2. 1.What fields of Social Science can you see in the picture?
2. Which of these fields play a significant role in our lives and society?
3. How do these fields differ from each other?
4. Are these disciplines interrelated with Natural Science? Why or why
3. Social Science is engaged in the study of phenomena
relating to human groups and their socio-physical
environment. The term social science implies two
important contexts:
(1)it involves scientific process and
(2) it seeks information about the social space. As such,
social science and the disciplines within its practice
involve a scientific and methodological study of
humans and society.
4. THE VARIOUS DISCIPLINES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND ITS
RELEVANT CONTRIBUTIONS AND FUNCTIONS IN THE SOCIETY
1. Anthropology is the study of humans; the social science that
seeks to understand human origins and adaptation, and the
diversity of cultures and worldviews. The term anthropology
comes from the Greek words anthropos (human) and logos
(study). This etymology relates to the scope of anthropology as
a discipline, which includes everything about humans – from
their biological and evolutionary past, to ways of life and
traditions that they uphold.
5. The Development of Anthropology
In order to trace the history of anthropology as a
discipline, one must consider two historical events – the
rise of the empires and states and the dawn of colonialism
and imperialism – that made a significant impact on the
rise of scholars who built the theoretical and
methodological foundations of this field of study.
6. Important Personalities in Anthropology
Edward Burnett Tylor Tylor (1832–1917) is regarded as the
Father of Cultural Anthropology. He defined anthropology as
the “science of culture,” which was the first time that
culture had been declared as an object of study. He argued
that just like any topic of science, culture could be
objectively studied with proper methodology and
theoretical framework. He said that “culture, or civilization,
taken in its broad, ethnographic sense, is a complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom,
and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society.
7. Lewis Henry Morgan Morgan (1818–1881) was a lawyer
by training and profession, who became fascinated with
the land disputes between the United States government
and the American Indian people as the Iroquois. What
defined Morgan’s career as an anthropologist was his
success in documenting the kinship system of the Iroquois.
8. Franz Boas Boas (1858–1942) was one of the key figures who did
not use science to justify racism. In his evolutionary stance on
societal development, he argued that culture is not a by-product of a
human group’s physical characteristics, but of social learning
affected by the various factors like environment and history. This
argument became the foundation of human variation analysis that is
based on cultural differences, a far cry from the biological
deterministic framework of the evolutionists. Anthropology was
developed as a discipline in response to the sociocultural shifts and
issues that transpired when people of various backgrounds came in
contact with one another. As the discipline progressed, various
approaches in understanding society were used by its practitioners.
Today, anthropology remains relevant as it attempts to address
9. Franz Boas Boas (1858–1942) was one of the key figures who did
not use science to justify racism. In his evolutionary stance on
societal development, he argued that culture is not a by-product of a
human group’s physical characteristics, but of social learning
affected by the various factors like environment and history. This
argument became the foundation of human variation analysis that is
based on cultural differences, a far cry from the biological
deterministic framework of the evolutionists. Anthropology was
developed as a discipline in response to the sociocultural shifts and
issues that transpired when people of various backgrounds came in
contact with one another. As the discipline progressed, various
approaches in understanding society were used by its practitioners.
Today, anthropology remains relevant as it attempts to address
10. 2. Economics is a social science discipline that deals with the
optimum allocation of scarce resources among its alternatives to
satisfy the unlimited human wants and needs of the people.
Economics was first conceived as the study of the allocation of
resources within the household level. Its origin could be traced
back to two ancient Greek words: oikos (house) and nomos
(custom or law), referring to the rules implemented in the
household to ensure its efficient management. Such idea
allowed for the inquiry of small-scale interactions among
economic factors, which in turn formed the microeconomic
approach.
11. Fields of Economics Microeconomics – focuses on small-scale
market interactions that transpire between individuals consisting of
business firms and households. Macroeconomics – focuses on
analyzing the determinants of national income. This approach
allows for the aggregation of individual responses and behavior
within market systems. Mainstream economics – focuses on
understanding the interconnections between the concepts of
rationality, individualism, and equilibrium.
Heterodox economics – It focuses on the interconnection of
concepts like institutions, history, and social structure. behavior.
12. Economic Theory – an umbrella term that refers to the
explanation and understanding of the processes and interactions
related to the production and consumption of goods within a
market system.
