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Society and Culture

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View the general glossary of assessment terms that apply to all HSC subjects.

Glossary for Society and Culture stage 6 syllabus

©Board of Studies NSW (1999), Stage 6 syllabus Society and Culture.
The glossary is designed to assist teachers in interpreting the syllabus and to aid student learning.

All words contained in this glossary have a meaning specific to the context of the Society and Culture Stage 6 Syllabus. This glossary does not attempt to ascribe any absolute definition to terms. It is designed to assist teachers in interpreting this syllabus and to assist student learning.

acculturation	The process of contacts between different cultures and also the outcome of such contacts. It may involve direct social interaction or exposure to other cultures through mass media.
action research	An informal, qualitative, interpretive, reflective and experimental methodology that requires all the participants to be collaborative researchers. Action research is carried out by people who usually recognise a problem or limitation in their workplace situation and, together, devise a plan to counteract the problem, implement the plan, observe what happens, reflect on these outcomes, revise the plan, implement it, reflect, revise and so on. Action research can be thought of as a spiral of planning, acting, observing and reflecting, occurring through time until the most desirable outcomes for all participants are achieved.
authority	A concept frequently linked to power, involving the right to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues and disputes in society.
belief system	A shared system of beliefs and values that systematically define a way of perceiving the social, cultural, physical and psychological world.
case study	A methodology similar in many ways to an ethnographic case study. The case study involves the collection of data related to an individual or small group through observation, interviews and the collection of documentary evidence.
content analysis	The study and interpretation of written and visual material. for example, magazines, television advertisements, photographs.
cultural relativism	The idea that concepts are socially constructed and vary cross culturally. It implies that one must always view cultures objectively.
customs	Established ways of thinking and acting.
discrimination	Treating a person or group differently, often in a negative manner, usually as a result of prejudice. Discrimination may also be positive, designed to redress perceived injustice.
enculturation	The idea that to be a full member of a culture or sub-culture, individuals have to learn to use, formally and informally, the patterns of cultural behaviour prescribed by that culture.
ethnicity	Based on perceived common origins that people share a specific ancestry and culture that mark them as different from others.
ethnographic study	The systematic collection of data derived from direct observation of the everyday life of a particular society, group or subculture. This methodology requires the researcher's immersion in the culture/subculture under study and is an interactive process. The researcher is interested in understanding the customary actions, beliefs, knowledge and attitudes of the social group as these are reflected in the ways of engaging in everyday life.
Fieldwork (field research)	Methods of collecting data, usually observation or social survey that requires the researcher to go out into a defined area.
focus group	A small group (3 to 8 persons) whose members are brought together by the researcher for an indepth discussion of a specific issue or topic. The researcher plans an interview schedule and organises the time and place. A tape recorder is essential for the success of the use of this methodology. The techniques of conducting the focus group are similar to conducting an indepth interview, the researcher needs, however, to be able to manage up to eight people talking about the issue or topic.
gender	A term to describe the socially constructed differences between men and women, referring not only to individual identity and personality, but also at the symbolic level, to cultural ideals and stereotypes of masculinity and femininity and, at the structural level to the sexual division of labour in institutions and organisations.
globalisation	Describes the emergence of a global culture brought about by a variety of social and cultural developments such as: the existence of world information systems; the emergence of global patterns of consumption and consumerism; the growth of transnational corporations; the emergence of global sport like World Cup soccer; the spread of world tourism and the growth of global military and economic systems. It involves a consciousness of the world as a single place.
hybrid society	A society that comprises a range of social and cultural influences and components, rather than having a homogenous identity.
ideology	In general usage, refers to the body of doctrine, myth and symbols of a social movement, a social class or institution. Many sociologists use the term with particular reference to the set of beliefs, attitudes and/or practices that overtly or covertly serve the interests of one particular group, government or social class as opposed to serving universal interests.
industrialisation	Refers to the transition in methods of production that has been responsible for the vastly increased wealth creating capacity of modern societies compared with traditional systems. It may refer to manufacturing, agriculture and administration.
interview	An interview may be tightly structured, semi-structured, unstructured, indepth or conversational. This methodology involves the researcher and the interviewee in a one-to-one situation and may be quite time consuming. The researcher may interview several people at different times using the same interview question schedule.
institutions	Refers to the structural components of a society through which its main concerns and activities are organised, for example, the church, the law, government, family.
