Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Third Quarter – Week 3

Name of Learner _________________________________ Grade Level __________
Section _________________________________________ Date ________________

DEFINING CULTURE AND SOCIETY FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF

ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY
(Continuation)

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

Background Information
Every society has its own unique culture. In every culture people have a particular
pattern of behavior which may seem different to people from other cultural backgrounds.
Practices and beliefs separate one culture to the other, thus a particular culture must be studied
on its own. Culture and society are considered as central concepts in sociology. A society is an
independent grouping consisting of people with shared set of values, belies, customs and
traditions, these groupings are related to other groupings through social interactions and
interdependent statuses and roles. Thus, societies can be perceived at different levels, from
global to continental, regional, to nation-state.

Key Concepts
Cultural relativism is the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to make
judgments using the standards of one's own culture.
 The goal of this is to promote understanding of cultural practices that are not typically
part of one's own culture.
 Cultural Relativism is important to anthropology and one of the things that makes
anthropology unique because it is a tool, a method for attempting to see things from a
multiplicity of viewpoints so as to better understand them.
 Cultural Relativism does not mean that anything a culture does is good or moral. This is
one of the ones that confuse people.
 Cultural relativism teaches us that, marriage patterns are cultural options, not objective
truth.
 Cultural Relativism doesn’t mean that cultures can’t be compared.

There is sometimes a strange notion that there are no commonalities between

cultures.

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 This is one of the reasons why those trained in cultural anthropology are often great
problem solvers for complex issues.
The importance of understanding cultural relativism is to know one's own culture.
Understanding this perspective of cultural relativism leads to the view that no culture
is superior than another culture and the idea that culture can be compared in terms of law,
politics, and systems has no bases at all. The concept that a person's beliefs, values, and
practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, rather than be judged against
the criteria of another.

Cultural relativism cannot be used to evaluate other cultures based on the ideas you believe in.
An example is a country who specialized dried fried crickets for food and you think it is weird
because it is not usual in your culture.

Cultural relativism is an idea, that cultures must be examined, based on their own context and
merits, not to be seen as customs and codes of other cultures. Cultural relativism is important
in studying minority cultures, colonized cultures, and other traditions which belongs to another
culture.

Most Essential Learning Competencies

Explain the importance of cultural relativism in attaining cultural understanding.
(UCSP11/12DCSId-10)

Activity A. Complete Me
Directions: Complete the diagram by supplying the importance of cultural
relativism in attaining cultural understanding. Write your answer on your activity
notebook.

Cultural

Relativism

Questions:

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1. What is the importance of cultural relativism?
2. How do you relate each of its importance?
3. Why do you think it is important to know cultural relativism?

Activity B. Stop and Reflect

What Cultural Relativism is What Cultural relativism is The Importance of Cultural
not Relativism

Activity C. Conceptualize Me
Directions: Use the given picture to conceptualize the importance of cultural
relativism in attaining cultural understanding.

Questions:
1. What can you say about the picture?
2. How the given words from the picture help you conceptualize the importance of cultural
relativism in attaining cultural understanding?

Activity D. Self-Test. Essay

Directions: Write in a separate sheet of paper. NOT MORE THAN 200 WORDS your
understanding and observation.

1. Why do you think there is a need to understand cultural relativism in our society?
Expound your answer by providing examples.

POST TEST
Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answer in your activity notebook.
1. It refers to all alterations affecting new traits or trait complexes and changes in a cultures
content and structure.

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 a. Cultural change b. Social change c. Political change d. Sociological change
2. It refers to valuable tools for exploring the past and using them to understand the past.
a. Values b. Norms c. Artefacts d. Language

3. It is the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to make judgments using the
standards of one’s own culture.
a. Sociological view c. Cultural relativism
b. Culture d. Society
4. These are rules or expectations of behavior and thoughts based on shared beliefs within a
specific cultural or social group.
a. Values b. Norms c. Artefacts d. Language
5. Cultural relativism teaches us that, marriage patterns are __________, not objective truth.
a. Social option b. Political option c. Cultural option d. Socio-cultural option
6. It is a person’s principles or standards of behavior.
a. Values b. Norms c. Artefacts d. Language
7. It refers to a group or community which shares common experiences that shape the way its
members understand the world.
a. Politics b. Society c. Political Science d. Culture
8. Refers to a system of words and symbols used to communicate with other people.
a. Symbols b. Norms c. Artefacts d. Language
9. It is anything that is used to stand for something else.
a. Symbols b. Norms c. Artefacts d. Language
10. It is a variation or modifications in the patterns of social organizations of sub groups within
society.
a. Cultural change c. Political change
b. Social change d. Sociological change

References:
https://study.com/academy/lesson/elements-of-culture-definitions-and-ideal-real-
culture.html. Accessed May 27, 2020
h t t p s: // w w w .c o m p e l l i n g t r u t h. o r g /cu l t u r a l - r e l a t i v i sm . ht m l.
Accessed May 27,2020
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/culture-and-development/the-future- we-want-
the-role-of-culture/the-two-sides-of-the-coin/. Accessed June 1,2020
https://www.google.com/search?ei=1A_ZXojJMJDT-
Qbi547gCg&q=What+are+the+norms++in+culture+and+society&oq
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/culture-and-
diversity/main. Accessed June 1, 2020

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https://www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-culture-definition-of-culture.html
Accessed June 1, 2020.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118895078.ch20
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-cultural-relativism-important-to-the-study-of-
anthropology Accessed June 1, 2020.