropology is related to the area of its study. It is

said that anthropology is limited to the study of "primitive" societies. Indeed,
most of the works done by anthropologists during early periods focused on
isolated, "primitive", smallscale societies. However, anthropologists nowadays
study the advanced, complex societies as well.
 Another misconception is that anthropologists only study the rural people and
rural areas. True, most of the works conducted focused on rural areas. But
now, anthropologists are also interested in the study of urban people and urban
areas. There is a distinct sub-discipline devoted to the study of urban societies
-urban anthropology-which focuses on small-scale society in a complex city.
 It is claimed that anthropologists are only interested in the study of far away,
remote exotic communities living isolated from the influences of
modernization. True, most anthropologists go to fieldwork to an isolated
people in a distant corner. But now anthropologists are interested in home
anthropology, studying anthropology at home, i.e., in one's own society.
 It is also said that the purpose of anthropology is to study in order to keep and
preserve primitive, defunct cultural practices in museums and anthropologists
are advocates of defunct, obsolete culture. True, when anthropologists study
"primitive" society, they study the culture of the people, to reconstruct it, to

give meaning to the peculiar behaviors of people. However, anthropologists do

not defend "primitiveness"; they play a great role in bringing about positive
change and development in the lives of people.
Video for viewing:

1. (ENGLISH) Branches of Socio-Cultural Anthropology | Discover with Anthropology.
Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAhz3_NH__I
Brief Historical Overview of Anthropology
The facts of the incredibly diverse and at the same

time essentially similar nature of humans over
time and space have intrigued curious-minded
people over the century. The history of
anthropological thought is replete with many and
varied ideas, some of which often were wild
extremes resulting from ethnocentric attitudes.
Before anthropology attained the status of
scientific discipline curious-minded persons from
ancient to medieval times have speculated a lot about the issues and problems that concern
anthropologists today (Hodgen, 1964). That is, the present academic anthropology has its
roots in the works and ideas of the great ancient and Medieval Greek, Roman, and Hebrew
philosophers and social thinkers. These people were interested in the nature, origin and
destiny of man, and the morality and ethics of human relationship. While the roots of (socio-
cultural) anthropology can be generally traced through the history of western culture as far
back as ancient Greek social philosophical thinking, the discipline did not emerge as distinct
field of study until the mid-nineteenth century. Anthropology as an academic discipline was
born during the 19th century (see The New Encyclopedia Britannica (Macropedia).Vol. 27
PP.326-331).
Anthropology as academic discipline was born out of the intellectual atmosphere of that is
called the Enlightenment, which is the eighteenth century social philosophical movement that
emphasized human progress and the poser of reason, and based on Darwinian Theory of
Evolution (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995).
According to Howard and Dunaif-Hattis (1992:362):
By the late 1870s, anthropology was beginning to emerge as a profession. A major

impetus for its growth was the expansion of western colonial powers and their
consequent desire to better understand the peoples living under colonial domination.
In the United States, for example, the government sought information on Native
American peoples who were being subdued and placed on reservations. As the tribes
were subdued, anthropologists were employed to help devise means to administer
these people. … [H]owever, many anthropologists were motivated by the desire to
record local customs before they disappeared and were forgotten…. Anthropology
became a profession primarily in museums, During the 1870s and 1880s many
museums devoted to the study of humankind were founded in Europe, North America
and South America….Anthropology’s link with museums influenced its development
throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries… Professionalization
during the latter part of nineteenth and early twentieth centuries made great

breakthroughs in the quality and quantity of ethnographic research….
Early anthropologists mainly studied

small communities in technologically
simple societies. Such societies are often
called by various names, such as,
traditional, nonindustrialized or simple
societies. Anthropologists of the early
1900s emphasized the study of social
and cultural differences among human
groups. Here, many of the indigenous
peoples of the non-western world and
their social and cultural features were studied in detail and documented. This approach is
called ethnography. By the mid-1900, however, anthropologists attempted to discover
universal human patterns and the common biopsychological traits that bind all human beings.
This approach is called ethnology. Ethnology aims at the comparative understanding and
analysis of different ethnic groups across time and space (Kottak, 2002;
Scupin and DeCorse, 1995).
Subject Matter and Scope of Anthropology
The subject matter of anthropology is

very vast. The subject covers all aspects
of human ways of life and culture, as
humans live in a social group
relationship. Discovering the meaning,
nature, origin, and destiny of humanity is
one of the key concerns of anthropology.
According to the present stage of
scientific knowledge attained in
anthropology, the term humanity or mankind is a very difficult term to define.
Anthropologists seem to be unsure whether humanity is absolutely dichotomous with other
lower forms of animals. Some may even tend to regard humanity and non-humanity as
something that is best understood in the form of continuum. This sense of continuum may be
particularly in terms of time scale. Thus, the farther we go in time backwards, the narrower
becomes the difference between humanity and nonhumanity.
It has now become a generally accepted fact in anthropology, although no full evidences are
forthcoming, that humanity is a product of the evolutionary processes, and that humans have
evolved from their closest living primates (Bryan, 1997; Behe,1996).
Anthropology is interested in some of the following questions and issues about humans:
 Where did human species come from (i.e. what are the origins of mankind)?
 Were human beings created in the image and likeness of God, or were they just the
products of millions of years of the natural, evolutionary process?
 In what ways does man differ from other animal species?
 How did mankind arrive at the present stage of biological, intellectual, and cultural
development?
 Is there a common human nature, and if so, what is it like?

 In what ways do humans who live in various times and places differ?
 • How can we explain why cultures vary?
Such and many other related questions are the concerns of anthropology.
Anthropologists try to know and explain about the technological, economic, political and
intellectual development of humanity. They attempt to discover the extent to which different
human populations vary in their biological and social characteristics and to understand why
these differences exist.
Anthropologists are, for example, interested to know and explain why a pregnant woman in
Gumuz goes to a bush to give birth during labor, how the Nuer practice birth control methods
and why they put horizontal line marks on their forehead, or why the Wolayta put a circular
body mark on their cheek while the Tigreans put a cross mark on their foreheads, etc.
Although anthropologists investigate the distinctive features of different cultures, they also
study the fundamental similarities among people throughout the world (Scupin and De Corse,
1995). They try to find out what factors account for the similarities in certain beliefs,
practices and institutions that are found across cultures. They grapple with explaining why
cultural universals exist. Are these cultural similarities results of diffusion (i.e., a certain
material culture or non-material culture created in a certain society diffuses to other societies
through contact, war, trade, etc)? Or are they due to independent creation (i.e., certain cultural
items created by two or more societies without one copying from the other)? Anthropologists
have debated taking different sides while attempting to answer these questions.
Distinguishing Features of Anthropology

We may identify five distinguishing marks of anthropology:
1. Its Broad Scope.
The main distinguishing characteristic of anthropology, the thing that makes it

different from the many other fields that also include people as their subject matter is
its broad scope. A good way to emphasize this broad scope is to say that
anthropologists are interested in all human beings, whether living or dead, ''primitive''
or ''civilized'' and that they are interested in many different aspects of humans,
including their skin color, family lives, marriages, political systems, tools, personality
types, and languages. No place or time is too remote to escape the anthropologist's

notice. No dimension of human kind, from genes to art styles, is outside the
anthropologist's attention (Kottak, 1994, 2002; Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992)
2. Its Unique Approaches

a. Anthropology is Holistic: Studying one aspect of the ways of life of a group
of people by relating it to other complex related aspects of life.
b. Anthropology is Relativistic: Anthropology tries to study and explain a

certain belief, practice or institution of a group of people in its own context. It does
not make value judgment, i.e., declaring that ‘this belief or practice is good’ or ‘that is
bad.’
c. Anthropology is Comparative: Anthropology studies certain aspects of the

culture of a group of people by comparing it across societies and different times; i.e.,
the present with the past, the modern with the traditional, etc.

3. Emphasis on Insiders' View.

Anthropologists focus on how the people themselves understand about their world,
how a particular group of people explains about the world, etc. This is what
anthropologists call emic perspective. Etic perspective studies/explain cultural group
as an outsider.
4. The Micro-focus
This is another distinguishing mark of anthropology. Anthropology focuses on small-
scale society or community. The kinds of social groups or communities
anthropologists study, whether they are in traditional or modern world, are usually
small scaled in their social organization, economic and political structure, and tend to
be homogenous in their overall character.
5. Its Method of Research

The hallmarks of anthropology are qualitative research methods such as extended
fieldwork, focus- group discussion, participant observation, in-depth and key
informant interviews. Although these methods are now practiced in other behavioral
sciences as well, no other discipline seems to be so associated with and employs such
methods as anthropologists.

Sub-fields of Anthropology
As indicated earlier, the interests and subject- matter of anthropology are wide-ranging. This
broad discipline is usually divided in four main sub-fields. These are: physical/biological
anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology and archaeological
anthropology. Sometimes, applied anthropology is added as a fifth sub-field. A brief
discussion of the four major sub-fields is as follows.
1. Physical Anthropology.
Physical anthropology is the branch of anthropology most closely related to the

natural sciences, particularly biology; that is why it is often called biological
anthropology (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995; Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992). It
studies the biological dimensions of human beings, including biological evolution, the
physical variations between contemporary populations, and the biology and behavior
of non-human primates. Physical anthropology itself is further divided into three
special fields of study: paleoanthropology, primatology and anthropometry.
Paleoanthropology: is a subspecialty in physical anthropology which is interested in

the search for fossil remains from prehistoric times to trace the development of
outstanding human physical, social and cultural characteristics. Paleoanthropology is
the study of human evolution through analysis of fossil remains. Paleoanthropologists
use a variety of sophisticated techniques to date, clarify and compare fossil bones to
determine the links between modern humans and their biological ancestors (ibid. p3)

Despite the highly acclaimed Darwinian theory of human origins, that humans are
evolved from lower life forms, it may be appropriate to state that many writers in the
evolutionary circle argue that there are limits to fossil evidences and
paleoanthropology has many problems to tackle (Behe, 1996). As Bryan (1995)
suggests, the great theory of Darwinian Evolution rests on so little evidence.
Paleoanthropologists are aware of this limitation but textbook accounts of origins of
human beings tend to neglect them.
Primatology: The study of the biology and behavior of primates, that is, the animals
that most closely resemble human beings in terms of physiological and anatomical
structure, is an important field in physical anthropology. Primatologists observe
primates such as gorillas, chimpanzees, gibbons, and orangutans in their natural
habitats to ascertain the similarities and differences between these other primates and
humans (ibid, same page). Primatological research helps us understand what human
beings share with other animals, what makes them part of the natural world and their
unique characteristics (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992).
Anthropometry: The study of human variations within and among different

populations in time and space, human ecology, population genetics, etc. make up the
central concerns of this sub-branch of physical anthropology. These physical
differences may be in terms of blood types, skin colors, skull shape, facial shape, hair
texture, and the like. Anthropometry shades some light on how differing physical
characteristics have helped human groups adapt different geographical environments.
Population genetics, the study of biological inheritance plays an important role in
anthropometry, what is sometimes termed as biological anthropology (Scupin and
DeCorse, 1995; Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992).

The investigation of human variations among living populations has led to the
application of the knowledge in solving practical problems. The development of a
specialty known as forensic anthropology is one of the results of these attempts.
Forensic anthropology is the identification of human skeletal remains for medical and
legal purposes. Forensic anthropologists work often with other forensic specialists in
aiding criminal investigations. Forensic anthropologists attempt to determine the sex,
age at death, ancestral background, and stature of the deceased individual. Using this
knowledge, forensic anthropologists identify crash victims, war causalities, homicide
victims, and skeletal remains in unmarked graves (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992;
Scupin and DeCorse, 1995; Kotttak, 2002).
2. Sociocultural Anthropology
This is also often called social anthropology or cultural anthropology. It is concerned
with the social and cultural dimensions of the living peoples (Pritchard 1995); and
with the description and analysis of people’s lives and traditions (Podolefsky and
Brown, 1997). Socio-cultural anthropology studies the social, symbolic or
nonmaterial and material lives of contemporary and historically recent human
societies, taking the concept of culture central to its goal (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis,
1992).
Cultural anthropologists conduct studies of living peoples, most often by visiting and
living among a particular people for an extended period of time, usually a year or
longer (Keesing 1981). They conduct fieldwork among the people they study and
describe the results of their investigations in the form of books and articles called
ethnographies. Cultural anthropology is also concerned with making generalizations
about, and seeking explanations for, similarities and differences among the world's
people. Those who conduct comparative studies to achieve these theoretical goals are
called ethnologists. Thus, two important aspects of social/cultural anthropology are
ethnography and ethnology. The former is more of empirical study or description of
the culture and ways of lives of a particular group of people, while the latter is more
of a theoretical study of the similarities and differences among the human groups of
the world, past or present.

There are many other specialized fields of study in social or cultural anthropology.
Some of these include: anthropology of art, medical anthropology,
urban/rural/economic anthropology, political anthropology, development
anthropology, anthropology of religion, legal anthropology, demographic
anthropology, ecological anthropology, psychological anthropology,
ethnomusicology, etc.
3. Archaeological Anthropology
Archaeology studies the ways of lives of past peoples by excavating and analyzing the
physical remains they left behind. Artifacts are the material remains of human
societies (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995). Archeologists also study ecofacts, the
footprints on the ecology by the past societies. This helps reveal the way human
societies interacted with their local ecosystems. Tools, ornaments, pottery, animal
bones, human skeletal material, and evidence of how people lived in the distant past
are collected, and systematically analyzed. Archeological anthropology has three
major goals: 1) classifying and sequencing material culture; 2) reconstructing ancient
ways of life; and 3) explaining and delineating cultural processes (Howard and
DunaifHattis, 1992).
Some
branches of study in archeology include:
Prehistoric archeology: Prehistoric archeology investigates human prehistory; that is
the periods of time in a region before the art of writing developed. Many
anthropological archeologists study societies that did not leave behind any written
records. Prehistoric archeology uses material remains to reconstruct prehistoric life
ways; it also studies contemporary peoples whose styles of life are analogous and or
comparable to those of ancient peoples. For example, by studying the ways of life of
present hunter and gatherer societies, prehistoric archeologists can gain insights into
the ways in which the ancient foraging peoples lived (Ibid. P. 11)
Ethnoarcheology: This may be regarded as an aspect of prehistoric archeology. It is
an approach to ethnographic analogy in which archeologists make their own
observation of the contemporary cultures rather than relying on information provided
by cultural anthropologists.

Historical archaeology: uses the evidence provided by excavated remains to enhance

our understanding of historic peoples; that is, peoples who had writing and about
whom written records are available. Historical archeologists study sites dating from
historic times. Much of the work of historical archeologists has been to help preserve
historical sites (Ibid. p12).
Classical archeology: Is an aspect of historic archeology; it deals primarily with the
ancient civilizations and empires of Europe and the Middle East, including Egypt,
Greece, Roman and Persia, Axum, etc. There are several other specialized areas of
study and research in archeology such as industrial archeology, underwater
archeology, marine archeology, cognitive archeology, experimental archeology,
biblical archeological, cultural resource management, and so on.
4. Linguistic Anthropology
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Linguists describe and analyze the
sound patterns, combinations of sounds, meanings and structure of sentence in human
languages (Kottak, 1994). They also attempt to determine how two or more languages
are related. Historically, modern linguists are especially interested in whether all
human languages share any universal common feature. Some recent work suggests
that human infants are born with knowledge of a set of generalized rules that allow
them to discover the specific rules of language around them and to formulate new
sentences by applying these rules.
The terms linguistic anthropology, anthropological linguistics, and ethnolinguistics

are often used interchangeably in the linguistic anthropology literature. However, the
more preferred term is linguistic anthropology. It is defined as “the study of speech
and language within the context of anthropology…. It is the study of language as a
cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice.” (Durnati, 1997:1).
Linguistic anthropology usually focuses on unwritten languages (i.e., those languages
which have no form of writing, languages used by indigenous peoples of the non-
western societies). It is especially concerned with relations between language and
other aspects of human behavior and thought. Linguistic anthropologists might
describe and analyze a language so far unknown to linguistic science. The branch of
linguistic anthropology, called sociolinguistics is interested in how the language is
used in various social contexts. For example, what speech style must one use with
people of higher social standing? How does a local political leader use language to
earn people's allegiance? What can the naming of various parts of the natural and
social environment tell us about people's perception of their environments?

A second important branch called historical linguistics focuses on the comparison and
classifications of different languages to discern the historical links between them. This
historical linguistic research is particularly useful in tracing the migration routes of
various societies through time (Scupin and De Corse, 1995).
Another branch, called structural linguistics, studies the structure of linguistic
patterns. Structural linguists compare grammatical patterns and other linguistic
elements to find out how contemporary languages are similar to and different from
one another.
5. Applied Anthropology
Applied anthropology, the application of anthropological knowledge, methods and
approaches to the solving of human problems, is often now seen as a fifth major
branch of anthropology, although it is not well-established as the traditionally known
four fields. Applied anthropology involves the use of data gathered in other subfields
of anthropology in an endeavor to tackle contemporary societal problems.
Anthropologists have increasingly become concerned with practically dealing with
human problems (Bodley, 1996; Podolefsky and Brown, 1993).
The problems may include: environmental, technological, economic, social, political

or cultural. Applied anthropologist now work in quite many areas of relevance such as
education, mass medical, medicine, development, business, agriculture, crime and
urban poverty, etc (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995; Kottak, 2002).
Contributions of Anthropology
The contributions of anthropology may be categorized in to the following (World Book Encyclopedia
1994, Vol. 1, Howard and Dunaif-Hattis 1992; Aoyagi, 1999):
1. Anthropology gives us an insight into different ways and modes of life of a given society, to
understand the logic behind and justification for human activities and behavior.
2. Anthropology also helps us understand our own ways of lives. Many aspects of our lives
seem to us normal, so we don't know the logic behind. Eating injera, for example, is assumed
to be normal to those whose staple (main) food item is injera. By studying anthropology, we
look into ourselves through the others' ways of lives. As we study anthropology, we
encounter a different way of lives from ourselves, and hence we get opportunity to
appreciate and understand ourselves.

3. Anthropology helps us fight against prejudices and discriminations. It helps us fight against
ethnocentrism; the attitude that one's own culture and one's own way of life is the center of
the world and the best of all. This arises from ignorance about other ethnic groups and their
ways of lives.
4. Anthropology is also used as a tool for development. Applied anthropology, here, is the
application of anthropological knowledge and research results in the solution of some social
problems or in the implementation of project plans.
In addition to the aforementioned points, we may substantiate the contributions of anthropology as

follows:
1. Because of its broad scope, anthropology allows us to understand the biological,

technological and cultural development of humanity over long period of time in human
evolution.
2. Because of its comparative approach to humanity, anthropology allows us to separate what
is unique to our way of life from what is general to all people.
3. Because of its relativistic approach, anthropology helps us to be more sensitive and
appreciative of cultural diversity and variability. It helps us to avoid some of the
misunderstanding that commonly arises when individuals of different cultural traditions
come into contact. Anthropology reduces ethnocentrism by instilling an appreciation of
cultural diversity. Anthropology can help us be aware that when we interact with people
from other cultural traditions, their actions are not always intended to mean what we take
them to mean, and therefore much miscommunication can be avoided. Health workers
involved in health care provision in various cultural settings will find it very helpful if they
develop this mentality.
4. Anthropologists bring a holistic approach to national and international development
agencies.
5. Anthropologists use their expertise in particular subjects to formulate practical ways of
coping with immediate social problems. Medical anthropologists, for example, investigate
the interrelationship between human health, nutrition, and cultural beliefs and practices.
In general, anthropology more than any other sciences, can reveal the alternative ways of living
developed by diverse segments of humanity.
The Relationship between Anthropology and Other Disciplines
Similarity between Anthropology and Other Disciplines Anthropology is similar with other social
sciences as to its subject matter. All the social sciences such as sociology, psychology, political
sciences, economics, history, etc, study, in one way or another, the human society and its ways of
lives. Anthropology greatly overlaps with other disciplines that study human society. For example,
anthropological field workers are likely to collect information on a society's agriculture, leadership
patterns, and beliefs about the universe (physical world), music and art forms. They might find it
useful to be acquainted with the works of economists, geographers, political scientists, philosophers,
mythologists, and artists or art historians. They may read the works of historians, sociologists,
novelists, economists, psychologists, and political scientists who also write about the region.
Anthropology thus cuts across many disciplines, encompassing many of the subjects that other

scholars consider their special province: law, religion, politics, literature, art, and so on (World Book
Encyclopedia 1994, Vol. 1).
Differences between Anthropology and Other Disciplines Anthropology differs from other social
sciences and the humanities by its broad scope, approach, unit of analysis and methods used. It
studies mankind in its entirety. In its approach, anthropology studies and analyzes human ways of
life holistically, comparatively and relativistically. Its unit of analysis is small-scale society. That is, it is
interested in a group of people with more or less simple, homogenous ways of life. In its method of
research, it is unique in that extended fieldwork among the studied community and developing
intimate knowledge of the life worlds of the community with participant observation.
Post Test 1:
Fill-in the blank.
1. Every culture has its own art to behove on. This is true because of the assumption
that art is _____________.
2. Seeing the beautiful flowers on the fields are not considered as an art form for art
is not __________.
3. We can only appreciate art if we spend time to look at it, listen to it, touch it, and
feel its presence as art involves __________.
4. Buddha sculpture, the Sto. Nino Image, and the Black Nazarene indicate the
________ function of an art.
5. Celebrating fiestas in the Philippines signify _________ function among Filipinos.
Picture Analysis: Identify among the set of images which does not belong to the group
by encircling its letter.
6. A. B. C. D.
7.
A. B. C.
D.
8. A. B.
C.
D.
9. A.
B.
C.
D.
10. A.
B.
C.
D.

Post Test 2. Art Discussion (By WieldingColor)
What does art mean to you and should your art be for yourself or for others? In other words,
should it define what you are or define what the world is? Or both?
Source: https://www.doodleaddicts.com/learn/discuss/7/what-does-art-mean-to-you-and-should-your-art-be-
for-yourself-or-for-others-in-other-words-should-it-define-what-you-are-or-define-what-the-world-is-or-both/
Let’s Check:
Kindly use this simple essay rubric in evaluating the above essay.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/essay-rubric-2081367
Module 2
Module Title:
Theories and Research Methods in Socio-Cultural Anthropology
Module Description:

This module presents to the students the general summarized reading of the important
anthropological theories like evolutionism, diffusionism, historical particularism,
functionalism, culture and personality, structuralism, neo-evolutionism, cultural ecology,
cultural materialism, postmodernist and feminist explanations. It also orients the students on
the conduct of research for socio-cultural anthropology using the four common qualitative
anthropological data collection methods are: (1) participant observation, (2) in-depth
interviews, (3) focus groups, and (4) textual analysis. Participant observation is the
quintessential fieldwork method in anthropology.
This module presents the subject and content which discloses the passion, sincerity,
and conviction of every artist and serves as an extension of his emotion, ideas, or beliefs. It
covers the following topics:
The Subject of Art

The Content of Art
Keeping Art
Module Guide:
have to undertake the different activities prepared and assigned for each topic/lesson
like the pre-test, post-test, case analysis, etc.
Module Outcomes:
1. Describe the main perspectives or theories in socio-cultural anthropology;
2. Understand the forces that shaped the development of anthropological theories; and
3. Describe the main characteristics and types of anthropological research methods.
exam.

Pretest:
Examine carefully the artwork below. Write down five ideas or interpretations you can make.
Spolarium
By Juan Luna
1884
Oil on Canvas
Museum of Fine Arts (Manila)

Learning Plan
Theories in Sociocultural Anthropology
It may be appropriate here to define what a theory is. “A theory is a statement or statements of how
and why specific facts are related” (Macionis, 1997: 15) Scupin and DeCorse (1995) define a theory
as a set of interconnected hypotheses that offer general explanations for natural or social
phenomena.
I1t should also be noted that the terms “perspectives” and “schools of thought” are often used
interchangeably with the term “theory”. Below is a brief discussion of the emergence and
development of major anthropological theories in terms of their basic premises, explanatory power
and weaknesses.
Evolutionism
This theory may also be termed as the theory of cultural or sociocultural evolution (Zanden, 1990).
Evolutionism dominated anthropological thinking mainly during the latter part of 19th century. In
fact, some argue that the growth of anthropology as a science is tied up with the development of the
doctrine of evolution; neither could have developed without the other (Calverton, 1931).
The 19th century evolutionary theory in anthropology had especially two prominent proponents,
who developed what is termed as unilineal evolution. These were Edward B. Tylor and Lewis Henry
Morgan. Unilineal evolution is the view that societies evolve in a single direction toward complexity,
progress and civilization. It was interested in enplaning why societies are at similar or different
stages of evolution and development.

