These shared patterns distinguish one from another group and also identify the members of a culture group”(CARLA’s definition). Culture can be defined by how the members of particular group interpret, use and perceive the artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements. In modernized societies, it is not the material objects or tangible aspects of human societies that distinguishes one from another, but what do are its beliefs, core values, interpretations and perspectives. (What is Culture? CARLA) .
Culture is defined as the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. It is a term derived from the Latin “colere”, which means to tend to the earth and grow. It is constantly growing and changing, never stagnant or set in stone. It encompasses anything from food, what people wear, how they act, music, art, food, and beliefs of right and wrong and many other aspects (Zimmerman, 2017). Culture is learned, it is not biological.
1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of the Study Culture consists of the overarching values, motives and moral ethical rules and meanings that are part of the system (Harris, 1999). Culture is the whole way of life, material and non-material of human society (Shorter, 1998). People think that culture as fine and performing arts, to dance, music, theatre and the means of disseminating arts and communication industry (Souza, 1993). One should imagine culture as being self contained, super organic reality with forces and purposes of its own (Geertz, 1973). Westerners used to think that their culture was a unitary phenomenon and that their western culture was perfect and most developed but 20th century proved them wrong (Shorter, 1998).
As it can be understood from the definition, culture is directly connected to the human and also because of its broadness, it has had many different varieties throughout the time. As one of the varieties culture has, popular culture is generally defined as the cultural activities and products reflect or aimed for the general masses of people. High culture, on the other hand, is defined as the artistic entertainment materials associated with a society’s sophisticated, aristocratic or educated class and require specific skills and education to be appreciated. Both concepts have their own standards and determinants.
Society cannot exist without culture. Culture gives us identity and essentially a meaning to life. Culture is defined to be the many values and ways of living and that are common amongst a group of people that has both visible and invisible components. The invisible aspect of culture is considered to be the beliefs why the visible component is exemplified through the practices of that particular group (Potter et al., 2013). The existence of culture is absolutely necessary and in order to accurately understand the effect and strength within culture, one must first carefully examine the culture in which they identify themselves with.
The term culture is defined by many authors & scholars based on their own concepts in more than one way. For example, many identify culture by discussing how culture has been sculpted in numerous studies as ideologies, articulate sets of beliefs, uncomplicated assumptions, and common sets of core values, key understandings, and trust. Others suggest that culture includes clearer, observable cultural
1) Define culture: Culture is characterized as the beliefs, values, customs, and behavior patterns that influences a certain populations’ worldview and decision making. 2) What are some characteristics of culture and the importance of them: Cultural beliefs provided identity and a sense of belonging for a cultures members as long as they do not conflict with the dominant culture and continue to satisfy its members (Treas-Wilkinson, 2014). Culture is both learned and taught. Learning comes from the life experiences that are shared between its members. It is also taught by passing down a set of beliefs, traditions and values from one generation to the next.
Chapter 1 - What is culture? What is Culture: All people have a certain culture; people might adapt their culture to those of the people they spend time with. They start doing more things the same way and adapt more to each other’s view on particular subjects. When people have the same moral standards and other acquired characteristics, we say that they have the same culture. Culture is a guideline for a many people, they do things as the rest does them as well, and people of the same culture often have some influence on each other.
There are various meanings to the word culture. For some people, culture means the appreciation of good art, food, literature, music, and many more. For biologist, it could mean a colony of microorganism plated in a Petri dish, test tube, or other possible storage with agar as the microorganism’s source of nutrient. For anthropologists and other behavioural scientists, culture is not just an act of appreciation or a colony of some microorganism; it comprises of a full range of learned human behaviour patterns. However, culture is not only for intangible things such as beliefs, norms, thoughts, and values but also for tangible things such as physical objects or artifacts.
For the purpose of this study, culture is viewed as “embodied in the signs, symbols, and language” as well as the “knowledge people have acquired that shape their worldview and behavior” (Merriam, 2002, p. 236). Moreover, my understanding of culture in this research as the researcher is quite parallel to the definition of Moran (2001): Culture is the evolving way of life of a group of persons, consisting of a shared set of practices associated with a shared set of products, based upon a shared set of perspectives on the world, and set within specific social contexts” (p.24) Studies on