HSC Society and Culture cheat sheet

Continuity is the persistence of social structures, values and practices over time; change is the alteration of these across generations, and both operate simultaneously in any society.

Evolutionary change is gradual and cumulative; transformative change is rapid and fundamental; resistance to change is itself evidence that continuity is an active process, not an absence of change.

Modernisation theory (Rostow) frames development as linear movement from traditional to industrial society; dependency theory (Frank) counters that peripheral nations are kept underdeveloped by core economies.

Evolutionary and functionalist perspectives (Durkheim, Parsons) emphasise integration and equilibrium; conflict perspectives (Marx, Weber) emphasise power, inequality and contested change.

Agents of social change include technology, institutions, ideology, demographic shifts, environmental pressure and social movements; each acts on different levels (micro, meso, macro).

Globalisation accelerates change through trade, media and migration while producing homogenisation and hybridisation; glocalisation describes local adaptation of global forms.

Quantitative methods (surveys, statistics) measure the scale of change; qualitative methods (interviews, ethnography, content analysis) interpret meaning and lived experience.

Research ethics require informed consent, confidentiality, voluntary participation and minimisation of harm; secondary research must be evaluated for reliability, validity and bias.

Socialisation is the lifelong process of acquiring norms, values and roles; primary socialisation occurs in the family, secondary socialisation in school, peers, media and workplace.

Agents of socialisation include family, peers, school, media, religion, workplace and legal institutions; each transmits norms through sanctions and modelling.

The nature–nurture debate contrasts biological/genetic explanations of identity with social constructionist explanations grounded in interaction and culture.

Mead distinguishes the 'I' (spontaneous, individual response) from the 'me' (internalised social expectations); the generalised other is the internalised attitude of the wider community.

Cooley's looking-glass self holds that identity forms through imagining how others perceive us and reacting to that imagined judgement.

Erikson's psychosocial stages frame identity formation as a sequence of crises, with adolescence centred on identity versus role confusion.

Goffman's dramaturgical model treats social life as performance: front-stage and back-stage selves, impression management and face-work.

Gender, class, ethnicity, age, sexuality and disability are social categories that interact (intersectionality) to shape access, expectation and self-concept.

Adolescence is a period of identity exploration marked by peer influence, role experimentation and increasing autonomy from family.

Culture is learned, shared, patterned and transmitted; ethnocentrism judges other cultures by one's own standards, while cultural relativism interprets practices within their own context.

Hofstede's dimensions include individualism–collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity–femininity, long-term orientation and indulgence–restraint.

Hall distinguishes high-context communication (meaning carried by relationship and setting) from low-context communication (meaning carried explicitly in words).

Hall's proxemics classifies personal space into intimate, personal, social and public zones; expectations for each vary across cultures.

Verbal communication includes language, accent, slang and jargon; non-verbal communication includes kinesics (body movement), proxemics, haptics, chronemics and paralanguage.

Barriers to intercultural communication include stereotyping, prejudice, language difference, differing non-verbal norms and assumptions of similarity.

Cultural relativism as a method requires suspending judgement; as an ethical position it is contested where practices conflict with universal human rights.

Acculturation strategies (Berry) are integration, assimilation, separation and marginalisation, depending on maintenance of heritage culture and contact with the host culture.

Intercultural competence involves awareness, knowledge, attitudes and skills, including empathy, tolerance of ambiguity and willingness to adapt behaviour.

Popular culture is produced and consumed by large audiences through commercial and mass media channels; folk culture is locally generated and transmitted, and high culture is institutionally legitimated.

Four distinguishing features of popular culture are associated with commercialisation, mass accessibility, changing and evolving nature, and pervasiveness across social groups.

A belief system is an organised set of beliefs and practices; an ideology is a systematically connected set of ideas that explains and justifies social arrangements and guides action.

Functionalist analysis of belief systems stresses social cohesion and integration (Durkheim's sacred/profane and collective conscience); conflict analysis stresses legitimation of power and inequality.

Social inclusion refers to access to resources, participation and rights; exclusion is multidimensional, covering economic, political, cultural and relational dimensions.

Poverty is measured absolutely (basic needs threshold) and relatively (position against median living standards); social mobility measures movement between class positions.

Conformity is adherence to group norms, explained by informational and normative influence; Asch's line studies show susceptibility to majority pressure.

Nonconformity includes innovation, retreatism and rebellion (Merton's strain theory) as adaptations to a mismatch between goals and legitimate means.

Researching a depth study requires a focus question, justified methodology, primary or secondary data, and analysis linked explicitly to course concepts.