Developments in Darwinian evolution also helped a lot in shaping the evolutionary thinking of the
early thinkers such as Herbert Spencer, Henry Morgan, George Frazer, among others, although
evolutionary thinking predates Darwinian ideas. A generally accepted view about sociocultural
evolution is that “it is the process of change and development in human societies that results
cumulative change in their stores of cultural information” (Lenski and Lenski, 1982: 60). The basic
idea behind evolutionism is that the history of humanity and its sociocultural systems have
developed following unilineal path, from simple to complex. The evolutionary approach was applied
to understand the development of culture over time. The basic premise of this theory is that
Culture does appear to evolve in a way that is similar in its process to that of biological
evolution. And over all, the development of human society from most ancient times to the
present has been marked by persistent progression from technological and societal simplicity
to complexity (Hammond, 1971: 394).
This theory contended “those societies [that were] able to develop new social and cultural forms
that facilitate a more efficient adaptation to changing environmental circumstances had a better
chance of competing for survival compared to those that did not risked extinction” (ibid. p 392).
The 19th century evolutionary theory was criticized as an ethnocentric one, which regarded western
societies as the center of civilization and others as inferior. It paved the way for the colonization
processes and racist ideologies which latter dominated political thinking. Their views were
contradicting, much speculative and their evidences were second hand (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995).
Video for viewing:

1. Gerhard Lenski's Theory of Sociocultural Evolution. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Rj4YxigskyU

Diffusionism
Diffusionism developed in early part of 20th century; it was also interested in explaining why
societies are at similar or different stages of development. This theory maintained that
societal change occurs when societies borrow cultural traits from one another. Cultural
knowledge regarding technology, economy, religious views, etc, diffuses or spreads from
one society to another. This may explain the similarities in cultural features between
societies. Some extreme line of thought in this theory, called the British diffusionism, argued
that all sorts of civilization originated in Egypt and spread to other societies. The weakness
of this theory, like evolutionism, was that it was ethnocentric in its assumptions. The
diffusionists believed that non-western societies are inherently inferior, saying that these
peoples are not innovative in creating civilizations. However, diffusionism has some validity
in that it helps to explain the emergence of classical civilizations such as those in Egypt,
Greece, and Rome (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992; Scupin and DeCorse, 1995).
Video for viewing:

1. Enculturation, Acculturation, and Cultural Diffusion. Youtube URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkpfZZ6hubY
2. Diffusion | Society and Culture | MCAT | Khan Academy. Youtube URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3_A_A0XBiY
Historical Particularism

This theory developed in early 20th century mainly in reaction to unilineal evolution. An
American anthropologist, named Franz Boas, pioneered it. This theory provided an
alternative to the question of why societal differences and similarities exist. Boas greatly
influenced the development of anthropology in the 20 th century. He strongly opposed the
unilineal evolutionary theory, and advanced the need for empirical field-based ethnographic
research to explain and understand each society and culture in its historical contexts.
Historical Particualrism thus maintains that each society has its own particular historical
development. This view led to the development of the idea of cultural relativism (ibid.)
Video for viewing:

1. What is HISTORICAL PARTICULARISM? What does HISTORICAL PARTICULARISM mean?
Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yla7UM-y9y0
2. American Anthropology and Historical Particularism (Part 2). Youtube URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMOOAj9Puq0
Functionalism
This perspective is one of the dominant theories both in sociocultural anthropology and sociology.
The theory regards culture as an integrated whole (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992), and tries to
explain how the relationships among the parts of society are created and how these parts are
functional (meaning having beneficial consequences to the individual and the society) and
dysfunctional (meaning having negative consequences). The theory sees society as a complex system
whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability; it states that our social lives are
guided by social structure, which are relatively stable patterns of social behavior (Macionis, 1997).
All social structures contribute to the operation of society. Two dominant British anthropologists in
functionalism were Radcliff Brown and Bronslaw Malinowski, representing two strands in the theory:
structural functionalism, which stresses the preeminence of society and its structure over the
individuals, and how the various elements of the social structure function to maintain social order
and equilibrium; and psychological functionalism, which stresses individual needs to be met by
society.
The weakness of functionalist theory was that it failed to explain why societies different or similar.
Functionalist anthropology assumed an orderly world, paying little or no attention to competition

and conflict (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992). The theory was ahistorical, neglecting historical
processes. (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995) The theory was also unable to explain social and cultural
change, as it viewed society as stable and unchanging. Despite these weaknesses, functionalism
influenced a great deal of empirical research in anthropology.
Video for viewing:
1. Functionalism | Society and Culture | MCAT | Khan Academy. Youtube URL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-83vVeSC2_g
2. Society - functionalism and structural-functionalism (UCL Anthropology, Holbraad). Youtube URL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJtRV-js4Xg
Culture and Personality
This perspective, also called psychological anthropology has enjoyed dominance in the history the
field, particularly in the first half of 20th century. The proponents of the culture and personality
school maintained that the various patterned aspects of culture shape the personality of individuals
within a given society, and also personality once developed could in turn affect the further
development of culture (Hammond 1971). The theory is an outgrowth of the search for the
mechanism of cultural integration (Howard and DunaifHattis, Op cit).
The theory was influenced by and neo-Freudian psychology, which emphasized the primacy of
infantile and early childhood experience in shaping the personality. Following the development of
this school, many anthropologists attempted to study the national characters (representative
personality types) across cultures. In so doing, anthropologists have employed the psychological
concepts such as conditioned stimuli and responses, drives, rewards, punishments, conflicts, dreams,
ego systems, id impulses, attitudes, values, cognitive orientations, ideas, etc (Clifton 1968). Early
influential contributors to the culture and personality perspective such as Bronslaw Malinwoksi and
Margaret Mead attempted to show that psychological traits vary widely across cultures; that
societies instill different values by training children differently. Adult personalities reflect a culture’s
child-rearing practices (Kottak, 1994).
Video for viewing:

1. Culture and Personality & Functionalism (Part 1). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqjqfjrEISM
2. Culture and Personality studies: Mead, Benedict, Kardiner, Linton, Cora-du-Bois.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5W75kql0gY
Neo-functionalism
This theory is a variety of theories of conflict in anthropology, which developed after the II World
War. It developed in response to the weakness in functionalist anthropology in dealing with the
issues of conflict, competition and disequilibrium.
Proponents of this theory criticized functionalists for disregarding conflict as an inherent part of
social organization. Neofunctionalists succeeded in bringing into light the issue of conflicts and
change, but they still failed to deal with the issues of fundamental structural changes. Social order
was considered a given, rather than something be explained (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis 1992).
Marxist Anthropology
Marxist anthropological theory derives directly or indirectly from the writings of Karl Marx. Basing
some of his ideas on the 19th century evolutionary thinking, Marx stated that societies pas through
different stages of development. This theory is basically materialistic as it assumes that the systems
of producing material goods influences and shapes society. Unlike functionalists who stressed order,
stability and equilibrium in society, Marxist anthropology argued that society is in constant struggle
of social class conflicts among the dominant and minority groups in society. Unlike neo-
functionalists, Marxist anthropologists “are concerned specifically with the transformation of social
orders and the relationships between conflict and cultural evolution” ( Ibid. P.372).

Current Marxian anthropologists reject the unilineal model of societal development suggested by
Marx. Some of Marx’s predictions regarding the socialist and communist stages of societal
development happened to be wrong. Despite these shortcomings, Marxian analytical approach is
valid to understanding societal development (Scupin and DeCorse 1995).
Video for viewing:
1. A Brief Introduction to Marxism. Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=W0GFSUu5UzA
2. Cultural Marxism Explained. Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj1fjy0iM6U
Cultural Ecology
The school of cultural ecology, also termed as neoevolutionism, attempts to explain the human
condition in relation to the environment. Broadly defined, cultural ecology refers to “the dynamic
interrelationship between man and the material and cultural components of his environment”
(Hammond, 1971: 397). An extreme view of this school argued that the environment determines
culture. However, anthropologists now reject the idea of geographical determinism. The main idea
behind the modern school of cultural ecology is that each culture is seen as a specific instance of
patterned adaptation to a specie environment; the dynamic interaction between man and his
environment is such that culture modifies the environment and the latter also puts its limits to
human culture.

The cultural ecology perspective emphasizes how human use of nature influences and is influenced
by social organization and cultural values (Kottak, 2002). The strength of their theory is that it, unlike
the 19th century evolutionism, was not ethnocentric and racist; it also did not assume that socio-
cultural evolution toward complexity is always equated with progress; some aspects of small-scale
societies are better than those of complex societies. The theory, however, is criticized as neglecting
historical and political aspects; stressing the environment; the theory tends to reduce human
behavior to simple adaptations to the external environment (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995).
Video for viewing:
1. Foundations of environmental anthropology. Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=9kOdvJeeiNc
2. Cultural ecology. Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJLfG1HtU_k
3. What is Political Ecology? | Culture, Power, and Global Environment. Youtube URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUVHIVDANiY
Cultural Materialism
The theory of cultural materialism may be regarded as an outgrowth of neo-evolutionism or cultural

ecology. Anthropologist Marvin Harris mainly advanced it. The theory states that the key factors in
and determinants of socio-cultural evolution are the infrastructures that include technology,
environment and material conditions. As the infrastructure of a society changes, the other aspects of
society also change accordingly.
Video for viewing:

1. Marvin Harris: On the Basics of Cultural Materialism. Youtube URL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJN5baHs96U
Structuralism
Structuralism is one of a new group of theories in anthropology known as studies of cognitive

structure. This schools of thought, including structuralism, ethno-science, and symbolic
anthropology, give attention to the cognitive or underlying mental structures that provide order to
culture. Structuralism, advanced by its famous French structural anthropologist, Claude Levi-Strauss,
states that “the origin of universal principles that order the ways in which we behave and think
about the world is to be found in the structure of human thought.”(Howard and Dunaif-Hattis,
1992:373). The problem with this theory is that they view societies as static and do not help very
much in explaining variation among societies. The theory treats culture as a given order and fails to
explain the adaptive dimensions of culture.
Videos for viewing:

1. Structuralism: A Helpful Overview. Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=FDc8d8LiSwk
2. Structuralism vs. Post-Structuralism. Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=d_IYn6ZEKqs
Ethnoscience
The search for the underlying structural principles of culture led specially in United States to a
variety of studies in cognitive structure known as ethnoscience. This is sometimes referred to as
cognitive anthropology (Ibid. p.373). The focus of ethnosciecne is to discover and describe the
structural principles of specific culture by detailed ethnographic data analysis. Ethnoscientists are
mainly interested in understanding and describing how a specific people view their world; what are
the manner in which a specific people perceive and structure their environment through language;
and the nature of the rules and principles that guide their decision making (Ibid. p. 374).

Videos for viewing:

1. Ethnoscience and Cognitive Anthropology. Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=edhky10TBds
Symbolic Anthropology
This theory focuses on the symbolic rather than material aspect of culture. It is the study of culture
through the interpretation of the meaning of symbols, values and beliefs in society. The theory
disagrees with cultural materialism in that many cultural symbols cannot be reduced to the material
conditions and adaptive mechanism of a society (ibid. p 263). The cultural symbols are autonomous
of from the material forces. The proponents of this theory regard cultural traditions as texts to be
interpreted and described by ethnographers. The criticism leveled against symbolic anthropology is
that it focuses exclusively on cultural symbols at the expense of other factors that may shape human
behavior and thought. Critics argue that symbolic culture cannot be separately treated from other
political, economic, and socio-historical factors.
Video for viewing:
1. Symbols Matter: Anthropology of Symbols. Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=jUlPsvNMbwY
2. Clifford Geertz: The Interpretation of Cultures (The Balinese Cockfight). Youtube URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avW6g31hy-c

RESEARCH METHODS IN SOCIOCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology provides the possibility to study every aspect of human existence as it serves as the
window into the unknown. As anthropology provides the answer to our questions about ourselves,
our past, present and future, scientific tools or methods are needed that will help anthropologist to
connect everyone from around the globe.
In order to conduct long term research in one or more communities and participate in daily activities
sociocultural anthropologists employs several approaches and methods from the humanities and
other social sciences to complement their ethnographic research. In this section, attempt is made to
describe briefly the main issues and components of research methods in anthropology.
The Scientific Method and Inductive vs. Deductive Approaches
Anthropology is a science. As such, it is concerned with systematically observing and classifying facts,
and establishing verifiable laws. Anthropology, like any other science employs scientific method,
which is the source for scientific knowledge. The scientific method is a logical system used to
evaluate data derived from systematic observation. According to Howard and Dunaif-Hattis (1992:7)
the scientific method as a precise way of designing and conducting research consists of the following
basic steps:
1) establishing a hypothesis, a general statement based on observed facts;
2) determining ways to test the hypothesis, incorporating them in research design; and
3) testing the hypothesis through research and further observation.

Anthropology as a science employs the two very important approaches in research design and in the
overall research framework: inductive methods and deductive method. Inductive method is a
method by which the scientist first makes observation and collects data, on the basis of which he or
she formulates hypothesis and theories (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995). The researcher tries to build
theories from particular observations and instances. Induction moves from the particular to the
general; whereas deduction moves from the general to the particular. In deductive approach, the
researcher attempts to derive specific assertions and claims from a general theoretical principle. In
short, deductive approach in research goes from general theory to particular claims (Dooley,
1995:65-66).
THE PROCESS OF CONDUCTING ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
A. Identification of Research Problem
The first step in doing anthropological research (for that matter, any other research) is to come up
with a research problem. Identification of research problem basically involves choosing a research
topic. The ways and manners in which researchers identify a research problem and choose a topic
vary according to various factors. The research interests of anthropologists are, often, triggered by
their own life experiences and observations (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992). The initial ideas for
research thus may occur at any time and place for a researcher. Walking down a street, reading
through newspapers, watching television, etc may suggest a topic of research for an observing and
curious person (Mann, 1976).