kinship	Systems that establish relationships between individuals and groups on the basis of socially recognised biological relationships or marital links.
modernisation	A process of social change resulting from the diffusion and adoption of the characteristics of expansive and apparently more advanced societies through societies that are apparently less advanced. It involves social mobilisation, the growth of a more effective and centralised apparatus of social and political control, the acceptance of scientifically rational norms and the transformation of social relations and aesthetic forms.
mores	Moral rules or ways of behaving that most members of society believe are essential for maintaining standards of decency.
norms	A shared expectation of behaviour, that notes what is considered culturally desirable and appropriate. They are prescriptive, but lack the formal status of rules.
observation	Methodology that involves watching and recording behaviours within a clearly defined area. The researcher plays the role of passive observer and is, therefore, outside the action/s being observed and recorded.
participant observation	The researcher is immersed in the action being observed but their role as researcher is not obvious. An example of participant observation methodology occurs when the researcher goes into a shopping centre in a wheelchair or joins a group in order to study it. Researchers using participant observation must be aware of the ethical implications of this methodology. A methodology wherein the researcher's role is more in the open is the participant-as-observer methodology. In this, the researcher still participates in, as well as observes, the action being studied but does so with the knowledge of other participants.
personal reflection	Requires the researcher to reflect upon, and evaluate, their own experiences, memories, values and opinions in relation to a specific issue or topic.
popular culture	A shared set of practices and beliefs that have attained global acceptance and which can be normally characterised by: being associated with commercial products; developing from local to national to global acceptance; allowing consumers to have widespread access and are constantly changing and evolving.
power	The capacity to influence others to a point of view or action to which they would not normally accede.
prejudice	Preconceived opinion or bias against, or in favour of, a person or thing, characterised by stereotypical views. It may be positive or negative, but is usually used to refer to negative attitudes towards a group or its individual members.
quantitative methodologies	Involves those methodologies, such as closed surveys, structured interviews and sociograms (diagrammatic representations of interactions between individuals), which enable data (concrete or conceptual) to be collected, measured and compared with a standard.
qualitative methodologies	Involves a phenomenological perspective whereby researchers aim to understand, report and evaluate the meaning of events for people in particular situations, that is, how their social world is structured by the participants in it. The focus of qualitative methodologies is the way in which participants (rather than the researcher) interpret their experiences and construct reality. Some examples are, an unstructured interview, focus group, open ended questionnaire and participant observation.
questionnaire	A commonplace instrument for collecting data beyond the physical reach of the researcher, that is, from a large or diverse sample of people. It is an impersonal instrument for collecting information and must, therefore, contain clear questions, worded as simply as possible to avoid any confusion or ambiguity since the researcher probably will not be present to explain what was meant by any one particular question. The questionnaire should be designed to fulfil a specific research objective, it should be brief and the sequence of the questions logical.
social construct	A socially created aspect of social life. Social constructionists argue that society is actively and creatively produced by human beings rather than being merely given or taken for granted.
scenarios	Portrayals of alternative futures, usually in the form of written descriptions, but they could include graphs and illustrations. They may be broad, or focus on a particular aspect of life. They may often include a story of how that future came to develop, outlining anticipated key events, choices and consequences. A scenario would ideally also state its assumptions. Scenarios are sometimes well developed in Science Fiction.
social differentiation	Criteria used to divide society into groups according to perceived differences between groups.
social ecology	Study of the relationships between individuals, social groups their environmenmts
socialisation	The process by which we learn to become members of society by internalising the norms and values of society, and learning to perform social roles.
statistical analysis (data analysis)	Examining data to interpret meaning, make generalisations and extrapolate trends. Often the data come in graphical form and because these data are expressed in the language of mathematics, they should be evaluated and interpreted by means of appropriate mathematical or statistical procedures.
survey	A methodology which can use different instruments such as observation, interview or a written list of questions called a questionnaire. Surveying is the process of conducting a study from representative samples of specific populations (for example, women in the workforce, Year 9 students, recent immigrants). If a questionnaire is used, it may be comprised entirely of closed questions, multiple - response questions, Lickett scale questions (differential sliding scale or rating scale questions) or open-ended questions, or may be a combination of all question styles. Data recording sheets for observation or a short list of structured interview questions are two other instruments that can be used during a survey.
westernisation	A particular form of modernisation in which the methods and values of Western industrial capitalism are the basis of the changes that are occurring.
worldview	An organised and accepted set of ideas attempting to explain the social, cultural, physical and psychological world.