SCSR Journal of
 

  Development
 

 
ISSN: 2384‐5341          www.scholarconsult.com
 

 
Volume 2, Issue 1 (Special Issue), pp 29‐ 35  
 

Are there Relationships between Social Studies

and Social Science?

Grace Malachi Brown, PhD

Senior Lecturer, Department of History and Diplomatic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Ignatius Ajuru University of
Education, P. M. B. 5047, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

© Grace Malachi Brown (2015).

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ISSN: 2384-5341. Volume 2, Issue 1 (April, 2015), pp 29 - 35
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Are there Relationships between Social Studies and Social Science?

Are there Relationships between Social Studies and Social

Science?
Grace Malachi Brown, PhD
Senior Lecturer, Department of History and Diplomatic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Ignatius
Ajuru University of Education, P. M. B. 5047, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Rivers State,
Nigeria

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between social studies and social science. It
traces their relationships, differences and contributions to education. We utilized
interdisciplinary approach in this our study, having regard the nature of the topical issue. We
observed that there are differences between social studies an social science, in spite of the fact
that both of them deals with the society, but there exist some interrelationship and
interconnectivity between them. The study concludes that both of them deals with study of the
society, its environment and human behaviours.

1. Introduction
Social studies discipline studies the totality of man, how he lives in his environment and how his
life is affected by things around him. It is an integrative course that makes use of other
disciplines to build its theme. The overall analysis shows that the later disciplinary nature of
social studies helps it to provide solution to the prevailing contemporary social problems. The
main concern of social studies therefore is to create awareness in man for the events and
potentialities of his environment so that he gets himself prepared to utilize them and solve
problems.
Society is the dimension that a group of persons live together and have business, culture,
religion with their proper value. These elements are the fields of social sciences research. So
those two units are inseparable because without social sciences, society cannot evolve without
society, the social sciences has no reason to be. Society is the dimension that a group of persons
live together and have business, culture, religion with their proper value. These elements are the
fields of social sciences research. So those two units are inseparable because without social
sciences, society can not evolve without society, the social sciences has no reason to be.
In order to emphasize its interdisciplinary nature, social studies curriculum is usually
organized with the use of appropriate social science disciplines. Generally, social problems are
not limited to the particular discipline, various discipline need to be brought under focus so that
materials from them will be of immense help (Bruce 1972:2810).
It should be noted that problems within any society are not separated from political,
economic and social problems. The study of social problems therefore requires interdisciplinary
efforts. To get a clearer understanding of this argument, we shall examine the relationship
between social studies and some social science courses like geography, history, economies and
political science.

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Are there Relationships between Social Studies and Social Science?

2. Relationship between Social Studies and the Social Sciences

The study of geography will help us to understand the relationship between man and his
activities on earth, for instance, the influence of the physical environment. Social studies units
are equally designed to provide opportunity to relate human activities to the environment.
There are also aspects of geography that are helpful to the study of social studies. These
include industrial geography, agricultural geography, transport geography, urban geography and
political geography. Industrial geography deals with how man establishes industries and how he
produces goods and services. Agricultural geography emphasizes on the effectiveness of land by
man, i.e. how man cultivates and produces crops. Also transport geography concerns itself with
how man constructs roads, railroads, airports and the means of transportation while urban
geography dwells on urbanization and settlements. There is also political geography which
explains how man identifies his territorial boundary and lives within a territorial domain called a
state. Man establishes a constituted authority within the state and expects total submission from
the inhabitants.
All these branches of geography share common concepts such as habitat, culture,
interaction, resource endowment, technology, institutions, social change, transportation, choice
and so on. In these concepts, man finds himself at the center of all human activities. This
evaluation of the relationship between geography and social studies shows that the two
disciplines are inseparable, one influences the other.
History as the study of man and his past activities has contributed to the teaching of
social studies. Historical records and information provide the student of social studies with
essential information and facts about the past events and social experiences of man which is a
prelude decisions. Hence (Udoh, 1984) could say that “the broader the various experiences
gained by he student through such guidelines and facts the better prepared would be to make
intelligent decisions and conclusions about events of present life”.
On this premise, (Akude 1988:11) identifies some concepts that, are generally common to
both history and social studies. These includes independence, liberation struggles emancipation
(political, economic, social colonization, declonization and so on). He therefore concluded that if
concepts of history and social studies are well taught, that opportunities could be provided for
inculcating different kinds of skills and attitudes.
There is also linkage between social studies and economics. For example some economic
concepts are very vital tool to the study of social studies. Although, there is no standard or
definite definition of economics because most definitions do not cover everything that is being
studied in economics. The definition by Robbins L., sees “economics as the science which
studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative
uses” (Scruton, 1982:138). This definition seems to agree with BBC English dictionary meaning
of economics which defines economics as the study of the way in which money, industry and
trade are organized in a society.
These definitions centre on man and how he utilizes his available resources to produce
things that could sustain him in life. An economists make use of certain concepts like
interdependence, demand and supply and maximization of profit. Some of these concepts are
geared towards economic property which one way or the other affects the morality of man in a
negative way. Some of these concepts are hoarding, creation of artificial scarcity, profiteering,
inflation or hiking of prices points to social problems which concern social studies.