B. Literature Review:
Research work normally proceeds by reviewing earlier works on a specific research problem one has
identified. The researcher will need to review past works on the question he or she is raising
(Dooley, 1995). The traditionally dominant source for literature review has been libraries and
documentation centers where books and various references are found in card catalogued manner.
Nowadays, most libraries maintain a computerized filing system, whereby references are made
available via electronic online methods. Searching literature has become very easy, thus, with the
computerization of library sources; one can easily access them if Internet connection is available
(Rosnow and Rosenthal, 1996).
Literature review is necessitated by the fact that a researcher is probably not the first person to
develop an interest in a particular problem; and hence, he or she need to spend some time in the
library reviewing what theories and methods others have used to the topic in the past and what
findings are there (Macionis, 1997). According to Marshal and Rossman (1989: 35), review of
literature has the following four purposes:
First, it demonstrates the underlying assumptions behind the general research question….
Second, it demonstrates that the researcher is thoroughly knowledgeable about related
research and the intellectual traditions that surround and support the study. Third, it shows
that the researcher has identified some gaps in previous research and that the proposed
study will fill a demonstrated need. And finally, the review refines and redefines the
research questions and related tentative hypotheses by embedding those questions in larger
empirical traditions.
C. Research Design
The research design is that section in the research process which gives the details of the ways and
manners of conducting the study (Ibid.). It involves the selection of research sites and study subjects,
the methods to be employed in collecting data, the techniques to be employed in data analysis and
other related matters.

The anthropologist chooses the research site and the people among whom he or she would conduct
the research. Appropriate and relevant data gathering techniques are chosen. The way the
researcher designs the overall research process will determine the data quality and the research
outcomes.
D. Data Collection Strategies/Methods in Anthropology
Ethnography is the anthropologists’ distinct strategy in data collection. It is the hallmark of

anthropology. Ethnography provides a foundation for generalizations about human behavior and
social life. There are various techniques employed by anthropologists when collecting information.
The main field techniques in anthropology are discussed below.
1. Participant Observation
Observation is central to any anthropological research. The researcher has to pay attention
to the many and varied details of daily life among the people. Both individual and collectives
behaviors and actions should be observed. All relevant events, actions, places, objects, etc
must be observed and recorded (Ibid. 1989). One of the key procedures in these techniques
is called participant observation, the active involvement in community life while studying it.

The researcher participates in a research setting while observing what is happening in that
setting (Henslin and Nelson, 1995). Here anthropologists attempt to take part in many of the
activities and processes of the community which they study (Kotttak, 1994; Howard and
Dunaif-Hattis, 1992).
2. Ethnographic Conversation, Interviewing and Interview Schedule
As anthropologists maintain rapport with the people, they begin to record information
starting by even the simplest conversation with informants. While simply conversing with
community members, the anthropologist can identify and obtain important information for
his/her research project. However, the researcher also depends on interviewing techniques.
Individuals or groups are identified and may be interviewed on issues of relevance for the
anthropologist. While doing so, the anthropologist may use interview schedules, pre-
planned question items, which the researcher writes down on his/her notebook and uses
them as guidelines for the interview process. With the interview schedule, the researcher
talks face to face with the informants, asks questions, and writes down the answers (Kottak,
op cit). The use of highly structured questions, such as questionnaires, is not often common
in typical anthropological researches, although anthropologists also employ these
instruments.
3. The Genealogical Method
This ethnographic technique was developed by anthropologists to deal with and gather
information on principles of kinship, descent, and marriage, which are the social building
block of small-scale societies. The genealogical method is important in what anthropologists
call “kin-based societies”, where everyone is related to every other person; and rules of
behavior attached to particular kinship relationships are basic to everyday life. Genealogical
information may be found in the form of art, paintings, cemeteries, rituals, etc (Ibid).
3. Well-Informed Informants
These are also called key informants, and the method is termed as key informant interview.
Here, very knowledgeable individuals in the community are identified and the research
learns lots of issues about the community life. Every society has well-informed informants,
who are natives/ members of the community who can provide the best and rich information
about particular areas of life in the community (Kottak, 2002).
4. Life Histories
Anthropologists also employ life history techniques. In the process of his/her fieldwork the
researcher may come across with individual or groups who present him/ her with interesting
cases. So the researcher conducts in-depth investigation on the life histories of the
individuals or groups. “Life histories reveal how specific people perceive, react to and
contribute to changes that affect their lives” (Kottak, 1994:26)
5. Emic and Etic Research Techniques
Anthropologists often employ two contrasting approaches: emic and etic. The emic
approach focuses on the native’s or the community’s points of view, trying to underhand the
world from the perspectives of the natives; whereas the etic view is observer-oriented

approach which tries to bring an objective and comprehensive viewpoint to the study of the
community’s life. Here, the focus shifts from native views to the views of the researcher. In
practice, anthropologists often have to combine the emic and etic approaches in their
fieldwork. They make every effort to avoid the biases of their own views as well as those of
the people being studied (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992; Kottak, 2002).
6. Problem-Based
Ethnography Anthropological field research has usually to address specific problems; the
researcher may thus enter a community with specific questions in mind. Anthropologists
thus just do not wholly depend on what the informants say and do; they also do many other
specific things. They consult documents, archives, measure and record data on various
phenomena like the environment, weather, diet, land use, etc.
7. Longitudinal Research
The anthropologists’ research is not limited to a specific locality or time period; often
anthropologists conduct longitudinal researches, with a long-term study of a community,
region, society, culture or other unit, usually based on repeated visits (Kotttak 1994:27).
Such kind of research reveals important insights on the dynamic and complex factors that
affect the lives of people over longer periods of time.
8. Survey Research
All of the above research techniques are qualitative in nature; despite anthropologists
heavily employ qualitative research techniques, they also use quantitative methods side by
side with qualitative ones. One of the dominant quantitative techniques is the survey
method, which involves sampling, impersonal data collections, and sophisticated statistical
analysis. Of all the social sciences research techniques, survey research probably seems to
be the most visible and pervasive form research in the social and behavioral sciences (Jones,
1995).
Traditionally, the survey techniques has been considered the domain of disciplines such as
sociology, psychology, political science, and economics, which often work mainly in large,
complex and populous societies, unlike anthropologists, which have traditionally worked
among small-scale societies. In survey research, people who provide information are termed
as respondents, (unlike in anthropology, where we call them informants); these respondents
are often selected on random sample basis, wherein all members of a population have equal
chances of being included in the study population.
A brief discussion of the difference between survey research and ethnography may be
appropriate here. The following are some points of difference (Kottak, op cit, P. 31):
 In survey research, the object of study is usually a sample chosen randomly

or otherwise by the researcher. Ethnographers normally study whole,
functioning communities.
 Ethnographers do firsthand fieldwork, establishing dirt relationships with
the people they study. Survey researchers often have no personal contact
with respondents.

 Ethnographers usually get to know their informants are interested in their

welfare; often a social survey focuses on a small number of variables, rather
than on the totality of peoples’ lives.
 Survey researcher normally works in modern nations, where most people
are literate; ethnographers are more likely to study people who do not read
and write
 The results of survey research must analyzed statistically, a s it deals with
large and diverse groups; while ethnographers have not often detailed
knowledge of statistics, as the societies they study are less diverse and
smaller in number.
In general, survey researchers such as sociologists are often interested in causal

relationships between limited number of variables and they mainly study samples to make
inferences about a larger population. Ethnographers, on the other hand, do their fieldwork
in communities and study the totality of social life and they are more typically concerned
with the interconnectedness of all aspects of social life.
E. Data Analysis
After the data are gathered, the next important step is analyzing the data. Various ways of analyzing
data are used both in qualitative and quantitative methods (Henslin and Nelson, 1996). For
quantitative data (which are mainly expressed in terms of numbers, percentages, rates to measure
size, magnitude, etc) researchers use sophisticated statistical techniques using computer models.
Plans for data analysis are often made as early before the data are collected (Mann, 1976).
Analysis of qualitative data (those which expressed in terms of descriptive statements, about the
depth, details and sensitive dimensions of information which are difficult to express in terms of
numbers) thus actually begins while the researcher is in the field recording his/ her field notes, tape
recording and transcribing the interviews. Tape-recording the interview process and transcribing are
the essential components of analysis (Jones 1995). In analyzing the data, the anthropologist must
distinguish between his own views and the views of the people being studied (Scupin and DeCorse,
1995). There are many possible analytic schemes and some computer models for analyzing
qualitative data are also available.
F. Research Report Writing and Dissemination
The research process is not complete until the results are reported in a written document (Rosenow
and Rosenthal, 1996). Research report writing in anthropology, as in all other sciences, follows a
specified standard ways of writing. The research findings are disseminated through various
mechanisms such as seminars, conferences, and symposiums. With minor variations, all social and
behavioral sciences research reports have similar components, though it may be with varying titles,
in the same order. The report characteristically has four major sections: introduction, methods
employed, and presentation and discussion of results (Dooley, 1995).
Video for viewing:
1. Sociocultural Anthropology Fieldwork & Methods. Youtube URL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DoQEGWrEdc

2. Anthropological research methods. Youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=UIcHSoNd10w
ASSIGNMENT:
This is a graded assignment.
A. Answer only three among the following problems:

1. Discuss the differences and similarities between evolutionism, diffusionism, historical
particularism and functionalism.
2. Discuss the varieties of functionalist and evolutionary theories.
3. How did the culture and personality theory emerge? What important personality character
do you think you have from your own cultures shaping?
4. On what points do proponents of conflict school in anthropology such as neo-functionalists
and Marxist anthropologists criticize functionalists? What are the strengths and weakness of
these theories themselves?
5. What does cultural ecology theory maintain?
6. Distinguish between structuralism, ethnoscience and symbolic anthropology, describing the
weaknesses of each theory.
7. Distinguish between the deductive do inductive approaches and cite specific example for
each approaches in class setting.
8. Outline the differences between ethnographic research method and survey method.
B. Based on the video, analyze and give your reactions by applying anthropological theories as stated
in the module.
Child brides: How old is too young to marry? - Inside Story. Youtube URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQhLMZh64Ec

References/Sources:
Accent Frame and Art (November 2018). The Importance of Art in the Daily Life. From
https://accentartandframe.com/blog/index.php/the-importance-of-art-in-the-daily-life
Buckland, Andrea (March 11, 2015). What is art? 30 Famous Definitions. from http://the-creative-
business.com/what-is-art-30-famous-definitions/
Marder, Liza (July 26, 2019). Ways of Defining Art. Taken from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-
definition-of-art-182707
Panisan, Wilson K., J-Annie G. Ebit, Carmelito Nomer S. Abolencia, Teody Lester V. Panela, Vercelle A. Docdoc,
Catherine C. Daffon, Stephen C. Temporada, April Rose P. Villaber, Mary Grace P. Enaya, and Gernah May Y. Santianes. Art
Appreciation. Mutya-Publishing House, Inc.,Philippines, 2019.
s
Price, Martin (September 26, 2018). THE IMPORTANCE OF ART IN OUR SOCIETY. Taken from
http://artshanties.com/the-importance-of-art-in-our-society/
Swami, Swara (May 31, 2016). 10 Reasons Why The Arts Are Important In Our Lives. Taken from
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/10-reasons-why-arts-are-im, portant-in-our-lives.

Module 3
Module Title:
The Concept of Culture
Module Description:
This module presents to the students the concept of culture that helps form the
structure and foundation of families and society. Culture reminds us that we are part of a
history that defines our past, shapes who we are today and who we are likely to become.
This module presents in general how the different cultures came about. It also gives
an overview of how peoples' behaviors vary from one place to another. With this, we can
never judge or delegate which one is inferior or superior to which. It covers the following
topics:
1. The Concept Culture
2. Main Features of Culture
3. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Components of Culture
4. Some Important Concepts Related to Culture
5. Language and Culture
6. Culture and Its Influence on People’s Behavior
Module Guide:

Module Outcomes:
1. Describe some major characteristics or features of culture;
2. Describe some key cultural concepts; and
3. Understand the relationship that exists between culture, individual behaviors, health
and disease.
exam.

Pretest: None
Spolarium
By Juan Luna
1884
Oil on Canvas

Learning Plan
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE
1.
Si Malakas at Maganda. Painting by yannebreeart cabanero.

