1st Quarter Discipline and Ideas in the Social Sciences

Week 1
Lesson: Emergence of the Social Sciences

I. Preliminaries
A. Content Standards:
The learner demonstrates understanding of the emergence of the social sciences and the
different disciplines.

B. Performance Standards
The learner is able to connect the disciplines with their historical and social foundations.

C. Most Essential Learning Competencies

1. Define Social Sciences as the study of society

2. Distinguish Social and Natural Sciences and Humanities
3. Compare and contrast the various Social Sciences disciplines and their fields, main areas of
inquiry and methods
4. Trace the historical foundations and social contexts that led to the development of each
discipline

II. Content:

Emergence of the Social Sciences

 Concept Notes
Introduction to Social Sciences

The social sciences are the fields of scholarship that study society. “Social science” is commonly used
as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of field outside of the natural sciences. Social sciences are a group of
academic disciplines dedicated to examining society. This branch of science studies how people interact with
each other, behave, develop as a culture and influence the world.
Social science as a field of study is separate from the natural sciences. Social science examines the
relationships between individuals and societies, as well as the development and operation of societies, rather
than studying the physical world. These academic disciplines rely more heavily on interpretation.
Social sciences includes: anthropology, archeology, business administration, communication, criminology,
economics, education, government, linguistics, international relations, political science, sociology and in some
contexts, geography, history, law and psychology.

History of Social Science

The origins of social sciences can be traced back to the ancient Greek. The lives they led, and their early
studies into human nature, the state, and mortality, helped to shape Western civilization. Social sciences as
an academic field of study developed out of the “Age of Enlightenment” or the ”Age of reason”, which
flourished through much of the 18th century in Europe. Adam Smith, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
Dennis Diderot, Immanuel Kant, and David Hume were among the big intellectuals at the time who laid the
foundations for the study of social sciences in the Western world.
The term social science may refer either to the specific sciences of society established by thinkers such as
Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber or more generally to all disciplines outside of noble
science and arts.

Social Problems and Social Science

Social sciences help to explain how society works, exploring everything from the triggers of economic
growth and causes of unemployment to what makes people happy. This information is vital and can be used for
many purposes. The connection between social science and social problems should be a high priority for all of us
– social scientists and citizens alike: Example: Poverty and Social Science (Economics)

Definition of Terms
Social Science is the field of human knowledge that deals with all aspects of the group life of human beings. So
it is subject to change with the changes the human behavior (Behavioral science).
Natural science is a branch of science that seeks to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by
using the empirical and scientific method. (e.g., Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science, Astronomy)
Humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily and
analytical, critical, or speculative, ancient and modern languages. (e.g., Visual and Performing Arts such as
Music, Theatre Arts, Literature, History, Philosophy, Religion)
 *Note: Branches of Social Science (Major)
Anthropology is the holistic science of man. It is a science of the totality of human existence; the study of
humans, human behavior and societies in the past and present.
a. Social anthropology – studies patterns of behavior
b. Cultural anthropology – studies cultural meaning, including norms and values
c. Linguistic anthropology – studies how language influences social life
d. Biological or physical anthropology – studies the biological development of humans
e. Visual anthropology – which is usually considered to be part of social anthropology, can mean
both ethnographic film (photography, film and new media) as well as the study of visuals
(including art, visual images, cinema, etc.)
Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behavior and interactions of economic agents and how economies work.
a. Microeconomics analyzes basic elements in the economy, including individual agents and
markets, their interactions, and the outcomes of interactions.
b. Macroeconomics analyzes the economy as a system where production, consumption, saving
and investment interact, and factors affecting it.
Geography is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants and phenomena of the
Earth and planets. The first person to use the word “geography” is Eratosthenes (276-194 BC). It is an all-
encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities – not
merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be.
a. Physical Geography is concerned with the study of processes and patterns in the natural
environment like the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere.
b. Human geography is concerned with the study of people and their communities, cultures,
economies and interactions with the environment by studying their relations with and across
space and place.
History is the study of the past. It is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the memory,
discovery, collection, organization, presentation and interpretation of information about these events.
History includes the academic discipline which uses narrative to describe, examine, question and analyze a
sequence of past events, investigate the patterns of cause and effect that are related to them.
Linguistics is the study of language. It involves the analysis of language form, language meaning and language
in context. It also deals with the social, cultural, historical and political factors that influence language, through
which linguistic and language-based context is often determined.
Political Science, occasionally called politology, is a social science which deals with systems of governance, and
the analysis of political activities, political thoughts, associated constitutions and political behavior.
Psychology is the science of mind and behavior. It includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena,
as well as feeling and thought. It aims to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles and
researching specific cases.
Sociology is the study of society, patterns of social relationships, social interaction and culture that surrounds
everyday life. Sociology can also be defined as the general science of society. Subject matter can range from
micro-level analyses of society (individual interaction and agency) to macro-level analyses of society (systems
and the social structure).
Demography (demos meaning people, and grapho means writing, description or measurement) is the
statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis can cover whole societies or
groups defined by criteria such as education, nationality, religion, and ethnicity. Formal demography limits its
object of study to the measurement of population processes, while the broader field of social demography or
population studies also analyses the relationships between economic, social, cultural, and biological
processes influencing a populations.
 Theories
Society has two faces: CONSENSUS and CONFLICT
 Karl Marx – the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of
class struggles
 Emile Durkheim – modern society is held together by a division of labor
that makes individuals dependent upon one another because they specialize in different
types of work
 Max Weber – an action that a person does not think about cannot be
social action.