Applied Economics – utilizes economic theories and formulas to
real-world scenarios with the goal of predicting possible events
that would affect the individuals within the economic system.
Positive Economics
– viewed as the descriptive form of economics wherein its chief
aim is to describe and explain economic phenomena and
behavior.
13. Normative Economics – is often associated with welfare economics, as it
is focused on providing explanations and arguments on how economic
policies should be.
14. 3. Geography is the study of the earth’s surface; a specialized investigation
of the physical structure of the earth, including its terrain and its climates,
and the nature and character of its contrasting inhabited portions. The
word geography comes from the Greek word “geo” (earth, land or ground)
and “graphia” (to write, an art, or a study). The combination of the two
words provides an elementary definition of geography, which is the study
of describing the earth. This study also accounts for the people living in it
and their interactions with the environment. As an academic discipline,
geography seeks to answer old questions such as “Where am I in this
world?” or “Where am I in the context of the world?”. As a social science,
geography examines the human or social aspects of these inquiries. Thus,
we can say that geography is an interdisciplinary study that explores the
relation between Earth, its human inhabitants, and the changes and
interplay that occurred overtime.
15. Important Personalities in Geography
Anaximander (610–546 BCE) a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher,
biologist and astronomer. He is also considered as one of the
first, if not the first, geographer.
Strabo (64–20 BCE) a Greek geographer who coined the term
Geographia, which was also the title of his 17-volume series on
geographical studies.
Eratosthenes (276–194 BCE) using geometry, he became the
first to have calculated accurately the circumference of Earth.
16. Edrisi an Arab geographer and descendant of Prophet
Mohammed, who collected all known geographical information
of his time.
Ptolemy (100–178 CE) compiled and summarized in
Geographike Hyphegesis (Guide to Geography) all known
information of geography of his time. One of his most
important contribution to geography was the formulation
of map coordinates by utilizing and developing the
concepts of latitude and longitude.
17. 4. History is the study of the past; it describes /narrates and
analyses human activities in the past and the changes that
they had undergone. The word history came from the Greek
word historia which means “finding out,” “inquiry,” and
“narrative.” In some interpretations, historia means
“knowledge acquired investigation.” The American Historical
Association defines history as “the neverending process
whereby people seek to understand the past and its
meaning.” History, in many ways is a way for us to understand
ourselves and make sense of the world.
18. Important Personalities in History
Herodotus (484–425 BCE), a Greek historian, known to be the Father
of History. He compiled and systematically, arranged his collection of
works in the Histories (440 BCE). Narrating the events which took
place during the Greco-Persian War, he presented his accounts by
providing geographic and ethnographic information, which was in part
provided to him by people he had interviewed.
19. Thucydides (460–400 BCE), a Greek Philosopher, historian and
general. He is known as the Father of Scientific History as his History
of the Peloponnesian War (431 BCE) recounted events, based on
evidence and analysis. His works, as he described it in his
introduction, narrated facts without becoming fictional by using gods
and deities as reference.
Ban Gu (32–92 CE) was a Chinese historian and poet. He became
famous in compiling the Book of Han, which contained the history of
the Han Dynasty. It is regarded as the first work to have covered a
single dynasty in detail.
Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886) a German historian and founder of
the modern study of History. He was the first to have provided a
historical seminar where he elaborated on the methods and
20. Karl Marx (1818–1883) was, among others, a German Philosopher,
Economist, and Sociologist. Marx is often referred to as the Father of
Communism. Marx stated in his book The German Ideology his
theory on the materialist conception of history. The principle idea of
this theory is that the material conditions or resources determine a
group’s social structure and social order-“it is not the consciousness
of men that determines their existence, but, on the contrary, their
social existence that determines their consciousness.”
Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) was a British Historian and
Philosopher known for his monumental 12-volume work titled A
study of History. In this book, Tonybee narrated the histories of 26
civilizations, describing how they overcame challenges with the
guidance and leadership of an elite group of leaders.
21. Fields of History
Cultural history focuses on the study of belief systems, customs,
social forms, political systems, material traits, and economic activities
of a group or community usually for the purpose of cross comparison
with others.
Social history is concerned with the study of particular kinds of
phenomena such as family and marriage, adolescence, and work and
leisure through the use of sociological theories and approaches.
Intellectual history looks into the history of ideas and theories.
Historiography is one of its primary subfields wherein the
development of schools and approaches are documented.
