INTRODUCTION: The Need For Studying Social, Cultural and Political Behavior

INTRODUCTION: The need for studying Social,
Cultural and Political Behavior

• Have you ever thought why you seem to be so busy? Everyday, you
are confronted with a lot of tasks – school tasks, chores at home,
church responsibilities, your obligation to your parents and friends,
interestingly, you are not the only one who is preoccupied. From the
highest leader of the country to the vendor that you pass by on the
street, everyone seems so preoccupied. Why is this so?
• Approach – to train you think about simple things scientifically. You
will discover at the end of the lesson that thinking scientifically pays
off, as opposed to what we commonly use – common sense.
• Maurice Crosland, professor of History at the University of Kent,
explains that science began with a common sense interpretation of
the world around us, which later became more sophisticated.
He asserts that on seeing the word “science”, some people assume
something modern and very technical, probably associated with a
laboratory. But it was only in the last century that science became
separated from other studies.
• Harry Elmer Barnes, an American historian, asserts that the Industrial
Revolution produced the social sciences. Barnes further states that
the Industrial Revolution broke down the foundations of the previous
social system and out of the confusion, as an aid in solving the newly
created social problems, to reconstruct the disintegrating social order
sociology and the other social sciences came into being.
A. The Holistic study of Humanity: Anthropology
• The Philippines is an archipelago made up of 7,107 islands. The

number of islands already represents a diversity of cultures. The good
thing is that we have one unifying language, Filipino, which is Tagalog-
based. Nonetheless, many tongues are spoken in the country. Do you
have classmates who speak other Philippine languages?
• How many students on your class speak different local languages

aside from Filipino or Ilocano? Does each language represent a local
culture?
Definition and Scope of Anthropology
• Anthropology is derived from two Greek words, Anthropos and logos, which
intensively studies humans and the respective cultures where they were born
and actively belong to.
• It is considered as the father, or even grandfather, of all social and behavioral
sciences like sociology, economics and psychology, to name a few. The
discipline had its humble beginnings with early European explorers and their
accounts, which produced initial impressions about the native peoples they
encountered in their explorations.
• The shift to the New World or North America raised the discipline to a higher
level, when some European migrant scholars, hailing from England and
Germany, brought in their expertise and knowledge, primarily focusing on new
settlements and ethnic minorities, including native American Indian Tribes
• The father of American anthropology, Franz boas, who initially
obtained a college degree in physics, strongly believed that the same
method and strategy could be applied in measuring culture and
human behavior while conducting research among humans, including
the uniqueness of their cultures.
• Two American anthropologists, Alfred Kroeber and William Henry
Morgan, became prominent in the field since their specialization
included the championing of indigenous rights, like traditional cultural
preservation and ancestral domain of the American Indian Tribes they
intensively studied.
Historical beginnings
• American anthropology gradually generated social and cultural interests in the fields of
folklore and native sexual practices. One anthropologist was Ruth Benedict
• Ruth Benedict became a specialist in anthropology and folklore, and authored one of the
three famous books utilized in the academic scene for reference purposes, known as
Patterns of Culture.
• She was a colleague of Margaret Mead, who was very much described in the academic
“controversial” for intensively studying the sexual practices among native population.
Such views gave rise to a relatively new liberal view on sex and sexual practices in the
United States, at a time when most Americans were still labeled as conventional and
conservative.
• In any case, the field of anthropology offers several topics for relevant research and
discussion in various academic fields, since its distinct way of data-gathering from their
respondents applies participant observation, which is central to ethnography approach.
• The founding father of this strategy was Bronislaw Malinowski. Common data-gathering
techniques of ethnography involve unstructured interviews and surveys.
B. The Study of the Social World: Sociology
• What’s in a Name?
Tom Cruise is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in real life. Vina Morales is
Sharon Magdayao. Jennifer Lopez, however, is still Jennifer Lopez and
Taylor is still Taylor Swift.
What is the story behind showbiz names or screen names of celebrities?
Why do others change their names while others do not? We may think
celebrities choose screen names that they think sound nice, but a deeper
analysis would reveal that it is not as simple as that. What might be the
underlying reasons? Is it possible that audience appeal is a big part of it”
Think about this!
Does this mean that in the decisions that we make, our individual selves
may be influenced by factors outside of us?
What is sociology?
• People make decisions, both mundane and serious, in the course of their daily
living. We decide what dish to cook, where to buy shirts, what name to give our
child, when to get married, how to best discipline children, and others. We take
it for granted that when asked who decides in these matters, we readily say, “Of
course, I did!” we like to think of ourselves as independent-minded, and that we
behave according to choices we make out of our own free will.
• Sociology makes us aware that when we make decisions, such as those
mentioned above, it is within the context of our family, peers, school, nation
and other groups which form our social world. Just as the seasons affect the
clothes we wear and the kind of activities we engage in, our social world guides
our life choices.
• Does this make sense? Think about it. Even when you think you are making your
own choices, is it not that you are picking from fairly limited range of options
Example…
• During lunch time in school, you probably would choose rise and adobo and you
would say, “my personal favorite.” Try to think beyond the idea that your food
preference is your own personal favorite. Is it not that your being a Filipino is a
large part of the reason adobo is your personal favorite, and in the Philippines,
adobo is available in most restaurants? Thus, your race has played a part in your
choice of food.
• Consider dating – the decisions whether to date, whom to date are very personal.
However, a closer look reveals that they are not. Dating decisions follow certain
rules. For example in the Philippines, you can only date at a certain age, and your
parents have to know and permit it. Your family places more restrictions: you
should date someone who comes from a good family background, and preferably
the same religion as yours. There are no laws that dictate that family rules must
pervade but try violating them, and you will experience serious consequences.
Now, you wonder why everyone cares so much about whom to date.
• Congratulations, in doing so, you are already using sociology.

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INTRODUCTION: The need for studying Social,

Cultural and Political Behavior

• The Philippines is an archipelago made up of 7,107 islands. The

• How many students on your class speak different local languages

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