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In all, some economics concepts are useful to social studies. Whether social studies or
economics, all human activities are centred around social and physical aspects of our
environment. Political science is another discipline that shares common concepts with social
studies. Political science is the study of the ways in which power is acquired and used in a
country. It concerns itself with political institutions and essential organs of public administration.
The fundamental concepts of political science that social studies absorb authority, leadership,
fellowship cooperation conflict resolution and the rest. Other areas of political science such as
political integration, political socialization and political recruitment center on man in order to
make him functional, socialized and fit in the society. In essence all these processes concern
modification, controlment and channeling human life and behaviour and are therefore veritable
tools in social studies teaching.

3. Difference between Social Studies and Social Science

Social Studies is the integrated study of Social Science and humanities to promote effective
citizenry. Social Science is the field of sciences concerned with the studies of the social life of
human groups and individuals, including economics, geography, history, political science,
psychology, social studies, and sociology. Their branches are as follows:-

1. Economics is a social science that studies the production, distribution and consumption of
goods and services.
2. Psychology is the science of human behavior, the mind, and mental processes in humans and
animals as they interact with each other and the environment.
3. Geography is the study of the earth and its features, inhabitants, and phenomena
4. History is the study of the past, particularly the written record of the human race, but more
generally including scientific and archaeological discoveries about the past.
5. Political science is a branch of social science that deals with the theory and practice of
politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior.
6. Social studies is a term used to describe the broad study of the various fields which involve
past and current human behavior and interactions.
7. Sociology is the scientific or systematic study of society, including patterns of social
relationships, social interaction, and culture
8. Anthropology is the study of man.
9. Theology is the study of beliefs about God.

4. Contribution of Social Studies to Education

This refers to the merit or relevance of social studies questions such as why do we study social
studies? How is it different from other social science disciplines or other disciplines? These
questions will be answered as we analyses the relevance of social studies to education.
Social studies as a distinct discipline creates suitable learning experiences for learners,
i.e. interactions between learners and their environments which creates behavioral changes in
them. This is what Nwana-Nzenwa and Okoh identifies as problem solving attitude in pupils.
What these scholars meant is that the knowledge of social studies would enable pupils to live
with mutual understanding in any community they find themselves later in their life. It will also

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provide learners with understand basic needs and activities in which he engages in order to meet
his needs (Nzenwunwa and Okoh 2001:3).
Another area where social studies has played significant role is in its attempt to promote
citizenship education. This aims at producing responsible citizens, who will be socially
acceptable, desirable, self-reliant and those that will contribute to the stability of the nation,
studying the lives of prominent people in society serves as a model for the younger generations.
The study of social studies will also help learners to appreciate their own cultures and
other people’s culture. It will help the students to have respect for the dignity of man and labour,
have understanding of the value of co-operation, and interdependence among communities.
The pupils and students are taught how to interact happily within the family, school and
society at large. Social studies as a citizenship education helps to solve a lot of social problems if
carefully planned and implemented. Societal problems as lack of patriotism, absenteeism,
dishonesty and fraud can be solved if the study of social studies is implemented. Students will
also be taught various skills that will help them in life.
Social studies as a discipline creates self-awareness in pupils and inculcates self-
discipline, service which in turn develops a sound mind to cope with stresses and strains of life.
In a nutshell, social studies education produces people who are conscious of their surrounding,
politically sound, fully conscious of their rights and responsibilities and who would be patriotic
and useful to both himself, society and the nation at large. The above analysis points to the fact
that social studies is a distinct subject.
"Man and Nature" and "Man and Society" seem to concern different problems, yet this is
not really so. To a certain extent the problem of the relation between the human being and nature
is the problem of that between human beings and society because the social relation among
persons is built upon their remaking of nature. Conversely, the relationship which binds human
beings to a society gives them ever greater power for the work of remaking Nature.
Many conflicts in modern society have arisen from a failure to understand the dialectical
relation between ‘Man and Nature’, on the one hand, and ‘Man and Society’, on the other. The
higher the level of the development of human civilization the more significant the dialectical
relation. Hence, the two issues are both same and different. "Dialectical relation" is a very broad
term; it is used here with regard to the union of the natural sciences and the social
sciences.
In dealing with the problem of the union of these two types of sciences, we must first
acknowledge the scientific status of social studies, otherwise there could be no question of their
return to natural sciences. However, though the problem of this relation has been solved
partially, in its essence it remains unsolved. The key to the solution of the problem lies in the
relation between subject and object. In sense intuition, the subject stands in absolute opposition
to the object; this rules out speaking of the social sciences at the same level as the natural
sciences.
However, the object does not simply exclude the subject, but sublates the external
independence of the subject, and makes the subject an internal element. For the same reason, the
subject does not simply exclude the object, but sublates the external independence of the object
which is made an internal element of the subject. The reason the relation between subject and
object is so understood is a fundamental feature of human existence. Whereas animals and
beings other than humans exist and reproduce by adapting to the external world, human beings