22. 5. Linguistics is the study of language and its structure. Linguistics is
interdisciplinary in nature, intersecting with the Humanities and Social
Sciences as it inquires on the basic element that allows societies to
communicate ideas across space and time. The term linguistics was derived
from the Latin word “lingua”, which refers to language. Since the late
1500s, individuals who study language have been called linguists.
Linguistics, as a discipline, deals with three principal components: sound,
structure, and meaning. Sound is divided into Phonetics and Phonology.
Phonetics, studies human speech sounds, while Phonology studies the
principles governing sound systems of languages. Structure is divided into
Morphology and Syntax. Morphology, studies language structure from its
morphic units or root words, while Syntax studies sentence structure such
as grammar. Lastly, meaning is divided into Semantics and Pragmatics.
Semantics studies the logic and meaning of words and phrases, while
Pragmatics studies the use of language and its effects on society
23. The Fields of Linguistics
Historical Linguistics, otherwise known as diachronic linguistics, studies how a
particular language changed over time.
Sociolinguistics examines how language is used in relation to people’s
sociocultural environment. It considers the following: (1) the social background of
the addresser and the addressee; (2) the relationship of the addresser and the
addressee; and (3) the context and manner through which the communication
transpired.
Developmental Linguistics analyzes the development of language acquisition,
language retention, and language loss and bilingualism. It studies the development
of linguistic ability among children and the stages by which they gradually come to
use language.
Neurolinguistics studies the physiological mechanisms by which the brain
processes information in relation to language. It investigates how the human brain
functions when used in communication and how it uses information to experiment
and elaborate on linguistic and psycholinguistic theories.
24. 6. Political Science is the systematic study of politics. It is the study of
political power relations, behavior, and activities as well as systems of
government from a domestic, international, and comparative
perspective. Traditionally, the study of political science focuses
primarily on the state and its institutions. The contemporary study of
political sciences, however, has a broader and more encompassing
approach as it deals with societal, cultural, and psychological factors
that affect the political system. The term politics is derived from the
Greek word politikos which means “of, for, or relating to citizens,” or in
Aristotelian terms, “affairs of the cities.” In the broader sense, politics
is the theory and practice of influencing other people; in the narrow
sense, it is the theory or principle of organizing control or governance
over a people, community, or state.
25. The Fields of Political Science
Comparative Politics studies the differences and similarities of the
political systems of the world in an empirical manner. It is not focused
on analyzing countries but is more of a method of analysis.
Political Philosophy is the root from which Political Science
sprouted from. The most notable concepts in Political Philosophy
include justice, law, rights and government. Political Philosophy as a
field of study covers theories from the ancient past to postmodern
thoughts on politics.
Public Law is a field in Political Science which focuses on the legal
concerns between the state and the people such as constitutional law
and administrative law.
26. 7. Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and
mental process. Psychology is an interdisciplinary study which
involves disciplines in the Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and
even Humanities and Philosophy. The root word of
PSYCHOLOGY comes from the Greek word psyche which means
“soul”; hence, Psychology is the study of the soul. Psychology
seeks to answer why the human mind works the way it does
and how it functions and operates. Due to the depth and
breadth of these questions, scholars opened up Psychology to
partake and accept theories and principles utilized in other
disciplines. Psychologists inquire about concepts related to
personality, behavior, cognition, and perception.
27. Fields of Psychology
Biological Psychology studies Psychology from a biological
perspective. It examines how thoughts, feelings, and behavior
physically affect human beings or animals.
Behavioral Psychology or behaviorism determines psychological
processes through the use of observable data. Behaviorism is
essentially a learning theory as it inquires the developmental
aspect of behavior and analyzes quantitatively the changes that
occurred overtime.
Cognitive Psychology analyzes how sensory data are
interpreted and are used by the mind to produce behavior. It is a
field focused on how information and knowledge is gained,
selected, stored in memory, retrieved, and internally
manipulated.
28. Social Psychology interprets the behavior of groups in the presence of others. It
is the area of Psychology that inquires on the changes in behavior, emotions,
thoughts, and feelings of individuals in a group or as a group, in relation to other
groups or the community.
Psychoanalysis is an area of Psychology that can be philosophical and practical
inquiry, such that ideas and concepts which are metaphysical in nature can only
be theorized but not experimented on.