CONFLICT THEORY
 The role of COERCION and POWER in producing social order. This perspective is derived from the works
of Karl Marx, who saw society as fragmented into groups that compete for social and economic resources.
 Inequality exists because those in control of a disproportionate share of society's resources actively
defend their advantages.

CONSENSUS THEORY
 states that social change should occur in institutions that are provided by a political or economic system
 states that the absence of conflict within society is the state of equilibrium (a state of rest or balance due
to the equal action of opposing forces, an equal balance between any powers, influences, etc.; equality of
effect.)
 social order in society should be maintained, based upon the accepted norms, values, roles or regulations
that are accepted by the society in general.

Approaches in Social Sciences

 Define the problem
 Review the literature review
 Develop a theoretical framework and formulate a hypothesis
 Choose the research design
 Collect the necessary data
 Analyze the results
 Draw a conclusion.

Define the Problem this one is probably the most important. If you have carefully defined your terms,
you can save an enormous amount of energy. Put simply, if you do not know what you are doing, no
matter how well you do it then everything is useless

Literature Review knowledge of the relevant literature is essential because it provides background,
suggests approaches, indicate what has already been covered and what hasn’t, and saves you from
redoing what has already been done. It is a way of using other people’s observation.

Develop a Theoretical Framework make a statement predicting your results and them clarify what each
of the terms in the statement means within the framework of your research.

Choose a research design pick a means of gathering data, a survey, an experiment, an observational
study, secondary materials or a combination. Weigh this choice carefully because your plan is the crux of
your research process.
Collecting the necessary data Data are what one collects from careful observation. Your conclusion will
be only as good as your data, so take great care in collecting and especially in recording your data. If you
don’t document what you have done, you might as well not have done it.

Drawing conclusions Now you can prepare a report, summarizing the steps you have followed and
discussed what you have found. Good findings will relate your conclusions to the existing body of
research, suggest where current assumptions may be modified because of nee evidence and possibly
identify unanswered questions for further study

Analyzing the results when all data are in classify facts, identify trends, recognize relationships and
tabulate the information so that it can be accurately analyzed and interpreted.

Typical Method in Social Science

 The historical method relies heavily on a study of their (subjects) historical background. It traces the
principal past developments that seem to have been directly significant in bringing a social situation.
 The case method involves making a more detailed examination and analysis of a particular issue or
problem situation.
 The comparative and cross-cultural methods were formerly often employed in the hope of
discovering the evolutionary sequence in the development of human institutions that is patterns of social
development or progress that would be universal.

Difference between Theories and Concepts

 Concepts a generalized idea about people, objects or processes that are related to one another, an
abstract way of classifying things that are similar.
 They are ways of classifying things that are in the same categories

Concepts are used to simplify the way people think and communicate.
 are used by social scientists to generalize about some aspects of human interaction.
 They are guidelines that direct the interpretation and analysis of reality.
 Concepts are the technical vocabulary of the social sciences, and they have precise meanings that may
differ considerably from the generally understood versions.

