Culture is the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material

objects that together form a people’s way of life. Culture includes what
we think, how we act, and what we own. Culture is both our link to
the past and our guide to the future.

Nonmaterial culture is the ideas created by members of a

society, ideas that range from art to Zen. Material culture, by contrast, is the physical things created by members of
a society, everything
from armchairs to zippers

culture shock, personal disorientation

when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life

Culture
refers to a shared way of life. A nation is a political entity, a territory
with designated borders, such as the United States, Canada, Peru, or
Zimbabwe. Society, is the organized interaction of people who typically live in a nation or some other specific
territory

values, culturally defined standards that

people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve
as broad guidelines for social living. People who share a culture use
values to make choices about how to live

Values are broad principles that support beliefs, specific thoughts

or ideas that people hold to be true. In other words, values are abstract
standards of goodness, and beliefs are particular matters that individuals consider true or false. For example,
because most U.S. adults share
the value of providing equal opportunities for all, they believe that a
qualified woman could serve as president of the United States, as the
2008 campaign of Hillary Clinton demonstrated

norms, rules
and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its
members. taboos, are the norms in our
society that insist, for example, that adults not walk around in public without wearing clothes

society people who interact in a defined territory and share a culture

horticulture, the use of hand tools to raise crops.

pastoralism, the domestication of animals.

agriculture, large-scale cultivation
using plows harnessed to animals or more powerful energy sources.

industrialism, which first took hold in the rich nations of today’s world,
is the production of goods using advanced sources of energy to drive large
machinery.

term postindustrialism to refer to

the production of information using computer technology. Production in
industrial societies centers on factories and machinery generating material goods; postindustrial production
relies on computers and other
electronic devices that create, process, store, and apply information.

Just as people in industrial societies learn mechanical skills, people

in postindustrial societies such as ours develop information-based
skills and carry out their work using computers and other forms of
high-technology communication

social conflict the stuggle between segments of society over valued resources.

capitalists people who own and operate

factories and other businesses in pursuit
of profits.

proletarians people who sell their

labor for wages

mechanical solidarity to refer to

social bonds, based on common sentiments and shared moral values,
that are strong among members of preindustrial societies

organic solidarity, defined as social bonds, based on specialization and interdependence, that are strong among
members of
industrial societies..
peer group, a
social group whose members have interests, social position, and age in
common.

status, a social position that a person holds.

ascribed status is a social position a person receives at birth or

takes on involuntarily later in life. Examples of ascribed statuses
include being a daughter, a Cuban, a teenager, or a widower.
Ascribed statuses are matters about which we have
little or no choice

achieved status refers to a

social position a person takes on voluntarily that
reflects personal ability and effort. Achieved statuses in the United
States include honors student, Olympic athlete, nurse, software
writer, and thief.

In the real world, of course, most statuses involve a combination of ascription and achievement. That is,
people’s ascribed statuses influence the statuses they achieve.

master status is a status

that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a person’s
entire life. For most people, a job is a master status because it reveals
a great deal about a person’s social background, education, and
income. In a few cases, name is a master status; being in the Bush or
Kennedy family attracts attention and creates opportunities.

role, behavior expected of someone who

holds a particular status. A person holds a
status and performs a role.

ethnomethodology, the study of the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings.

social group is two or more people who identify with and

interact with one another.

primary group is a small social group

whose members share personal and lasting relationships.

secondary group is a large and

impersonal social group whose members
pursue a specific goal or activity.
Unlike members of primary groups, who display a personal orientation, people in secondary groups have a goal
orientation.

reference group, a social group that serves as a point of reference

in making evaluations and decisions.

An in-group is a social group toward which a member feels respect and loyalty. An ingroup exists in relation to
an out-group, a social group toward which a person feels a sense of competition or opposition. In-groups and
outgroups are based on the idea that “we” have valued traits that “they” lack.

Social stratification, a system by which a society ranks categories

of people in a hierarchy.

social mobility, a change in position within

the social hierarchy.

caste system is social stratification based on ascription, or birth.

class system social

stratification based on both
birth and individual
achievement.

meritocracy social
stratification based on
personal merit.

Page 235- table on social stratification.