Humanistic Psychology is a field that focuses on how a person can better
achieve self-actualization through the development of his or her abilities. It is a
holistic approach to Psychology as it aims to maximize one’s self-awareness and
behavior.
29. 8. Sociology is the systematic study of human society. The term
sociology was coined by the French Philosopher Auguste Comte, who is
also considered as the Father of Sociology. The term was derived from
the French word sociologie which is a combination of the Greek words
socious, which means “companionship” or “friendship,” and the suffix -
ology, which means “the study of.” Thus, sociology is simply defined as
“the study of society.” As an academic discipline, sociology inquires into
social behaviour and historical development of social institutions. It
makes use of empirical methods to investigate the different facets and
functions of the society. In line with this pursuit, the important aim of
Sociology is to provide an understanding of ourselves and others as
members of society. Sociological perspective provides us with the ability
to systematically differentiate and assess fundamental social issues.
30. Important Personalities in Sociology
Auguste Comte
Sociology is the youngest of all social sciences. Developed in 1838 by August Comte
in his series of text titled A Course on Positive Philosophy (1830-1842), wherein his
theory aimed to make the structural components of the society (government,
family, and economics) comprehensible through systematic, empirical observation
and classification.
Herbert Spencer
The English Social philosopher applied biological concepts into the field of
Sociology with his theory of organic analogy. In his work Principles of Sociology
(1876), Spencer compared the development and activity of the society to a living
organism. He said that like organisms, society grows and develops in a gradual
process and passes through stages of complexity. Just as the organs in the body
have different purposes, society has institutions that have specific functions
31. Lester F. Ward
He introduced Sociology as an academic discipline in American higher education institutions.
Ward theorized that a society’s progress could be controlled and cannot be simply driven by
deterministic forces like evolution.
Emile Durkheim
A French sociologist, social psychologist, and philosopher, who focused his study on the
phenomenon of suicide. He was credited for being one of the founding fathers of modern
sociology. His findings suggest that an individual is less likely to commit suicide when he/she
connects more with society.
Max Weber
A German Sociologist is credited for being one of the founding fathers of modern Sociology.
Weber’s inquiries revolved around his idea of social action. For him, Sociology must aim to
determine the motivation behind these actions, and why and how these actions are done.
Karl Marx
A German Sociologist and Philosopher credited for being one of the founding fathers of
modern Sociology. For Marx, the truth about society is not found in abstract ideas or
principles but is found instead in the observable and knowable world.
32. Fields of Sociology
Human Ecology studies the society in relation with its environment.
This discipline also considers how the environment is affected by society
and how it is utilized for production and habitation.
Penology or penal science studies how punishment is conducted on
the offending members of the society. As an interdisciplinary approach
between Sociology and Criminology, this field involves laws and the
implementation of policies and procedures.
Sociology of work was historically used as an inquiry into the effects of
the Industrial Revolution on societies. Today, however, this field shifted
its inquiry on how individuals, groups, communities, and societies relate
to and interact with different industries.
33. 9. Demography is the statistical study of human populations especially
with reference to size and density. The term demography comes from
the Greek words demos (people) and graphia (a description of). From
this etymology, we may derive that demography is a study of
describing people. As an academic field under Social Sciences,
demography is the study of human populations through the use of
statistical analysis and mathematical modelling. Demography
describes the composition of a population according to its basic and
socio-economic features. A population’s basic features include age,
sex, family, and household status. On the other hand, the socio-
economic features of a population are religion, language, ethnicity,
education, income, and wealth. However, beyond these statistical
descriptions is an inquiry on the causes and effects of population
change and what they mean for the future.
34. Fields of Demography
Historical demography is the quantitative study of populations in
the past. Historical demographers use, among others, censuses
conducted by governments, historical records, church registries,
genealogies, and family trees to establish an approximation of
demographic data.
Social demography uses demographic data to describe and
explain social phenomena. It investigates social phenomena that
affect the distribution, growth, migration, and settlement of
populations. Social demography also studies social status
distribution within a population.
35. Demography is the study of human population and its
trends. Demography allows us to study different aspects of
people, communities, and societies across borders. This
discipline allows us to track progress, patterns, and
trajectories by providing empirical data of the components
that make up society. As human populations continue to
grow, demography can trace and accurately predict
movements within communities, regions, and countries.
Demographic data and their resulting analysis enable
developers, planners, engineers, and even policy makers to
understand and address the needs of the population.
