Define the following elements of culture – (reference chapter/lesson material on culture) =14 points
culture is transmitted from one generation to the next….
1. Define Language/Symbols as a cultural element:
2. Define Values/Beliefs as a cultural element:
3. Define Norms as a cultural element:
4. Define Artifacts as a cultural element:
5. Define Rituals/Religion as a cultural element:
6. Define Work Ethics/Economy as a cultural element:
7. Define Governing Law as a cultural element:
(minimum of three-sentences for each element)
Select another country and describe three cultural values that distinguish the United States from the selected country: (= 6 points)
Selected Country: _______________________
Value 1:
Value 2:
Value 3:
(minimum of two-sentences for each value)
Typed, 12-point font, double spaced
*Cite All Sources* (5-point deduction if sources are not properly cited)
Below is the chapter content/notes
Chapter Three Links:
*select “control” then click on provided links to access OER text book resources*
Chapter 3: Culture
3.1 Culture and the Sociological Perspective
3.2 The Elements of Culture
3.3 Cultural Diversity
3.4 End-of-Chapter Material
Lesson Three Lecture Notes:
Culture involves the symbols, language, norms, values, and artifacts that characterize any society and that shape the thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes of the members of the society.
Scholars continue to debate the relative importance of biology and culture for human behavior. Sociologists favor culture over biology for several reasons, including the cultural variations existing around the world, the inability of biological explanations to account for many differences in groups’ rates of behavior, and the support of biological explanations of behavior for the status quo.
Symbols are an important part of culture and help members of a society interact. They include both objects and nonverbal means of communication. Failure to understand the meanings of symbols can make it difficult to interact.
Language is another important element of culture and fundamental to communication. If the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is correct, language shapes the thoughts and perceptions of society’s members.
A culture’s norms and values influence how people behave. When we look around the world, we see several dramatic illustrations of cross-cultural variation in norms and values. In Japan, for example, harmony is a central value, while in the United States individualism and competition prevail.
Artifacts are the final element of culture and may prove puzzling to people outside a given culture. However, artifacts often make much sense from the perspective of the people living amid a given culture.
Cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are two sides of the same coin in the issue of cultural diversity. Many societies have cultural practices that may surprise and even dismay us, and it’s often difficult to decide whether we should accept or instead condemn these practices.
American Sociology Association Definition of Culture https://www.asanet.org/topics/culture
Sociology understands culture as the languages, customs, beliefs, rules, arts, knowledge, and collective identities and memories developed by members of all social groups that make their social environments meaningful. Sociologists study cultural meaning by exploring individual and group communication; meaningfulness is expressed in social narratives, ideologies, practices, tastes, values, and norms as well as in collective representations and social classifications.
Sociology also studies the production, diffusion, reception, evaluation, and application of cultural meaning across institutions, organizations, and groups, including how cultures differentiate racial, ethnic, and class groups, and the role of culture in producing inequalities and group boundaries.
Opensource – Sociology 2e Book