Continuity is the persistence of social structures, values and practices over time; change is the alteration of these across generations, and both operate simultaneously in any society.

Evolutionary change is gradual and cumulative; transformative change is rapid and fundamental; resistance to change is itself evidence that continuity is an active process, not an absence of change.

Modernisation theory (Rostow) frames development as linear movement from traditional to industrial society; dependency theory (Frank) counters that peripheral nations are kept underdeveloped by core economies.

Evolutionary and functionalist perspectives (Durkheim, Parsons) emphasise integration and equilibrium; conflict perspectives (Marx, Weber) emphasise power, inequality and contested change.

Agents of social change include technology, institutions, ideology, demographic shifts, environmental pressure and social movements; each acts on different levels (micro, meso, macro).

Globalisation accelerates change through trade, media and migration while producing homogenisation and hybridisation; glocalisation describes local adaptation of global forms.

Quantitative methods (surveys, statistics) measure the scale of change; qualitative methods (interviews, ethnography, content analysis) interpret meaning and lived experience.

Research ethics require informed consent, confidentiality, voluntary participation and minimisation of harm; secondary research must be evaluated for reliability, validity and bias.

Socialisation is the lifelong process of acquiring norms, values and roles; primary socialisation occurs in the family, secondary socialisation in school, peers, media and workplace.

Agents of socialisation include family, peers, school, media, religion, workplace and legal institutions; each transmits norms through sanctions and modelling.

The nature–nurture debate contrasts biological/genetic explanations of identity with social constructionist explanations grounded in interaction and culture.

Mead distinguishes the 'I' (spontaneous, individual response) from the 'me' (internalised social expectations); the generalised other is the internalised attitude of the wider community.

Cooley's looking-glass self holds that identity forms through imagining how others perceive us and reacting to that imagined judgement.

Erikson's psychosocial stages frame identity formation as a sequence of crises, with adolescence centred on identity versus role confusion.

Goffman's dramaturgical model treats social life as performance: front-stage and back-stage selves, impression management and face-work.

Gender, class, ethnicity, age, sexuality and disability are social categories that interact (intersectionality) to shape access, expectation and self-concept.

Adolescence is a period of identity exploration marked by peer influence, role experimentation and increasing autonomy from family.

Culture is learned, shared, patterned and transmitted; ethnocentrism judges other cultures by one's own standards, while cultural relativism interprets practices within their own context.

Hofstede's dimensions include individualism–collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity–femininity, long-term orientation and indulgence–restraint.

Hall distinguishes high-context communication (meaning carried by relationship and setting) from low-context communication (meaning carried explicitly in words).

Hall's proxemics classifies personal space into intimate, personal, social and public zones; expectations for each vary across cultures.

Verbal communication includes language, accent, slang and jargon; non-verbal communication includes kinesics (body movement), proxemics, haptics, chronemics and paralanguage.

Barriers to intercultural communication include stereotyping, prejudice, language difference, differing non-verbal norms and assumptions of similarity.

Acculturation strategies (Berry) are integration, assimilation, separation and marginalisation, depending on maintenance of heritage culture and contact with the host culture.

Intercultural competence involves awareness, knowledge, attitudes and skills, including empathy, tolerance of ambiguity and willingness to adapt behaviour.

Cultural relativism as a method requires suspending judgement; as an ethical position it is contested where practices conflict with universal human rights.

Popular culture is produced and consumed by large audiences through commercial and mass media channels; folk culture is locally generated and transmitted, and high culture is institutionally legitimated.

Four distinguishing features of popular culture are associated with commercialisation, mass accessibility, changing and evolving nature, and pervasiveness across social groups.

A belief system is an organised set of beliefs and practices; an ideology is a systematically connected set of ideas that explains and justifies social arrangements and guides action.

Functionalist analysis of belief systems stresses social cohesion and integration (Durkheim's sacred/profane and collective conscience); conflict analysis stresses legitimation of power and inequality.

Social inclusion refers to access to resources, participation and rights; exclusion is multidimensional, covering economic, political, cultural and relational dimensions.

Poverty is measured absolutely (basic needs threshold) and relatively (position against median living standards); social mobility measures movement between class positions.

Conformity is adherence to group norms, explained by informational and normative influence; Asch's line studies show susceptibility to majority pressure.

Nonconformity includes innovation, retreatism and rebellion (Merton's strain theory) as adaptations to a mismatch between goals and legitimate means.

Researching a depth study requires a focus question, justified methodology, primary or secondary data, and analysis linked explicitly to course concepts.