Whether the society is a high or low context culture. This will map out nearly every social interaction you could have.

For instance, the US is mostly a low context culture. Verbal interaction is very explicit and generally literal, so you can get most of the information you need for the actual words used in an interaction.

Most Arabian cultures are high context. The verbal information is only part of the story. Your relationship to the speaker, their social and family standing and affiliations, and various non-verbal indicators are just as important (and can contradict and be much more important) than the words spoken.

Knowing where a society falls on the context spectrum will help you understand whether it is individual vs collective, how trust is gained, how personal space is viewed, even the basis of reality.

http://www2.pacific.edu/sis/culture/pub/Context_Cultures_High_and_Lo.htm