Chapter 1

T HE S O C IA L S C I E N C E S
THR E E FA C E S O F TH E SOCIAL
AND THE
E D B Y : PA UL P. B AR L A AN
PREPAR
The systematic study of
the development,
structure, interaction and
collective behavior of
organized groups of SOCIOLOGY
human beings.

The study of human

CULTURAL A social science
beings and their ancestors SOCIAL
PRACTICES concerned chiefly with the
through time and space FORCES description and analysis of
and in relation to physical
political and especially
character, environmental FACES OF governmental institutions
and social relations, and
culture THE SOCIAL and processes.

ANTHROPOLOGY POLITICAL
POWER
RELATION SCIENCE
SHORT QUIZ
Examine the two sets of words/concepts below. Match each word/concept in set A with a
word/concept in set B by writing the letter of the correct answer in a ¼ sheet of paper.

1. Sociological imagination A. The search for the social

2. Social map B. Political Science
3. Traditions C. Sociology
4. Power relations D. Social lens
5. Social forces E. Anthropology
6. Social sciences F. Perspective
7. Connecting personal life in history G. Social Location
Lesson 1

STARTING P O I N T S F O R
D E R S TA N D I NG C U LT U R E,
UN
SOCIETY AN D P O LI T IC S
MANIFESTATIONS OF HUMAN VARIATIONS THROUGH CULTURAL
DIVERSITY, SOCIAL DIFFERENCES AND POLITICAL IDENTITIES

Social Science as a discipline, studies the society and the

manner in which people behave and influence the world around
us. The utmost goal of social science is to answer different
questions and find solutions to problems of the society to
improve the human condition despite cultural, social and political
differences.
 “We need to adopt an open and critical
attitude towards different social, political, and
cultural phenomena through observation and
reflection” (Adora, 2016)
 The way we look at things and how we react affect our
relations to others. Everything we do is influenced by our
experiences. Different certain conditions also contribute to how
we perceive them. People see things from their standpoint.
Cultural diversity and cultural relativism play an important
part in our dealings with humanity.
Cultural diversity refers to the existence of a variety of
cultures within a region or society.
Cultural relativism refers to a perspective which
suggests that one’s belief, values and norms should be
understood in the perspective of such individual.
 It is not only the case that people have varied practices but
also have varied sets of morals and values. For instance, the
concepts of honor and shame vary from culture to culture. In one
society, a public official caught in a scandal immediately steps
down from office. He or she may even commit suicide because
in their place, shame is tied to face-saving and to the upholding
of one’s dignity. A public official must hence be honorable and
appear honorable.
 Cultural diversity triggers a person to observe the spirit of
empathy, a deeper meaning of sympathy whereas cultural
relativism suggests respect for differences. It puts emphasis on
cultural context which is critical in understanding people’s
values, beliefs and practices. Such things should be understood
in terms of people’s own culture.
S TU D E N T A S S O C IA L
BEINGS
 The way we live our lives- or should we say, the way we
are being steered to live our lives- presupposes omnipotent
forces shaping the very fabric of our existence.
Our categories as male/female, rich/poor, or tall/short, and
even the problematic effect of the color of our skin are evidences
of the operation of these social forces.
In other words, our sociality is defined by the very
categories that we possess, the categories assigned to us
by society at large.
 These “labels”, so to speak, function as tags with which
our society read our worth and value. Surprisingly, these
categories that we possess are not natural; rather, they are
socially constructed.
For example, our genders, mirror the way our culture
“reads” us as member of society. Gender appears to be the
most fundamental, intrusive and limiting.
Even before we see the first light of the day, our world
is already being organized by society; as boys or girls, we
have been assigned appropriate colors, toys, clothes,
mannerisms, etiquettes, careers to pursue, and choice of
mate.
S O C I AL R E A L I T I E S :
I OR AN D PHEN OMENON
BEHAV
 There are times that we find ourselves in a situation unlike
other situations. We personally encounter different ways of doing
things, behaving, and making sense of events.

“Why do people do such thing?”

“What makes it normal and acceptable to some people in

some places and unacceptable to others in other places?”
 SITUATION BEHAVIOR AND PHENOMENA

Gary graduated a year ago. Despite

being blessed with several job offers,
he chose to remain jobless and hang
Istambay
around with his barkada. Together
they love to istambay in the town
plaza especially at night.
As a businessman, Mang Leo is used
to giving “padulas” (or lagay) to his
Lagay
main suppliers in order to expedite
his business transactions with them.
 SITUATION BEHAVIOR AND PHENOMENA

Members of the Seventh-Day

Adventist Church are strongly
prohibited from eating pork and food Food taboos
with blood, as well as from smoking
and drinking alcoholic beverages.
Darius is openly gay. He lives with his
partner Garner. He and Garner are
Same-sex partnership
both college professors in the local
city college.
 SITUATION BEHAVIOR AND PHENOMENA

If grades were to be the basis of

Rusty’s standing in his economics
class, he would surely fail the course.
However, he was given a passing Use of a go-between/padrino
grade by his economics teacher, who
happened to be a childhood friend of
his mother.
VAL U E S A N D BE L I E F S A S
BE HA V I O R M O T I V A T O R S
 The human behavior, whether individual or collective, is
propelled by powerful motivator. These motivators maybe in the
form of values and beliefs.
Values are a person’s or a collectivity’s principles or
standards of behavior and are considered as judgment of what
is important in life.
Values have major influence on a person’s behavior and
attitude, and they serve as broad guidelines in behavior in all
situations.
Values are the criteria people use in assessing their daily
lives, arranging their priorities, and choosing between alternative
courses of action.
 Belief, on the other hand, is something one accepts as true
or real. Belief takes the form of firmly held opinion or conviction,
regardless of the lack of verifiable evidence. Beliefs may be
based on traditions, faith, experience, scientific research, or
some combination of these.
Both values and beliefs are commonly shared by a
particular culture.
C ON C E P T S , A S P E C T S
AND CHA N G E S O F
CU LT U R E A N D S O C I ET Y
situation-analysis
Analyze each situation. Identify the features of culture described in each statement. In
addition, the jumbled letters on the right will be your guide in identifying these
characteristics.
CU LT U R A L R E L AT I V I S M &
ETHNOC E N T R I S M
ETHNOCENTRISM???
CULTURAL RELATIVISM???
Cultural relativism is a belief that cultures are equally
complex. There is no such thing as superior or inferior culture.

Cultural relativism is very important in studying the culture of

other people. It is a way of viewing the beliefs, values, and
practices of a culture from its own viewpoint. Another way to say
this is that others should understand an individual’s beliefs and
activities in terms of that person’s own culture.
• Cultural relativism promotes greater appreciation of the
cultures that an individual might encounter along the way.

• Cultural relativism is a good way to rehearse the norms

and values of a society –-- a requirement that one must
subscribe to, regardless of his/her cultural origin.

• It means that the function and meaning of a trait are

relative to its cultural setting.
Hello, I am Ben. I am an ethnocentric. I Hello, I am Lisa. I am a cultural
always believe that my culture is superior relativist. I believe that culture of
from others. I often use my own culture to people must be looked at in terms
judge others. I consider their beliefs and of the world these people inhabit. I
practices as savage or corrupt. Most of try to look at their culture based on
the time I tend to discriminate others, what their practices bring in to
bully them for their practices, and get into them. If Eskimos kill their infant
conflict with them. sometimes, I believe that there is a
practical reason why they do that.
That is why for me, culture is
relative. There is no right or wrong,
and I don’t have the right to say if
it is good or bad.