Theories - a set of principles or concepts and generalizations so arranged that they explain and predict
possible relationships among phenomena.
 In social science, theories are the formulation of principles of behavior through which scientists try to
increase their knowledge of human interaction.
 Theories - founded on observation and analysis using the vocabulary of concepts -intent to explain the
connections between and among occurrences in human interaction.

Without theories, the accumulation of knowledge would be impossible, just as the formulation of theories
would be impossible without concepts- Always open to change and even to total rejection if new evidence is
presented to challenge them.- In scientific terminology, a theory carries much more weight because it is
based on supporting evidence.

Theories of Social sciences

The theory of evolution assumes that the changes in any society are uniformly based on fixed rules.
 The idea of Evolution is often associated with great personalities like Charles Darwin, Auguste Comte,
Herbert Spencer, and Karl Marx
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution – is based on 5 key observations and inferences.
1. Species have great fertility. They make more offspring than they can grow to adulthood.
2. Populations remain roughly the same size with modest fluctuations
3. Food resources are limited but are relatively constant most of the time.
4. In sexually reproducing species, generally, no two individuals are identical. Variations is rampant.
5. Much of this variation is heritable

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

1. Variation – There is a variation in every population
2. Competition – Organisms compete for limited resources
3. Offspring – organisms produce more offspring than can survive
4. Genetics - Organisms pass Genetic traits on to their offspring
5. Natural Selection – Those organisms with the most beneficial traits are more likely to survive and
reproduce.

AUGUST COMTE (1798-1857)

Suggested the idea that human thought is divided into 3 categories:
1. Theology - whereby the thoughts are influenced by religion and supernatural beliefs.
2. Metaphysic -thoughts that are influenced by an abstract idea that is gathered from incident and
physical phenomenon.
3. Positivism - man think by using scientific methods to explore the incidents and the physical
phenomenon around them.

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

 Assumed of the existence of equal evolutionary process between biological organisms and people
 His idea about the natural social evolution was influenced by Darwin’s idea of “Survival of the
Fittest”
 The fittest will survive in the process while the weak will be eliminated naturally according to the
law of nature
 Hence, his idea refuses the element of force in the human social system

Lewis Henry Morgan (1818- 1881)

 popularized Cultural Evolution Theory
 Made assumptions that any society can be divided according to 3 levels of survival
 Savagery - society which lives as nomads and indulges in hunting and food gathering
 Barbarism - society which lives in a particular place and plants for survival
 Civilization - society which lives in a particular place and starts to use technology

Karl Marx (1818-1883) &Frederick Engels (1820-1895)

 Influenced by Morgan’s ideas but more focused on material changes aspect
 Evolution happens in the contacts of resource production and mode of production
Activity 2: Politology
 Activity 3: Econo!
What a great day! I just got P2500 for my birthday! My parents
said I can use the money to buy whatever I wanted. I started to
think of everything I could buy. (List all the things you wanted to
buy as well its possible costs. Prizes must near to the true prize of
the item.)
 Activity 4: I am…Anthropologist!
Think of a province or town with lots of stories about their natives.
What clues can you gather by looking at your organization as an
outsider? Imagine you are an anthropologist encountering your organization in the new
and strange place for the first time. Coming to it with naïve, fresh eyes, what seems to be
important to these peculiar people?
 Activity 5: Frayer’s Model o List down things that are
needed in every box.
 Activity 6: Acrostic Poem
Directions: Make an acrostic free verse poem indicating the
relation of human, human behaviour and the society.

S
 Seatwork No. 1
This world map shows the four oceans and the seven continents. Use the
map to answer the questions.
Seatwork No. 2
 Seatwork No. 3

1. What was the population of Newtown in 1920?

2. How much did the population increase from 1920 to 1940?
3. What was the population in 1960?
4. In which 20-year period did the size of the population change the most?
5. Describe the general changes in Newtown’s population from 1900 to 2000.
6. If this trend continues, what will the population of Newtown be in 2020?
Seatwork No. 4
 Activity 8: I Know Now

Directions: Answer the following questions

1. The study of dialects is called dialectology. A dialect is a variety which is associated

with a particular geographic area. Why do you think there are lots of dialects or
languages in one specific area, like here in the Philippines?
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2. Explain the importance of language and communication in the society where you
belong.
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