Final answer:
Culture is the collection of shared values, beliefs, norms, language, and social practices of a group or society. It includes both material and non-material elements that influence perceptions and behaviors, shaping how individuals and groups interact and understand the world.
Step-by-step explanation:
Culture can be defined as the set of key values, beliefs, understandings, and norms shared by members of an organization or society. It is the abstract products of a community's capacity for culture, which include learned language, accumulated knowledge, and social rules that constitute the shared bases of social action. Culture is what shapes our perceptions of the world and governs our behaviors within society.
Moreover, culture encompasses a group's way of life, from their everyday interactions to the most significant aspects of their lives. It is a dynamic system that includes collectively shared symbols, meanings, and norms, the non-genetic information possessed by a society. Culture is also about how people think, express themselves, and the impact this has on their way of life and patterns in behavior.
The elements of culture are many and varied, consisting of society's values, beliefs, norms, language, practices, symbols, arts, artifacts, and collective identities and memories. These elements are essential for sociologists to understand societal expectations and behavioral patterns within different contexts.