Source: https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-MALAKAS-AND-MAGANDA-Philippine-Creation-Story/1586139/7844389/view
The concept of culture is central to anthropology. The capacity for making culture
differentiates mankind from nonhumans. The term culture is not used with consistent
meanings. It is used with various meanings in commonsense. It makes the backbone of
sociology and sociocultural anthropology and other related disciplines such as cultural
geography and social psychology. As a scientific term, culture refers to all the features of a
society's ways of life: e.g. production, modes of dress, routine living habits, food preferences,
the architecture of houses and public building, the layout of fields and farms; and systems of
education, government, law, etc.
Here it may be useful to make few points regarding the difference between “culture” and
“society”. For beginning students, it may be often difficult to differentiate between culture
and society. They may wonder how they can distinguish between the two, as the sociocultural
anthropological approach to the concept of culture often is very broad and all-inclusive. It is
also emphasized that culture includes all things beyond nature and biology. This may imply
that culture includes society itself. For this reason, a simple definition of society to
differentiate it from society is needed here. Society generally refers to the social world with
all its structures, institutions, organizations, etc around us, and specifically to a group of
people who live within some type of bounded territory and who share a common way of life.
Whereas, culture is the common way of life shared by a group of people is termed as culture
(Stockard, 1997).
Again before going any further, it also may be important to note that
common people often misuse the concept of culture. Some misconceptions
about the term culture include:
1. Many people in the western world use the term culture in the
sense that some people are more "cultured" than others. This basically emanates from
the idea associated with the root word of the term culture, “kulture” in German, which
refers to “civilization". Thus, when one is said to be “cultured”, he or she is said to be
civilized. For an anthropologist, as Kottak (2002: 272) argues, "culture includes much

more than refinement, taste, sophistication, education and appreciation of the fine arts.
Not only college graduates but also all people are ‘cultured’”.
2. A second commonly used misconception is that which equates “culture" with
things which are colorful, customs, cloths, foods, dancing, music, etc. As Kottak (op.
cit p.525) argues, “… many [people] have come to think of culture in terms of
colorful customs, music, dancing and adornments clothing, jewelry and hairstyles….
Taken to an extreme, such images portray culture as recreational and ultimately
unserious rather than something that ordinary people live everyday of their lives not
just when they have festivals” (Ibid. P. 525).
3. A third misconception about what culture is and what it constitutes is that which
may be entertained by many common people here in Ethiopia. This misconception is
similar to the second one, but it differs from it in that most people here think culture
(as conceptualized in its local language for example, bahil in Amharic) is that which
pertains to unique traditional material objects or non – material things of the past.
According to this view, the cultural may not include things (material or non –
material) which are modern, more ordinary, day-to – day, life aspects. Here, the
simple, ordinary social, economic and other activities, ideas and affairs are regarded
as not cultural or somewhat “less cultural" although not clearly stated.
Coming back to the technical definition of culture, let us look one of the most commonly
cited definitions of the term. Edward B. Tylor (1832-1917) a pioneering British
anthropologist defined culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of
society” (Howard and DunaifHattis, 1992:361). One of Tylor’s most important contributions
is that he was able to establish the differences between biological determined chrematistics
and those attributes which are socially learned. The phrase “acquired by man as a member of
society" in his definition is very important. It is not any habit or capability of man as a
biological being, but man as a member of a social group. The definition focuses on beliefs
and behavior that people acquire not through biological heredity but by growing up in a
particular society and social group where they are exposed to a specific cultural tradition. It is
through the socialization process that a person acquires a cultural knowledge. In
anthropology, this process is called enculturation. Enculturation is specifically defined as
the process by which an individual learns the rules and values of one’s culture (Ibid.).
The concept is an all-encompassing term that identifies not only the whole tangible lifestyles
of people, but also the prevailing values and beliefs. In short, among the many definitions of
culture, anthropologists have emphasized the learning, or acquisition of social habits,
capabilities, beliefs, techniques, lifestyles, etc, that exists in a particular society or group.
Anthropologists have focused on the symbolic dimensions of culture when defining it.
Classification of Culture
Material culture refers to the objects or belongings of a group of people. Metro passes and
bus tokens are part of material culture, as are automobiles, stores, and the physical structures
where people worship. Nonmaterial culture, in contrast is considered as the intangible
component of culture that consists of the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a society. Material

and nonmaterial aspects of culture are linked, and physical objects often symbolize cultural
ideas.
Main Features of Culture

Cultural anthropologists characterize culture as follows (Kottak, 2002; Howard and Dunaif-
Hattis, op cit; Clifton, 1968; Scupin and DeCorse, 1995):
1. Culture is all- encompassing:
Culture encompasses all aspects, which affect people in their everyday of their
lives. Culture comprises countless material and non-material aspects of human
lives. Thus, when we talk about a particular people’s culture, we are referring to
all of its man- made objects, ideas, activities whether those of traditional, old time
things of the past or those created lately. Culture is the sum total of human
creation: intellectual, technical, artistic, physical, and moral; it is the complex
pattern of living that directs human social life, the things each new generation
must learn and to which they eventually add.
2. Culture is general and specific

Generally, all human societies of the world have a culture. It distinguishes them
from other nonhuman beings. Specifically, there are as specific cultures as there
are diverse peoples in the world. Humanity shares a capacity for culture (general),
but people live in particular cultures where they are encultured.
3. Culture is socially learned
Culture is a natural outgrowth of the social interactions that constitute human

groups whether in societies or organizations. Whenever and wherever people
come to gather over time, culture develops. The essence of culture is that it is
learned, shared, interrelated, and adaptive Culture is learned through social
interaction. And the learned behavior is communicated in the group through forms
of socialization such as observation, instruction, reward, punishment and
experience.
Three different ways of learning should be noted here:
• Individual situation learning: this means an individual animal or person

learns something by himself as specific situations lead him.
• Social situational learning: this involves learning from other members of a
group, through imitation. Even animals can learn this way.
• Cultural learning: this is uniquely human. It is possible only through the
utilization of intelligence and the ability to communicate through attaching
meanings to words, objects or things. This is called symbolic communication.
People learn culture directly and through observation and social interaction.

4. Culture is symbolic
Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture. Symbolic

thought is the human ability to give a thing or event an arbitrary meaning and
grasp and appreciate that meaning Symbols are the central components of culture.
Symbols refer to anything to which people attach meaning and which they use to
communicate with others. More specifically, symbols are words, objects, gestures,
sounds or images that represent something else rather than themselves. Symbolic
thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture. It is the human ability to
give a thing or event an arbitrary meaning and grasp and appreciate that meaning.
There is no obvious natural or necessary connection between a symbol and what it
symbolizes.
Culture thus works in the symbolic domain emphasizing meaning, rather than the
technical/practical rational side of human behavior. All actions have symbolic
content as well as being action in and of themselves. Things, actions, behaviors,
etc, always stand for something else than merely, the thing itself.
5. Culture seizes nature
Culture imposes itself on nature. It suppresses the natural, biological instincts in

us and expresses it in particular ways. For example, we as biological beings feel
the desire for food; but what type of food to eat, how many times per day to eat,
with whom to eat, how much to eat, how fast or slow to eat, etc, are all determined
by the cultural values and norms of a particular group of people. Or, we feel the
desire to urinate, but one cannot do that anytime and anywhere, unless one is an
animal, an immature child or a mentally sick person.
The nature- nurture debate is, however, a very heated one in the social sciences,
and we need to underscore the fact of the dialectical relationship between the two.
Nature in terms of the natural environment, the evolutionary growth and
development in biological dimensions, genetic make-up of people, etc, is said to
have its own important effect in determining the creation, expression and
continuity of human culture.
6. Culture is shared
It is a possession of individuals as members of a social group; observing, listening,

talking and interacting with other people learn it. Culturally distinct ways of
thinking, behaving, feeling, and responding become habitual very early in life
through sharing. Behavior and ways of thinking or interacting must be shared
within a group of people in order to be considered part of culture. Some cultural
patterns are shared by nearly all people in some culture; and shared culture gives
people common experiences. However, we should note that not all things shared
among a group of people are cultural. There are many biological and
psychological characteristics are shared among a group of people.

7. Culture is patterned
Cultures are not haphazard collection of customs and beliefs, but are integrated,
patterned systems. The parts are interrelated. Culture is an integrated whole, that is
the parts of culture are interrelated to one another. No one single cultural trait has
its meaning outside of its integrated context.
8. People use culture creatively

There is difference between ideal culture and real culture. What culture-rules say
and what people do may be different; cultural rules tell us what to do and how to
do it, but we don't always do what the rules dictate. We use culture creatively.
9. Culture is adaptive and maladaptive
People adapt themselves to the environment using culture. The ability to adapt
themselves to practically any ecological condition, unlike other animals, makes
humans unique. This ability is attributed to human’s capacity for creating and
using culture. Culture has also maladaptive dimensions. That is, the very cultural
creations and achievements of peoples may turn out to threaten their survival.
When we see the contemporary problems of the environments, the side effects of
rapid growth and in science and technology, etc, we see that culture is also
maladaptive.
10. Culture is stable and yet it changes
Culture is stable and yet changing: Culture is stable when we consider what
people hold valuable and are handing over to the next generation in order to
maintain their norms and values. However, when culture comes into contact with
other cultures, it can change. That is, cultural diffusion, the spread of cultural traits
from one are to the other, may cause cultural change However, culture changes
not only because of direct or indirect contact between cultures, but also through
innovation and adaptation to new circumstances. That is, the forces of culture
change are not only external, but they are also internal.
Youtube URL: What is Culture?. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Bj8OCmxb4

Youtube URL: What is Culture? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSCFxDKJWwo
Cultural Variations
There are a multitude of cultural differences between peoples in the world that can be seen
easily from one society to the next. The world view of the generation X of today’s youth is
different from those of the generations of old. The perspectives of people from different

religions and ideologies added more variations and even confusions on the way people look
up to their way of life. Additionally, each culture has its own internal variations. Sometimes
the differences between cultures are not nearly as large as the differences inside cultures.
High Culture and Popular Culture
Do you prefer listening to opera or hip hop music? Do you like watching horse racing or
NASCAR? Do you read books of poetry or celebrity magazines? In each pair, one type of
entertainment is considered high-brow and the other low-brow. Sociologists use the term
high culture to describe the pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes that exist in the
highest class segments of a society. People often associate high culture with intellectualism,
political power, and prestige. In America, high culture also tends to be associated with
wealth. Events considered high culture can be expensive and formal—attending a ballet,
seeing a play, or listening to a live symphony performance.
The term popular culture refers to the pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes that exist
in mainstream society. Popular culture events might include a parade, a baseball game, or the
season finale of a television show. Rock and pop music—“pop” is short for “popular”—are
part of popular culture. Popular culture is often expressed and spread via commercial media
such as radio, television, movies, the music industry, publishers, and corporate-run websites.
Unlike high culture, popular culture is known and accessible to most people. You can share a
discussion of favorite football teams with a new coworker or comment on American Idol
when making small talk in line at the grocery store. But if you tried to launch into a deep
discussion on the classical Greek play Antigone, few members of U.S. society today would
be familiar with it.
Although high culture may be viewed as superior to popular culture, the labels of high culture
and popular culture vary over time and place. Shakespearean plays, considered pop culture
when they were written, are now part of our society’s high culture. Five hundred years from
now, will our descendants associate Breaking Bad with the cultural elite?
Subculture and Counterculture

We use the concept of subculture to denote the variability of culture within a certain society.
A subculture is just what it sounds like—a smaller cultural group within a larger culture;
people of a subculture are part of the larger culture but also share a specific identity within a
smaller group. It is system of perceptions, values; beliefs and assumption that are differed
from those of dominate culture. Sub culture is a distinctive culture that is shared by a group
within a society. We call it sub culture, because groups (with their sub cultures) exist within
and as a smaller part of the main, dominant culture. Examples of subculture could be the
distinctive culture of university students, street children and prostitutes in Addis Ababa, the
culture of medical professionals, etc.
A counterculture is a type of subculture whose values and norms of behavior differ
substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to
mainstream cultural mores. A countercultural movement expresses the ethos and aspirations
of a specific population during a well-defined era.
In contrast to subcultures, which operate relatively smoothly within the larger society,
countercultures might actively defy larger society by developing their own set of rules and
norms to live by, sometimes even creating communities that operate outside of greater
society. Cults, a word derived from culture, are also considered counterculture group.
Youtube URL: Cultures, Subcultures, and Countercultures: Crash Course Sociology #11.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV50AV7-Iwc
Youtube URL: Subculture vs counterculture | Society and Culture | MCAT | Khan Academy.
Subculture vs counterculture | Society and Culture | MCAT | Khan Academy - YouTube
Elements of Culture
Culture contains many aspects and these influence who we are and how we live. The
following are the five basic elements of:
1. Symbols
Every culture is filled with symbols, or things that stand for something else and that often
evoke various reactions and emotions. Some symbols are actually types of nonverbal
communication, while other symbols are in fact material objects. As the symbolic
interactionist perspective emphasizes, shared symbols make social interaction possible.
Let’s look at nonverbal symbols first. A common one is shaking hands, which is done in
some societies but not in others. It commonly conveys friendship and is used as a sign of
both greeting and departure. Probably all societies have nonverbal symbols we call
gestures, movements of the hands, arms, or other parts of the body that are meant to
convey certain ideas or emotions. However, the same gesture can mean one thing in one
society and something quite different in another society (Axtell, 1998).

