A folk culture is a small isolated, cohesive, conservative, nearly self-sufficient group that is homogeneous in custom and race with a strong family or clan structure and highly developed rituals. Order is maintained through sanctions based in the religion or family and interpersonal relationships are strong. Tradition is paramount, and change comes infrequently and slowly. There is relatively little division of labor into specialized duties. Rather, each person is expected to perform a great variety of tasks, though duties may differ between the sexes. Most goods are handmade and subsistence economy prevails. Individualism is weakly developed in folk cultures as are social classes. Unaltered folk cultures no longer exist in industrialized countries such as the United States and Canada. Perhaps the nearest modern equivalent in Anglo America is the Amish, a German American farming sect that largely renounces the products and labor saving devices of the industrial age. In Amish areas, horse drawn buggies still serve as a local transportation device and the faithful are not permitted to own automobiles. The Amish's central religious concept of Demut "humility", clearly reflects the weakness of individualism and social class so typical of folk cultures and there is a corresponding strength of Amish group identity. Rarely do the Amish marry outside their sect. The religion, a variety of the Mennonite faith, provides the principal mechanism for maintaining orders.

By contrast a popular culture is a large heterogeneous group often highly individualistic and constantly changing. Relationships tend to be impersonal and a pronounced division of labor exists, leading to the establishment of many specialized professions. Secular institutions of control such as the police and army take the place of religion and family in maintaining order, and a money-based economy prevails. Because of these contrasts, "popular" may be viewed as clearly different from "folk". The popular is replacing the folk in industrialized countries and in many developing nations. Folk-made objects give way to their popular equivalent, usually because the popular item is more quickly or cheaply produced, is easier or time saving to use or leads more prestige to the owner.

民间文化是小型的、孤立的、紧密的、保守的、近乎自给自足的群体，具有同样的习俗、同样的人种和强有力的家庭或部族结构以及高度发展的宗教仪式。 秩序由宗教或家庭的约束来维持，成员间的关系非常紧密，传统至高无上，很少有变动且变动缓慢。 劳动专业分工相对较少。 每个人都要做各类活计，尽管男女两性分工不同。 绝大多数物品是手工制造的，经济一般为自给自足型。 个人主义和社会阶层在民间文化群体中的发展十分薄弱。 在象美国和加拿大这样的工业化国家里，一成不变的民间文化群体已不复存在了。 在当代美洲的英语区，与民间文化最相似的群体也许算是Amish。 Amish是美国的德裔农耕部落，他们基本上拒绝接受工业时代的大多数产品和节省劳力的设施。 在Amish地区，轻便马车仍是当地的交通工具，信徒们不允许拥有汽车。 Amish宗教中的核心观念Demut即谦卑典型地反映了在民间文化群中个人主义和阶级的不发达。 而与此同时，Amish对群体的认同性却十分强。 Amish人很少和他们宗派以外的人通婚。 其宗教，作为Mennonite信仰的一种，提供了维护秩序的主要机制。 相反，大众文化是包含不同种族的大群体，通常高度个性化而且不断在变化。 人际关系冷漠，劳动分工明确，由此产生了许多专门的职业。 世俗的控制机构，比如警察和军队，取代了宗教和家庭来维持秩序，而且实行的是货币经济。 由于存在着这些差异，"大众的"与"民间的"可谓大相径庭。 在工业化国家以及许多发展中国家里，大众文化正在取代民间文化。 民间制造的物品正让位于大众化产品，这通常是因为大众化的物品制造起来更快、更便宜，用起来更容易、更方便或者是能给其所有者带来更多的威望。