IMUS UNIDA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Quality. Christian. Education. 12

Understanding Culture,
Society and Politics

Lesson 3: Rationale for Studying Anthropology,

Sociology and Political Science
ANTHROPOLOGY
 ➢ A systematic study of the biological, cultural, and social
aspects of man. From two Greek words, Anthropos, meaning
“MAN”; and Logos, meaning “STUDY”.

Goals of Anthropology
1. Discover what all people have in common – By studying
commonalities (folklores, traditions, language, etc.) in
all humanity, we could understand more about the human’s
nature.
2. Produce new knowledge and new theories about humankind
and human behavior – This new knowledge is then applied
in an attempt to alleviate human challenges.
3. Discover what makes people different from one another in
order to understand and preserve diversity.
4. Look at one’s own culture more objectively like an
outsider – It aims to make “the strange familiar and the
familiar strange.”

Branches of Anthropology

1. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY- Refers to the study of living people

and their cultures including variation and change. It deals
with the description and analysis of the forms and styles
and the social lives of past and present ages. Cultural
anthropologists also study art, religion, marriage, and
family.
a. LINGUISTICS- Refers to the study of communication, mainly
(but not exclusively) among humans. It includes the study
of communication’s origins, history, and contemporary
variation.
b. ARCHAEOLOGY- Refers to the study of past human cultures
through their material remains. It is the study of past
human cultures through the recovery and analysis of
artifacts.
c. ETHNOLOGY- a branch of anthropology that analyzes
cultures, especially in regard to their historical
development and the similarities and dissimilarities
between them.
 2. BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY- Also known as “physical
anthropology”, this refers to the study of humans as
biological organisms including their evolution and
contemporary variation.
a. Human Paleontology- focuses exclusively on fossils related
to the human lineage. The study of the history of life on
Earth as based on fossils.

SOCIOLOGY

➢ It is a systematic study of groups and societies that people

build and how these affect their behavior.

➢ It focuses on various social connections, institutions,

organizations, structures, and processes.

➢ It gathers social inputs which are composed of frequent

forms and manners namely: attitude, viewpoints, consolidated
values, and norms of social institutions which form part of
social array.

Goals of Sociology
1. Obtain possible theories and principles about society as
well as various aspects of social life.
2. Critically study the nature of humanity, which also leads to
examining our roles within the society;
3. Appreciate that all things (in society) are interdependent
with each other. An individual’s personal history is
connected to his/her environment’s history, which is also
tied into the nation’s history;
4. Broaden our familiarity on sociological facts. Incidentally,
it makes us realize our prejudices on various social issues.

Branches of Anthropology

1. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
- This includes the study of social institutions, social
inequality, social mobility, religious groups, and
bureaucracy.
2. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
 - This area focuses on the study of human nature and its
emphasis on social processes as they affect individual or
responses which are called “social stimuli”.
3. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY AND RESEARCH
- It focuses on the discovery of theoretical tools,
methods, and techniques to scientifically explain a
particular sociological issue.
4. APPLIED SOCIOLOGY
- This is concerned with the specific intent of yielding
practical applications for human behavior and
organizations. The goal of Applied Sociology is to assist
in resolving social problems through the use of
sociological research.
5. POPULATION STUDIES
- This area includes size, growth, demographic
characteristics, composition, migration, changes, and
quality vis-à-vis economic, political, and social
systems.
6. HUMAN ECOLOGY
- It pertains to the study of the effects of various social
organizations (religious organizations, political
institutions and etc.) to the population’s behavior.
7. SOCIAL CHANGE
- It studies factors that cause social organization and
social disorganization like calamity, drug abuse, drastic
and gradual social change, health and welfare problems,
political instability, unemployment and underemployment,
child and women’s issue, etc.

POLITICAL SCIENCE

➢ comes from the Greek words “polis” – refers to the city

state in ancient Greece and “scire”- means to know.
Combining the two meanings, political science aims to know
the activities within the state. Such activities include the
following: human interaction and conflict, human and state
relations, and power distribution.
Important Terminologies in Political Science

1. Political Theory- examines the contemporary application of

political concepts such as human rights, equality, peace,
and justice.
2. Comparative Politics- branch of political science that aims
to provide context to the differences in government and
political system.
3. International Relations- the study of state-to-state relations
and the wider margin of the impacts of globalization and
climate change such as terrorism and piracy fall into the
category of international relations.
4. Political Behavior- this field covers the attitude,
knowledge, and actions of an individual in response to
political variables such as policies created by the
government.
5. Public Policy- this field inquires on the types of
governmental policies and the underlying motivations for
their enactment and implementation.
6. Public Administration- it examines the various administrative
schemes implemented by government officials.

Elements of State

1. Government– the set of personnel who manages the affairs of

the state in its act of allocating scarce values.
2. Sovereignty- this is the capacity of a political system to
make independent decisions within its territory.
3. Territory- the geographic space in which the sovereignty of
a state is exercised.
4. People- the most important elements of state since the
existence of the people that concepts on government, state,
territory and sovereignty take shape.