In the United States, for example, if we nod our head up and down, we mean yes, and if
we shake it back and forth, we mean no. In Bulgaria, however, nodding means no, while
shaking our head back and forth means yes! In the United States, if we make an “O” by
putting our thumb and forefinger together, we mean “OK,” but the same gesture in certain
parts of Europe signifies an obscenity. “Thumbs up” in the United States means “great”
or “wonderful,” but in Australia it means the same thing as extending the middle finger in
the United States. Certain parts of the Middle East and Asia would be offended if they
saw you using your left hand to eat, because they use their left hand for bathroom
hygiene.
Some of our most important symbols are objects like the flag is a prime example. For
most citizens of one country, the flag is not just a piece of cloth with colors and images
but it is a symbol of freedom, patriotism, and other values that represent national pride
and identity. In some case flag of other country may represent negative symbolism.
During the Vietnam War, the American flag became a symbol of war and imperialism.
Some burned the flag in protest, prompting angry attacks by bystanders and negative
coverage by the news media.
Other objects have symbolic value for religious reasons. Three of the most familiar
religious symbols in many nations are the cross, the Star of David, and the crescent moon,
which are widely understood to represent Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, respectively.

Whereas many cultures attach no religious significance to these shapes, for many people
across the world they evoke very strong feelings of religious faith. Recognizing this, hate
groups have often desecrated these symbols.
As these examples indicate, shared symbols, both nonverbal communication and tangible
objects, are an important part of any culture but also can lead to misunderstandings and
even hostility. These problems underscore the significance of symbols for social
interaction and meaning.
2. Language
Perhaps our most important set of symbols is language. In English, the word chair means
something we sit on. In Spanish, the word silla means the same thing. As long as we
agree how to interpret these words, a shared language and thus society are possible. By
the same token, differences in languages can make it quite difficult to communicate. For
example, imagine you are in a foreign country where you do not know the language and
the country’s citizens do not know yours. Worse yet, you forgot to bring your dictionary
that translates their language into yours, and vice versa, and your iPhone battery has died.
You become lost. How will you get help? What will you do? Is there any way to
communicate your plight?
As this scenario suggests, language is crucial to communication and thus to any society’s
culture. Children learn language from their culture just as they learn about shaking hands,
about gestures, and about the significance of the flag and other symbols. Humans have a
capacity for language that no other animal species possesses. Our capacity for language in
turn helps make our complex culture possible.
Language can be spoken or written. One of the most important developments in the
evolution of society was the creation of written language. Some of the preindustrial
societies that anthropologists have studied have written language, while others do not, and
in the remaining societies the “written” language consists mainly of pictures, not words.
Figure 3.1 “The Presence of Written Language (Percentage of Societies)” illustrates this
variation with data from 186 preindustrial societies called the Standard Cross-Cultural
Sample (SCCS), a famous data set compiled several decades ago by anthropologist
George Murdock and colleagues from information that had been gathered on hundreds of
preindustrial societies around the world (Murdock & White, 1969). In Figure 3.1 “The
Presence of Written Language (Percentage of Societies)”, we see that only about one-
fourth of the SCCS societies have a written language, while about equal proportions have
no language at all or only pictures.
Language influence how we think and how we perceive the social and physical worlds.
The famous but controversial Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, named after two linguistic
anthropologists, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, argues that people cannot easily
understand concepts and objects unless their language contains words for these items
(Whorf, 1956). Language thus influences how we understand the world around us. For
example, people in a country such as the United States that has many terms for different
types of kisses (e.g. buss, peck, smack, smooch, and soul) are better able to appreciate
these different types than people in a country such as Japan, which, as we saw earlier,
only fairly recently developed the word kissu for kiss.
Another illustration of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is seen in sexist language, in which the
use of male nouns and pronouns shapes how we think about the world (Miles, 2008). In
older children’s books, words like fireman and mailman are common, along with pictures
of men in these jobs, and critics say they send a message to children that these are male
jobs, not female jobs. If a teacher tells a second-grade class, “Every student should put his
books under his desk,” the teacher obviously means students of both sexes but may be
sending a subtle message that boys matter more than girls. For these reasons, several
guidebooks promote the use of nonsexist language (Maggio, 1998). The table
below provides examples of sexist language and nonsexist alternatives.
Examples of Sexist Terms and Nonsexist Alternatives
Term Alternative
Businessman Businessperson, executive
Fireman Fire fighter
Chairman Chair, chairperson
Policeman Police officer
Mailman Letter carrier, postal worker
Mankind Humankind, people
Man-made Artificial, synthetic
Waitress Server
He (as generic pronoun) He or she; he/she; s/he
“A professor should be devoted to

“Professors should be devoted to their students”
his students”
3. Norms
Cultures differ widely in their norms, or standards and expectations for behaving. We
already saw that the nature of drunken behavior depends on society’s expectations of how
people should behave when drunk. Norms of drunken behavior influence how we behave
when we drink too much.

Norms are often divided into two types, formal norms and informal norms. Formal
norms, also called mores (MOOR-ayz) and laws, refer to the standards of behavior
considered the most important in any society. Examples in the United States include
traffic laws, criminal codes, and, in a college context, student behavior codes addressing
such things as cheating and hate speech. Informal norms, also called folkways and
customs, refer to standards of behavior that are considered less important but still
influence how we behave. Table manners are a common example of informal norms, as
are such everyday behaviors as how we interact with a cashier and how we ride in an
elevator.
Many norms differ dramatically from one culture to the next. Some of the best evidence
for cultural variation in norms comes from the study of sexual behavior (Edgerton, 1976).
Among the Pokot of East Africa, for example, women are expected to enjoy sex, while
among the Gusii a few hundred miles away, women who enjoy sex are considered
deviant. In Inis Beag, a small island off the coast of Ireland, sex is considered
embarrassing and even disgusting; men feel that intercourse drains their strength, while
women consider it a burden. Even nudity is considered terrible, and people on Inis Beag
keep their clothes on while they bathe. The situation is quite different in Mangaia, a small
island in the South Pacific. Here sex is considered very enjoyable, and it is the major
subject of songs and stories.
While many societies frown on homosexuality, others accept it. Among the Azande of
East Africa, for example, young warriors live with each other and are not allowed to
marry. During this time, they often have sex with younger boys, and this homosexuality is
approved by their culture. Among the Sambia of New Guinea, young males live
separately from females and engage in homosexual behavior for at least a decade. It is felt
that the boys would be less masculine if they continued to live with their mothers and that
the semen of older males helps young boys become strong and fierce (Edgerton, 1976).
Different cultures also have different rituals, or established procedures and ceremonies
that often mark transitions in the life course. As such, rituals both reflect and transmit a
culture’s norms and other elements from one generation to the next. Graduation
ceremonies in colleges and universities are familiar examples of time-honored rituals. In
many societies, rituals help signify one’s gender identity. For example, girls around the
world undergo various types of initiation ceremonies to mark their transition to

adulthood. Among the Bemba of Zambia, girls undergo a month-long initiation ceremony
called the chisungu, in which girls learn songs, dances, and secret terms that only women
know (Maybury-Lewis, 1998). In some cultures, special ceremonies also mark a girl’s
first menstrual period. Such ceremonies are largely absent in the United States, where a
girl’s first period is a private matter. But in other cultures the first period is a cause for
celebration involving gifts, music, and food (Hathaway, 1997).
Boys have their own initiation ceremonies, some of them involving circumcision. That
said, the ways in which circumcisions are done and the ceremonies accompanying them
differ widely. In the United States, boys who are circumcised usually undergo a quick
procedure in the hospital. If their parents are observant Jews, circumcision will be part of
a religious ceremony, and a religious figure called a moyel will perform the circumcision.
In contrast, circumcision among the Maasai of East Africa is used as a test of manhood. If
a boy being circumcised shows signs of fear, he might well be ridiculed (Maybury-Lewis,
1998).
4. Values
Values are another important element of culture and involve judgments of what is good or
bad and desirable or undesirable. A culture’s values shape its norms. In Japan, for
example, a central value is group harmony. The Japanese place great emphasis on
harmonious social relationships and dislike interpersonal conflict. Individuals are fairly
unassertive by American standards, lest they be perceived as trying to force their will on
others (Schneider & Silverman, 2010). When interpersonal disputes do arise, Japanese do
their best to minimize conflict by trying to resolve the disputes amicably. Lawsuits are
thus uncommon; in one case involving disease and death from a mercury-polluted river,
some Japanese who dared to sue the company responsible for the mercury poisoning were
considered bad citizens (Upham, 1976).
5. Artifacts
The last element of culture is the artifacts, or material objects, that constitute a society’s
material culture. In the most simple societies, artifacts are largely limited to a few tools,
the huts people live in, and the clothing they wear. One of the most important inventions
in the evolution of society was the wheel.

Although the wheel was a great invention, artifacts are much more numerous and
complex in industrial societies. Because of technological advances during the past two
decades, many such societies today may be said to have a wireless culture, as
smartphones, netbooks and laptops, and GPS devices now dominate so much of modern
life. The artifacts associated with this culture were unknown a generation ago.
Technological development created these artifacts and new language to describe them and
the functions they perform. Today’s wireless artifacts in turn help reinforce our own
commitment to wireless technology as a way of life, if only because children are now
growing up with them, often even before they can read and write.
Youtube URL: Components of Culture.wmv. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=Fe3zqcAFBoU
Youtube URL: Major Elements that Define Culture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=jt2tikGSu98
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

The concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism occupy key position in socio-cultural
anthropology. They are the most sensitive and controversial issues in sociology and
sociocultural anthropology.
Ethnocentrism
All of us often tend to judge the behavior of other people in other groups by the standards of
our own culture. Because of ethnocentrism, we often operate on the premise that our own
society’s ways are the correct, normal, better ways, for acting, thinking, feeling and behaving.
Our own group is the center or axis of everything, and we scale and rate all others with
reference to it. Ethnocentrism leads us to minimize our indebtedness to other people (Zanden,
1990:74).
Anthropologists endeavor as far as possible to avoid ethnocentrism. It is not logically
possible and proper to underestimate or overestimate or judge other cultures on the basis of
one's cultural standard. Ethnocentrism, in general, is an attitude of taking one's own culture

and ways of life as the best and the center of all and on the other hand, regarding other ethnic
groups and cultures as inferior, bad, full of errors, etc. It is the tendency to apply one's own
cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures. It is a
cultural universal. People everywhere think that familiar explanations, opinion, and customs
as true, right, proper and moral. They regard different behavior as strange or savage.
Cultural Relativism
We cannot grasp the behavior of other people if we interpret what they say and do in the light
of our values, beliefs, and motives. Instead we need to examine their behavior as insiders,
seeing it within the framework of their values, beliefs and motives. This approach is called
cultural relativism. It suspends judgment and views the behavior of people from the
perspective of their own culture (Ibid. p: 76)
Every society has its own culture, which is more or less unique. Every culture contains its
own unique pattern of behavior which may seem alien to people from other cultural
backgrounds. We cannot understand the practices and beliefs separately from the wider
culture of which they are part. A culture has to be studied in terms of its own meanings and
values. Cultural relativism describes a situation where there is an attitude of respect for
cultural differences rather than condemning other people's culture as uncivilized or backward.
Respect for cultural differences involves:
• Appreciating cultural diversity;
• Accepting and respecting other cultures;
• Trying to understand every culture and its elements in terms of its own context
and logic;
• Accepting that each body of custom has inherent dignity and meaning as the
way of life of one group which has worked out to its environment, to the
biological needs of its members, and to the group relationships;
• Knowing that a person's own culture is only one among many; and
• Recognizing that what is immoral, ethical, acceptable, etc, in one culture may
not be so in another culture.
Cultural relativism may be regarded as the opposite of ethnocentrism. However, there is some
problem with the argument that behavior in a particular culture should not be judged by the

standards of another. This is because in its extremeness, it argues that there is no superior,
international or universal morality. The anthropologists’ main aim is to present accurate
accounts of cultural phenomena. They do not have to approve customs such as infanticide,
cannibalism or torture. Anthropologists respect human diversity. Although they are sensitive
to objectivity, sensitivity and a cross-cultural perspective, they respect international standards
of justice and morality (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995; Kottak, 2002).
To sum up the issues of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, the concepts involve difficult
choices, dilemmas and contradictions regarding cultural exchanges and relationships between
and within societies. The dilemmas and contradictions become clear when we see that the
traditional anthropological position maintains that every cultural beliefs and practice,
including for example the ones which are termed as “harmful traditional practices” in
Ethiopia, are part and parcel of the general cultural system of a society and therefore they
should not be judged and undermined by any outsider. On the other hand, the dilemma is
taken to the extreme cultural relativism appears to entail a fallacy, in that it implies that there
are no universal cultural or moral standard by which actions and beliefs have to be judged.
Yet still, even cultural anthropologists accept the idea that there are some cultural standards
which are universally found everywhere, expressed for example in the world’s major
religions.
In any case there may be no ready-made solutions to this dilemma; however, what we can at
present maintain is that cultural diversity has to be respected and yet international standards
of justice and human rights have to be taken into account.
Youtube URL: Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism in group and out group | MCAT | Khan
Academy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlXAeOnU520
Components of Culture
For the sake of anthropological analysis, culture may be broken down into three main
component parts. These components are: culture trait, culture complex and culture pattern. A
culture is more than the sum of its parts. A mere listing of customs and norms and the
material objects associated with them would by no means give a true picture of the culture.

