Continuity and Change
What is meant by social continuity?
The persistence of social structures, values, behaviours, practices or institutions over time.
What is popular culture?
Cultural products, practices and ideas that are widely consumed, recognised or participated in by members of society at a particular time.
What is conformity?
Changing or maintaining behaviour, attitudes or beliefs in response to real or perceived group expectations.
What is socialisation?
The process through which individuals learn the norms, values, behaviours and expectations of their society and social groups.
What does the term agency refer to?
The capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and act independently within the opportunities and constraints of their social environment.
What is meant by social change?
A significant alteration or transformation in social structures, relationships, behaviours, values or practices over time.
Name THREE examples of popular culture.
Possible answers:
What is nonconformity?
Behaviour, attitudes or beliefs that differ from accepted social or group norms.
What is a social norm?
An expected or accepted pattern of behaviour within a society or social group.
What is the difference between description and analysis?
Description identifies or explains what happened.
Analysis examines how and why something happened and considers relationships, causes, consequences or significance.
Identify THREE factors that can contribute to social and cultural change.
Any three:
What is the difference between popular culture and high culture?
Popular culture is generally associated with cultural products and practices consumed by large sections of the population, whereas high culture is traditionally associated with cultural forms such as classical music, opera, fine art and elite institutions.
Name FOUR factors that can influence conformity.
Possible answers:
What is meant by power in Society and Culture?
The ability of an individual or group to influence, control or affect the behaviour, decisions or resources of others.
A question asks:
"Explain how social media has influenced popular culture."
What does the word "explain" require you to do?
Show how and why social media has influenced popular culture, supported by relevant examples and Society & Culture concepts.
Explain why continuity and change can occur simultaneously within the same society.
A society can adopt new technologies, values or behaviours while retaining traditional practices, institutions and beliefs. Change does not necessarily mean that previous practices completely disappear.
Why might reality television be considered a form of popular culture?
It is widely produced, distributed and consumed, often reflects contemporary values and social behaviours, and can influence discussions, trends and perceptions within society.
A student disagrees with their friends but changes their answer because everyone else in the group has given the same response.
What factor influencing conformity is demonstrated?
Group consensus.
How can media organisations exercise power over audiences?
Through decisions about what information, people and issues are selected, represented, prioritised and distributed.
"To what extent does society influence individual behaviour?"
Identify TWO concepts that could be used to answer this question.
Possible answers:
"Social change always results in the loss of traditional culture."
Give TWO arguments that challenge this statement.
Possible responses:
Reality television is often presented as "real", yet producers have significant control over what audiences see. Explain why this matters when studying popular culture.
Reality television is culturally significant because representations are constructed through factors such as editing, casting, production decisions, narrative structure and audience expectations. This means audiences may interpret participants and behaviour differently depending on how they are represented.
Can the same person demonstrate both conformity and nonconformity? Explain.
Yes. An individual may conform to the norms of one group while rejecting the norms of another. For example, a person may reject mainstream social expectations but strongly conform to the values and behaviours of a particular subculture.
Explain how identity, socialisation and conformity can be interconnected.
Individuals develop their identities through interactions with others and through socialisation. Social groups communicate expectations and norms, which can influence individuals to conform. However, individuals can also reject expectations, contributing to nonconformity and the development of individual or group identities.
"Individuals have the power to challenge the expectations of society."
Using evidence from at least TWO of the three units, develop an argument responding to this statement.
Students need to: