Republic of the Philippines

Samar State University

COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Catbalogan City, Samar

Name: Cristita Tapia Equibal MAED-Social Science

Subject: SS6 (Advanced Course in Sociology and Socio-Cultural Changes)
Professor: Prof. Jordan Villanueva

CRITIQUE PAPER
The article discusses the definition of social change and the factors affecting it. Social
change is defined as an alteration in the social structure of a social group or society. It refers to
the process of alteration with no reference to the quality of change. There are also several
factors affecting social change such as demographic, technological, cultural, political, economic
and education.

The article was brief and concise as it explains the context of social change as to its
meaning and the factors affecting it. It was direct to the point and written in a manner which
can be easily understood by the readers. There were also examples cited of different
occurrences of social change with regard to the factors in order to illustrate these changes.

Social change, as discussed, does not refer to all the changes surrounding us. It pertains
to the change in norms, values, culture, and symbols in society. The change in norms, values and
culture affect the structure of the society and relationships. These changes may either be
gradual or abrupt; large scale or small scale. The increase in population, rise in technology,
progression or regression of the economy, passage of different laws or policies, and attainment
of education are some of the factors which affect the change in norms and culture. Social
change is perpetual, inevitable and unending process. It is constantly evolving.

In a similar article published, social change was described as charge in social structure,
social order, values, customs and tradition, socio-cultural norms, code of conduct, and attitude.
It was also categorized into two types, evolutionary and revolutionary. The former occurs in the
course of a long period slowly and gradually and through evolutionary process, while the latter
occurs suddenly, drastically and sufficiently. It occurs very quickly and within a short period of
time. The factors affecting social change are: 1. Social movement and social revolution; 2.
Common motivation; 3. Common need; 4. Long standing suffering due to suppression and
oppression; 5. Impact of communication; 6; education; and 7. Technological changes.
In these two articles, social change refers to the alteration in the social structure which is
affected by different factors. However, in one article, the factors cited affecting such change are
more specific than the other article. It discusses more on the reason why there is a social
change. On one hand, the other article discusses more on the general factors affecting social
change such as demographic and political to name a few.