• Culture Traits (elements): are the smallest (simplest) units of a certain culture. They
are the building blocks of culture. It can be material or nonmaterial culture. For
example: pen, car, computer, plow, pot etc. (material); greeting, the custom of eating
injera, respect for the elderly, treating patients, the practice of smoking, using fork
and knife, playing football, etc. (non-material)
• Culture Complex: when a number of culture traits or elements are fitted or combined
together, they give a meaningful whole called culture complex. Culture complex is
any integrated and patterned system of culture traits that function as a unit in a
society. It is sometimes referred to as culture trait complex.
• Culture pattern is the organization of culture complexes constituting the entire
cultural configuration of a society. E.g. the culture of sport in the Philippines, the
culture of medicine, the traditional medical beliefs, practices and institutions of
Philippines.
The concepts of culture trait, complex and pattern need further elaboration. Culture traits are
not necessarily confined to a single culture. More than one culture system may exhibit a
particular culture trait, but each will consist of a discrete combination of traits. Such a
combination is referred to as a culture complex. For example, in many cultures, the herding
of cattle is a trait. However, cattle are regarded and used in different ways by different
cultures. The Massai of East Africa could be good examples for this. Although the Massai
culture complex is only one of the many cattle keeping complexes, no other culture complex
exhibits exactly the same combination of traits as that of Massai.
Culture complexes have traits in common, and so it is possible to group within complexes
together as culture systems. Ethnicity, language, religion, medical beliefs and practices,
marriage and family system, political organization and economic activity, etc, all make up the
culture system of a given society or country, like Ethiopia, Kenya, China, etc.
Some Important Concepts Related to Culture

Culture Region
Sociocultural anthropologists talk about culture region which is the geographical territory in
which a particular culture prevails. It is marked by all the characteristics of a culture,
including modes of dress, building styles, farms and field and other material manifestation.
Culture and Its Different Levels

Subcultures: We use the concept of subculture to denote the variability of culture within a
certain society. It is system of perceptions, values; beliefs and assumption that are differed
from those of dominate culture. Sub culture is a distinctive culture that is shared by a group
within a society. We call it sub culture, because groups (with their sub cultures) exist within
and as a smaller part of the main, dominant culture. Examples of subculture could be the
distinctive culture of university students, street children and prostitutes in Addis Ababa, the
culture of medical professionals, etc.

National culture: refers to experience, ideologies and beliefs learned and values shared by
citizens of the same nation. The term “national couture” may seem misleading; a more
appropriate term may thus be the “mainstream” or “dominant” culture, which is more or less
subscribed to by multiplicity of groups in a given country.
International culture: refers to cultural traditions that extend beyond national boundaries
through borrowing or diffusion. Again here, the term “international culture” may seem
misleading. So a more “academic” term may be “global culture”. One of the main aspects of
globalization is that a relatively uniform world culture is taking shape today in the world. The
global culture may entail all speaking the same language, share the same values and norms,
and sustain common und of knowledge as of residents of the same community (Kottak 2002).
Global culture may also be associated with cultural imperialism, the unequal cultural
exchange in the global system whereby western material and non-material cultures have
come to occupy a dominating and imposing roles over the indigenous cultures of the Third
World peoples (Kottak 2002).
The global culture is often promoted by:
- The global spread of capitalism
- Consumerism and the consumer culture
- The growth of transnational media, particularly electronic mass media such
as BBC, CNN, etc.
The transnational media have often promoted the aggressive promotion that its value system
is superior and preferable to those of other non–western cultures.
Cultural Universals
Anthropology assumes that all human beings are fundamentally alike and they share the same
basic biological, psychological, social and other characteristics. All people all over the world
have certain common obligations one to another. All people are members of a single
community; they all have the same root and destiny. This belief is either explicit or implicit
in most of the great world religions (Hammond, 1971). The perceptive famous statement of
the American anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn suggests this truth: “every human is like all
other humans, some other humans, and no other humans” (cited in Scupin and DeCorse,
1995:195).
Certain biological, psychological, social and cultural features of human beings are universal;
others are merely generalities, common to several but not to all human groups. Still other
cultural features are particularities unique to certain cultural traditions.
• Biological universals: long period of infant dependency; year round sexuality; a

complex brain that enables to use symbols, languages, tools, etc. Whether
“modern” or “primitive” all people share these universal biological features.
• Psychological universals: arise from human biology and from experiences
common to human development in all cases: growth in the womb, birth,
interaction with parents, etc

• Social universals: life in groups, family, food sharing, exogamy, incest taboo, etc.
For example, all people prohibit sexual contact or marriage between individuals
with close blood relations. It is regarded as a taboo that is something
unmentionable or forbidden to touch or talk about.
Youtube URL: cultural universals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmJFI8hggw0
Generalized Cultures
Cultural generality refers to regularities that occur in different times and places but not in all
cultures (Kottak, 2002). Cultural generalities may be explained by diffusion of cultures from
one place to another. It could be through contacts, trades, wars, etc; or by independent
invention; this means two or more societies may invent or create similar cultural belief or
practice independently, not by copying or imitation. Examples for this include: nuclear
family, monogamy, strict control over women’s virginity, etc.
Localized Cultures
These are cultural traditions which are unique to only few societies. They occur rarely. For
example, homosexualism or lesbianism as a way of life, polyandrous marriage practice,

eating of raw meat, etc. In Ethiopia, there are varieties of cultures which may be termed as
localized cultures. For example, the practice of attaching a circular piece of pottery material
by incising the lower edges of lip among Mursi women, the practice of going naked among
some peoples in southwest Ethiopia, etc. could be localized cultures.
Youtube URL: Five Genders? | National Geographic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=K9VmLJ3niVo
Culture Shock
Culture shock is the psychological and social maladjustment at micro or macro level that is
experienced for the first time when people encounter new cultural elements such as new
things, new ideas, new concepts, seemingly strange beliefs and practices. No person is
protected from culture shock.
However, individuals vary in their capacity to adapt and overcome the influence of culture
shock. Highly ethnocentric people are exposed widely to culture shock. On the other hand,
cultural relativists may find it easy to adapt to new situations and overcome culture shock
(Ibid, Angeloni, 1998; Howrad and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992).
Youtube URL: Culture lag and culture shock | Society and Culture | MCAT | Khan Academy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm4pzNYDHAI
Youtube URL: What is a culture shock? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejhs3WN-Vps
Language and Culture

Language is one of the corner stones of national identity, of cultural unity, and of community
cohesion. Old languages with historic roots and languages spoken by threatened minorities
are nurtured and fostered by their speakers. But language can also be a weapon in cultural
conflict and in political strife.

Language, defined as a system of verbal and in many cases written symbols with rules about
how those symbols can be strung together to convey more complex meanings (Henslin and
Nelson 1995), is the distinctive capacity and possession of humans; it is a key element of
culture. Culture encompasses language, and through language, culture is communicated and
transmitted. Without language it would be impossible to develop, elaborate and transmit
culture to the future generation (Broom and Lsezenki, . 1973).
Youtube URL: The Connection Between Language and Culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgq3IwqST3U
Culture and Its Influence on People’s Behavior

Culture is both public and individual, both in the world and in people's minds.
Anthropologists are interested in not only in public and collective behavior but also in how
individuals think, feel and act. The individual and culture are linked because human social
life is a process in which individuals internalize the meanings of public (i.e. cultural)
message. Individuals influence culture (either alone or in groups) by converting their private
understandings into public expressions.
The issues of culture and the individual are studied in psychological anthropology. This field
is interested in the ethnographic and cross-cultural study of differences and similarities in
human psychology (Kottak, 1994). Individual personality, lifestyles, basic attitudes and
characters are all reflections of the cultural background of the individuals. The processes of
enculturation and socialization work a powerful influence in the behavioral pattern and
character development of individuals.
Health behavior is just an aspect of the overall social behavior of individuals and the
individual’s behaviors are reflections of their societal and cultural backgrounds. In other
words, cultures play influential roles in shaping and determining the way people act, live,
think, and view the world. Obesity, as a health problem, for example, is associated with
peoples’ nutritional behavior (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992). Other social behaviors such
as smoking, alcoholism, chat chewing, etc, reflect peoples’ social and cultural backgrounds.
In short, the cultural values, norms, beliefs and practices of a group of people or any social
group are related to the specific behavioral and character aspects of the individual person who
is part of that culture. The person’s living styles, life philosophy and attitudes are all very
important in determining his or her health behavior and condition. That is, certain disease
types are observed to be prevalent among a certain group of people or sections of society.

This shows the social and cultural origins of some crucial health problems, and if these
origins are addressed many of the health problems may be solved.
Youtube URL: How Culture affects your Personality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx-

1EthJeIg
References:
The Elements of Culture. Retrieved from https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/3-2-the-
elements-of-culture/

POST TEST
Let’s Find Out:
Answer the following and submit this to: raymundoscanizares@gmail.com

1. Identify one country in the map other than the Philippines and discuss its unique cultural
elements like its symbols, artefacts, language, norms and values.

Module 4
Module Title:
Kinship, Marriage and the Family
Module Description:
This module presents to the students the concepts of kinship, marriage and the family
together with the relationship that exists between marriage and the family. It presents the
diversities in marriage and family practices across societies in general and in the Philippines
in particular.
1. Artist and Artisan

2. Key Components of the Art Market
3. The Creative Process
4. Three Stage in Art Making
5. Recognition and Award for Artist and Artisan
Module Guide:
Module Outcomes:

4. Define and differentiate between artist and artisan’s approach/technique toward a

particular medium;
5. Define the role of managers, curators, collectors, and art dealers in the art world;
6. Explain the three stages in the creative process; and
7. Identify National and GAMABA artist’s notable works and contribution to the
Filipino society.
exam.

Pretest:
Spolarium
By Juan Luna
1884
Oil on Canvas

Learning Plan
Elements and Principles of Art
Swirling Lines Form Psychedelic Portraits | Nikos gyftakis, Art, Oil pastel paintings
Elements of art are stylistic features that are included within an art piece to help the artist
communicate. The seven most common elements include line, shape, texture, form, space,
colour and value, with the additions of mark making, and materiality. When analyzing these
intentionally utilized elements, the viewer is guided towards a deeper understanding of the
work.
The elements of art are sort of like atoms in that both serve as building blocks. You know that
atoms combine and form other things. Sometimes they will casually make a simple molecule,
as when hydrogen and oxygen form water. If hydrogen and oxygen take a more aggressive
career path and bring carbon along as a co-worker, together they might form something more
complex like a molecule of sucrose.
A similar activity happens when the elements of art are combined. Instead of Hydrogen,
Oxygen. Carbon etc, in art you have got line, shape, form, space, texture, value and colour.
Artists manipulate these elements, mix them in with principles of design and compose a piece
of art. Not every work has every one of these elements contained with them but at least two.
For example a sculptor by default has to have both form and space in a sculpture because
these elements are in three dimension. They also can be made to appear in two dimensional
works through the use of perspective and shading.
The Element of Line
Lines are marks moving in a space between two points whereby a viewer can visualize the
stroke movement, direction, and intention based on how the line is oriented. Lines describe
an outline, capable of producing texture according to their length and curve. There are
different types of lines artists may use, including, actual, implied, vertical, horizontal,
diagonal and contour lines, which all have different functions. Lines are also situational

elements, requiring the viewer to have knowledge of the physical world in order to
understand their flexibility, rigidity, synthetic nature, or life.
Types of Line in Art, Their Meaning And When To Use Them
1. Vertical lines are straight up and down lines that are moving in
space without any slant and are perpendicular to horizontal lines.
They suggest height and strength because they extend towards
the sky and seem unshakeable.
2. Horizontal lines are straight lines parallel to the horizon that move
from left to right. They suggest width, distance, calmness, and
stability.
3. Diagonal lines are straight lines that slant in any direction

except horizontal or vertical. When in use, they suggest
movement or lack of stability.
4. Zigzag lines are a series of diagonal lines joined at ends. They

can convey action and excitement, as well as restlessness and
anxiety.
5. Curved lines are lines that bend and change direction gradually.
They can be simply wavy or spiral. Such lines convey the feelings
of comfort and ease, as well as sensual quality as they remind us
of the human body.
Actual Lines and Implied Lines
Actual lines are lines that are physically present, existing as solid connections between one
or more points. Actual lines are real marks made in a composition. Implied lines are lines that
are suggested by changes in colour, tone and texture or by the edges of shapes.
This lithograph print of The Scream (Edvard Munch,

1895) is entirely made using actual lines. Contour lines
show the figure and its expression as well as outlining the
bridge, the land, water and sky.There is no tone or
shading so actual lines are also used to show the texture
of the wooden bridge and to suggest clouds, hills and
waves.