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exist and develop themselves by remaking the external world. If human activity were not
objective, human beings would not differ from animals, or would be reduced to the animal level.
Hence Marx noted: "Whatever relation exists, it always exists for me. Animals do not enter into
a `relation’ to anything," they have no `relations’ at all: animals are not relational beings. This is
essential for understanding the real meaning of subject and object, and hence what science is.
As a matter of fact, the human being was not fully aware of the conflict between nature
and himself in the early stages of human civilization; he considered himself a part of nature,
though an intelligent part. As there was no sharp distinction between the natural and the social,
truth was often identical with good and beauty.
Only in modern times when the human capacity of remaking the external world has
expanded rapidly have human beings become conscious of their independence from nature.
Human beings were under the illusion that their remaking of nature influenced only the external
world, whereas it was only by one’s own free will that one influenced oneself. Thus, the natural
sciences were opposed to the social sciences.
However, as a result of the accelerating development of the human capacity to remake
the world, people now notice that in re-making the external world one, at the same time, changes
oneself. This synchronous phenomenon appears in the social relations between persons, as well
as in the powers of human knowledge, the values chosen, the aesthetic needs, etc.
Therefore, the natural sciences are internally related to the social sciences. Natural
scientists are not merely outside observers of the phenomena of nature, and human activity in
remaking nature is the same as that in creating human history. On the other hand, social scientists
cannot merely observe social phenomena; the various kinds of activity in creating human history
proceed only in conditions which enable persons to remake nature and undertake social
production.
Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to think that the mutual per-meation and cooperation
of these two sorts of science concern only different disciplines and sets of scholars. Rather, new
disciplines are produced in this process, which will result further in new syntheses of human
knowledge.
In view of the above, philosophers must reflect anew upon the present situation and the
future of philosophy. It is my sense that the trends of humanism and of scienticism have both
passed, and that the major subject matter of philosophy now promises to be the relation between
truth, good and beauty.
The core of this relation consists in the relation between thought and existence, and thus
concerns not only the relation between human and thing, but also among persons. Precisely
because this is a relation in a double sense, it signifies not only human knowledge, but, more
importantly, the unity of truth, good and beauty. Philosophers must focus their efforts on the
historical development and intrinsic rules of the interconnection of these three and study the
present and future developments of this relationship. Such studies promise to enable humans to
find the way to a brighter and happier future.
Generally speaking, the human is an animal struggling for ideals but these are not given
once and for all: the past ideal, once realized, is no longer an ideal. Indeed, ideals are called such
precisely inasmuch as they are not actual, while the actual is called such because it is not ideal.
In human history the ideal and the actual change from one to the other in an endless process of
development.

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One’s practical activity in one’s struggle to realize one’s ideals is always united with
truth, good and beauty as a unity. The form and content of this unity vary with historic periods,
nations and states inasmuch as any practical activity is both subject to and transcends existing
conditions. If it is not subject to existing conditions, the ideal will not be realizable and will
become a fantasy. On the other hand, if it does transcend existing conditions the ideal will lose
its proper character and leave humans satisfied with existing circumstances. Generally, practical
aims can be reached only according to ideal principles. These can be realized because they are
first of all in accord with the objective law of the external world, and moreover include the
creative act of the subject. Without this latter, respect for the existing situation will degenerate
into the yielding to it, causing thereby a failure to transcend it. The creativity of the subject, on
the other hand, is determined to a large extent by one’s knowledge of objective laws, the values
aimed at, and aesthetic needs.
Thus, studies of nature are not naive picturing or mechanical re-presentation, but imply,
consciously or unconsciously, the values aimed at and the beauty needed by humankind.
However, if the desire for value and beauty were to have no foundation in a knowledge of
objective laws, it would lead to irrationalism or anti-rationalism, there-by resulting in mysticism.
On the other hand, if the knowledge of objective laws does not include in itself the desire for
values and beauty, it will lose its cognitive function, and become mere natural experience similar
to that of animals.
Finally, that the laws of the external world are not influenced by human acts does not
mean that human acts are subjectively spontaneous. On the contrary, they too are objective and
subordinate to the objective laws of the external world. One is not "God"; one cannot separate
oneself from the world or toy with it from outside.
In reality, the most important laws of the objective order are those which harmonize truth,
good and beauty, and which unite the three in human practice. They are the most general laws
and await philosophical study.

5. Conclusion
We can conclude therefore that even though social studies makes use of social science
disciplines, it has different orientation. The study of social studies should remain an integral part
of the educational system at all levels. We conclude that if the social studies and social sciences
did not permeate and cooperate with each other in the long run human beings and society would
fail to develop smoothly.

References
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