Implied line refers to the path that the viewer 's eye takes as it follows shapes, colors, and
forms along any given path. ... “Cross contour lines” delineate differences in the features of a
surface. An implied line usually describes a subtle change of plane.
Sand Dune by Plains Kgalagadi Transfrontier

Park, South Africa shows strong implied lines
created by the horizon and the diagonal slope
of the sand dune.
The combination of lines leads your eye from

one edge of the photograph to the other and
back again. It is a very simple composition, but
the bold changes in colour and texture in each
section of the photograph help to create a sense
of the scale of this desert landscape.
Element of Shape
A shape is a two-dimensional design encased by lines to signify its height and width
structure, and can have different values of colour used within it to make it appear three-
dimensional. In animation, shapes are used to give a character a distinct personality and
features, with the animator manipulating the shapes to provide new life. There are different
types of shapes an artist can use and fall under either geometrical, defined by mathematics, or
organic shapes, created by the artist. Simplistic, geometrical shapes include circles, triangles
and squares, and provide a symbolic and synthetic feeling, whereas acute angled shapes with
sharp points are perceived as dangerous shapes. Rectilinear shapes are viewed as dependable
and more structurally sound, while curvilinear shapes are chaotic and adaptable.
Shapes can play important roles in the creation of art. They help to create complex drawings
and paintings, affect composition, and contribute to the balance within a work. It is a two-
dimensional area that is defined by a change in value or some other form of contrast.
Types of Shapes:
1. Geometric Shapes. Geometric shapes are those that are defined in mathematics and have
common names. They have clear edges or boundaries and artists often use tools such as
protractors and compasses to create them, to make them mathematically precise. Shapes
in this category include circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, polygons, and so forth.
2. Organic Shapes. While geometric shapes are well-defined, biomorphic or organic shapes
are just the opposite. Draw a curving, semi-circular line and connect it where you began
and you have an amoeba-like organic, or freeform, shape. Organic shapes are individual
creations of the artists: they have no names, no defined angles, no standards, and no tools
that support their creation. They can often be found in nature, where organic shapes can
be as amorphous as a cloud or as precise as a leaf.

Organic shapes are often used by photographers, such as Edward Weston in his remarkably
sensual image Pepper No. 30 (1930); and by artists such Georgia O'Keeffe in her Cow's
Skull: Red, White, and Blue (1931). Organic abstract artists include Wassily Kandinsky, Jean
Arp, and Joan Miro.
Form
Form is a three-dimensional object with volume of height, width and depth.[2] These objects
include cubes, spheres and cylinders.[2] Form is often used when referring to physical works
of art, like sculptures, as form is connected most closely with three-dimensional works..[5]
Color
Color is an element consisting of hues, of which there are three properties: hue, chroma or
intensity, and value.[3] Color is present when light strikes an object and it is reflected back
into the eye, a reaction to a hue arising in the optic nerve.[6] The first of the properties is hue,
which is the distinguishable color, like red, blue or yellow.[6] The next property is value,
meaning the lightness or darkness of the hue.[6] The last is chroma or intensity, distinguishing
between strong and weak colors.[6] A visual representation of chromatic scale is observable
through the color wheel that uses the primary colors.[3]
Space
Space refers to the perspective (distance between and around) and proportion (size) between
shapes and objects and how their relationship with the foreground or background is
perceived.[3][7] There are different types of spaces an artist can achieve for different effect.
Positive space refers to the areas of the work with a subject, while negative space is the space
without a subject.[7] Open and closed space coincides with three-dimensional art, like
sculptures, where open spaces are empty, and closed spaces contain physical sculptural
elements.[7]
Texture
Texture is used to describe the surface quality of the work, referencing the types of lines the
artist created.[1] The surface quality can either be tactile (real) or strictly visual (implied).[3]
Tactile surface quality is mainly seen through three-dimensional works, like sculptures, as the
viewer can see and/or feel the different textures present, while visual surface quality
describes how the eye perceives the texture based on visual cues.[8]
Value
The scale between dark (black) and light (white) values.

Value refers to the degree of perceivable lightness of tones within an image.[2] The element of
value is compatible with the term luminosity, and can be "measured in various units
designating electromagnetic radiation".[7] The difference in values is often called contrast, and
references the lightest (white) and darkest (black) tones of a work of art, with an infinite
number of grey variants in between.[7] While it is most relative to the greyscale, though, it is
also exemplified within coloured images.[3]
Mark Making and Materiality

Mark making is the interaction between the artist and the materials they are using.[1] It
provides the viewer of the work with an image of what the artist had done to create the mark,
reliving what the artist had done at the time.[1] Materiality is the choice of materials used and
how it impacts the work of art and how the viewer perceives it.[1]
References:
AskDifference (20 Dec, 2019). Artisan vs. Artist. Retrieved from

https://www.askdifference.com/artisan-vs-artist/
Life on the Island (March 26th, 2013). Artists and Artisans – What’s the difference between an
artisan and an artist?. Retrieved from https://nowbali.co.id/artists-and-artisans-what-s-the-
difference-between-an-artisan-and-an-artist/
Nawaz, Sabahat (30 April 2019). Art of Artisan. Retrieved from http://www.artnowpakistan.com/art-
of-artisan/
Howard, Jeremy R. Art Market. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/art-market
Jessie Oleson Moore. Does Your Creative Process Include These 5 Stages?. Retrieved from
https://www.craftsy.com/post/making-art/#
Wikipedia. National Artist of the Philippines. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Artist_of_the_Philippines
Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Guidelines. Retrieved from https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-

arts/culture-profile/gamaba/national-living-treasures-guidelines/

POST TEST
Let’s Find Out:
I. MULTIPLE CHOICE: Select only the letters for your answer.

8. It refers to the individual meaning deliberately expressed by the artist using personal
symbolism.
a. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
9. The matter described or portrayed by the artist in his artwork.
a. content b. sources c. subject d. objective
10. It refers to the special meaning that a certain object or color has for a particular
culture or group of people shown in an artwork.
a. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
11. It is a source of the subject of art where it depicts mostly inanimate subject matter.
a. landscape b. portrait c. mythology d. still life
12. A representational art
a. b. c.
13. Art based on historical source:

a. b. c.
14. A
non-representational art.
a. b. d.

15. This refers to arts collected by rulers, nobles, priests, or individuals and kept on
palaces and temples for aesthetic pleasure, personal or ritual use or display of
power.
a. Public Collection b. Private Contemplation c. Private Collection
For 9-10 Given the painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo the Vinci:
16. Which statement below connotes the conventional meaning of the painting the Last
Supper?
a. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His
twelve apostles distributed equally in number both at His left and right side
eating their last meal before Christ will be crucified.
b. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians
wherein Christ offered his body and blood to be eaten and drunk by the faithful.
c. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after
Jesus reveals that one of his friends will betray him, complete with reactions of
shock and rage from the apostles.
17. Which statement below connotes the subjective meaning of the painting the Last
Supper?
a. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His twelve
apostles distributed equally in number both at His left and right side eating their last
meal before Christ will be crucified.
b. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians wherein
Christ offered his body and blood to be eaten and drunk by the faithful.
c. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after Jesus
reveals that one of his friends will betray him, complete with reactions of shock and
rage from the apostles.

References/Sources:
s

Module 5
Module Title:
Historical Development of Arts
Module Description:
This module presents to the students the artists and artisans fill different roles in the
art arena. These two artistic careers are compared in this module by articulating a vision
through their art or craft.

Module Guide:
Module Outcomes:
particular medium;

Filipino society.
exam.

Pretest:
Spolarium
By Juan Luna
1884
Oil on Canvas

Learning Plan
References:

of-artisan/



POST TEST
Let’s Find Out:
II. MULTIPLE CHOICE: Select only the letters for your answer.
symbolism.
b. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
b. content b. sources c. subject d. objective
b. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
b. landscape b. portrait c. mythology d. still life
b. b. c.

b. b. c.
28. A
b. b. d.

power.
b. Public Collection b. Private Contemplation c. Private Collection
Supper?
d. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His
e. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians
f. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after
Supper?
d. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His twelve
e. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians wherein
f. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after Jesus

References/Sources:
s

Module 6
Module Title:
Soulmaking, Appropriation, and Improvisation
Module Description:

Module Guide:
Module Outcomes:
particular medium;

Filipino society.
exam.

Pretest:
Spolarium
By Juan Luna
1884
Oil on Canvas

Learning Plan
References:

of-artisan/



POST TEST
Let’s Find Out:
III. MULTIPLE CHOICE: Select only the letters for your answer.
symbolism.
c. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
c. content b. sources c. subject d. objective
c. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
c. landscape b. portrait c. mythology d. still life
c. b. c.

c. b. c.
42. A
c. b. d.

power.
c. Public Collection b. Private Contemplation c. Private Collection
Supper?
g. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His
h. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians
i. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after
Supper?
g. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His twelve
h. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians wherein
i. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after Jesus

References/Sources:
s

Module 7
Module Title:
Dreams, Soul, and Space
Module Description:

Module Guide:
Module Outcomes:
particular medium;

Filipino society.
exam.

Pretest:
Spolarium
By Juan Luna
1884
Oil on Canvas

Learning Plan
References:

of-artisan/



POST TEST
Let’s Find Out:
IV. MULTIPLE CHOICE: Select only the letters for your answer.
symbolism.
d. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
d. content b. sources c. subject d. objective
d. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
d. landscape b. portrait c. mythology d. still life
d. b. c.

d. b. c.
56. A
d. b. d.

power.
d. Public Collection b. Private Contemplation c. Private Collection
Supper?
j. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His
k. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians
l. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after
Supper?
j. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His twelve
k. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians wherein
l. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after Jesus

References/Sources:
s

Module 8
Module Title:
Historical Development of Philippine Arts
Module Description:

Module Guide:
Module Outcomes:
particular medium;

Filipino society.
exam.

Pretest:
Spolarium
By Juan Luna
1884
Oil on Canvas

Learning Plan
References:

of-artisan/



POST TEST
Let’s Find Out:
V. MULTIPLE CHOICE: Select only the letters for your answer.

symbolism.
e. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
e. content b. sources c. subject d. objective
e. Factual meaning b. conventional meaning c. subjective meaning
e. landscape b. portrait c. mythology d. still life
e. b. c.

e. b. c.
70. A
e. b. d.

power.
e. Public Collection b. Private Contemplation c. Private Collection
Supper?
m. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His
n. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians
o. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after
Supper?
m. The Last supper depicts Christ at the center of the painting together with His twelve
n. The Last supper depicts Christ instituting the first holy mass of the Christians wherein
o. In the Last supper Leonardo da Vinci wanted to capture the instant just after Jesus

References/Sources:
s

Nwssu - mod-in-Socio-Cultural Anthropology

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What is the rationale for this Socio-Cultural Anthropology module?

What is the rationale for this Socio-Cultural Anthropology module?

What are the main topics covered in this module?

What are the main topics covered in this module?

SOCIO-CULTURAL

“Muslims in the Philippines” by Nationalist Artist Abdulmari

INSTITUTIONAL GRADUATE OUTCOMES

This Socio-Cultural Anthropology module is course designed to increase

Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ii

Course Syllabus ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. iii

Module 4: Kinship, Marriage, and the Family

The Functions of Family ...............................................

The Course Syllabus

Course Title: Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:

10. Articulate the contribution made by applied socio-cultural anthropology to

Display familiarity with a

Week 18 - Deadline for submission of All Requirements

7.2. Some Theories of Health, Culture and Society............. 168

7.2.1. The Functionalist Perspective ........................ 168

7.2.2. The Medical Ecological Perspective .............. 169

7.2.3. Cultural Interpretationist Perspective ............ 169

7.2.4. The Critical Perspective ................................. 170

7.3. Roles of Anthropologists and Contributions of

Anthropology to Health ....................................................... 170

7.4. Disease, Society and Economic Activity…………… ..... 173

7.5. Theories of Disease Causation ................................... 175

7.6. Health Care Systems ................................................... 180

“Muslims in the Philippines” by Nationalist Artist Abdulmari

Purpose of the Module:

[Course Code]: [Course Title] Page 1 of 115

3. Each lesson for each module must be carried on in a sequential manner.

Module Outcomes: {extracted/cascaded from one of the course learning outcomes}

[Course Code]: [Course Title] Page 2 of 115

Identify or describe the object shown?

How old do you think it is?

What do you think it was used for?

[Course Code]: [Course Title] Page 3 of 115

In a more specific term, anthropology is science which:

[Course Code]: [Course Title] Page 4 of 115

Misconceptions about Anthropology

There are a number of misconceptions associated with anthropology due to

 One misconception about anthropology is related to the area of its study. It is

[Course Code]: [Course Title] Page 5 of 115

give meaning to the peculiar behaviors of people. However, anthropologists do

Video for viewing:

Brief Historical Overview of Anthropology

The facts of the incredibly diverse and at the same

According to Howard and Dunaif-Hattis (1992:362):

By the late 1870s, anthropology was beginning to emerge as a profession. A major

[Course Code]: [Course Title] Page 6 of 115

breakthroughs in the quality and quantity of ethnographic research….

Early anthropologists mainly studied

Subject Matter and Scope of Anthropology

The subject matter of anthropology is

 Is there a common human nature, and if so, what is it like?

Distinguishing Features of Anthropology

The main distinguishing characteristic of anthropology, the thing that makes it

[Course Code]: [Course Title] Page 8 of 115