SHS

Disciplines and Ideas

in the Social Sciences
Quarter 1: Week 8 - Module 8
Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences
Grade 11 Quarter 1: Week 8, Module 8
First Edition, 2020

Copyright © 2020
La Union Schools Division
Region I

All rights reserved. No part of this module may be reproduced in any form without
written permission from the copyright owners.

Development Team of the Module

Author: Dexter P. Dacanay, T-I

Editor: SDO La Union, Learning Resource Quality Assurance Team
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Schools Division Superintendent
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 Disciplines and Ideas
in the Social Sciences
Quarter 1: Week 8 - Module 8
 Target

Samuel Sumaoang, a Christian Educator affirms that dominant

approaches and ideas in the scientific study of society are ways of looking at
society and explaining the things that are happening in it.
In your previous lesson, you have learned about the emergence and
essence of the Social Sciences and its disciplines; and started analyzing
some major social science theories.
In this week’s module, we will be continuing the journey in
understanding the different approaches and ideas employed in the study of
Social Sciences. These concepts may help provide credible explanations on
why humans act and think the way they do.
After going through this module, you are expected to analyze the basic
concepts and principles of the Social Science ideas: Rational Choice
(HUMSS_DISS 11-IVa-6) and Institutionalism (HUMSS_DISS 11-IVb-7).
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. Define what is Rational Choice Theory and Institutionalism;
2. Discuss the basic concepts and principles of Rational Choice Theory
and Institutionalism; and
3. Apply the concepts and principles of Rational Choice Theory and
Institutionalism in analyzing one’s behavior and attitude.

Before continuing to the major chunk, let’s see how much you know in
this week’s lesson by taking the pretest.

Pretest
Direction. Carefully read and understand the following questions and
statements. Write your answers in a separate sheet of paper.
1. What does Rational Choice Theory is referring to?
A. RCT refers to historical phenomena interpreted in proper context.
B. RCT refers to the notion that person will choose the option that will
best serve his or her objectives.
C. RCT refers to the viewpoint that institutions are parts of a whole,
each with important functions to maintain stability.
D. RCT refers to institutions that are humanly devised constraints
that structure political, economic and social interactions.
2. Who established Rational Choice Theory in Sociology?
A. Emil Durkheim C. George Homans

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 B. Joshua Haber D. Adam Sandler
3. When was the beginning of rational choice?
A. Dark Ages C. Neo-Classical Period
A. Period of Enlightenment D. Post-Modern Age
4. Who among below is a contributor in the study of Rational Choice
Theory?
A. Gary Becker C. Dustin Hoffman
B. Sigmund Freud D. Steven Speilberg
5. Below are concepts in Rational Choice Theory EXCEPT:
A. Utility maximization C. Informal institutions
B. Structure preference D.Decision-making under uncertainties
6. What is the highlight of institutionalism?
A. It highlights the relationship of humans and the environment.
B. It highlights the role of institutions in affecting social behavior.
C. It highlights the option that will best serve a person’s objectives.
D. It highlights the symbolic meaning developed by people
7. Who among below did NOT contribute in the study of institutionalism?
A. Herbert Blummer C. Johan Olsen
B. James March D. Max Weber
8. What does formal institutions refers to?
A. Refers to phenomena that interpreted differently in proper context.
B. Refers to those officially established, legally introduces and
enforced by the state.
C. Refers to rules governing behavior outside official channels which
may affect behavior.
D. Refers to the established connection between humans and
environment.
9. Below are criticisms of Institutionalism EXCEPT:
A. Institutionalism too much focuses on macro-level analysis.
B. Rationality is the basic factor of human choice in all undertakings.
C. It emphasizes on the role of deliberate interaction in determining
political results.
D. Inability to offer a refined comprehension of how institutions affect
human behavior.
10. What does informal institutions confers to?
A. Confers to phenomena that interpreted differently in proper context.
B. Confers to those officially established, legally introduces and
enforced by the state.
C. Confers to the established connection between humans and
environment.
D. Confers to rules governing behavior outside official channels which
may affect behavior.

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 Jumpstart

To start up your engine, do the following activities.

Enjoy yourself and you’ll do great!

Activity 1. Think Of Me!

A. Read and analyze the situation below. What is your response if you
will be in this situation?

It’s been almost seven months that tourism shuts down due to the
pandemic disease. But now, little by little, tourism industries opens up. Being
a travel wanderer, will you go out for the first time and maximize the time
you’ve lost because of community quarantines or you prefer to stay at home
and wait until the disease will be finally gone?

_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________

B. What comes to your mind, if you heard the word “institution”?

Institution

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 Discover

Dominant Approaches and Ideas in the Social

Sciences: Rational Choice Theory

Rational Choice Theory is one of the many positivist theories that try
to explain human behavior in terms of utility maximization or the that when
a person is confronted with a set of choices, that person will choose the
option that will best serve his or her objectives. Rational means people act
based on or in accordance with reason or logic while choice refers to an act
of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities.
The beginnings of the foundations of rational choice can be traced to
the age of reason (Oppenheimer, 2008). In the 1960s George Homans, an
American sociologist was credited for establishing rational choice theory in
sociology. Gary Becker (1930-2014) is also one of the contributors in the
study of Rational Choice Theory. His ability of extending microeconomic
investigation to a broad extent of human behavior and interaction such as
discrimination, crime and punishment, human capitals, families and organ
market paved him the way for the Nobel Prize in 1992.

Key concepts in Rational Choice Theory:

A. Utility Maximization – people will choose the object that provides the
greatest reward at the lower cost.
B. Structure of preferences – refers to the idea that people are motivated
by their personal desires and aspirations but since it is not possible
for them to attain all of the things that they want, they must make
choices related to their goals and the means for attaining those goals.
For instance, a person who wishes to have a car may choose between
two options: buy the car by spending most of his savings (he or she
may have little savings left but will merit status symbol for being able
to buy a car) or steal the car (which can lead to imprisonment and
social disapproval when caught).
C. Decision-making under conditions for uncertainty – The decision-maker
is not aware of all available alternatives, the risks associated with
each, and the consequences of each alternative or their probabilities.
In the face of such uncertainty, decision-maker needs to make certain
assumptions about the situation in order to provide a reasonable
decision. He or she has to depend upon their judgment and experience
for making decisions.
D. Centrality of individuals in the explanation of group outcomes – means
that group outcomes must be explained by maximized actions of
individual. Social phenomena can be explained in terms of the

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 individual actions that led to those phenomena. The basic unit of
social life is individual human deed. Therefore, group outcomes are
caused by the maximizing actions of individuals.

Strengths of Rational Choice Theory:

 Generality – one set of hypotheses applies to all sets of structural
hypotheses, that is the most general theory of social action which can
be used to understand all human behavior (Ogu, 2013)
 Parsimony – a principle to which an explanation of a thing or event is
made with the fewest possible assumptions.
 Predictive – decisions of individuals depend on the structures and
assumptions.

Criticisms of Rational Choice Theory:

 Difficulty encountered by individuals to make decisions in case of
inadequate information and uncertainty.
 Human social action and interactions is complex and rational choice
theory may not be able to explain all of these complexities.
 Difficulty of explaining macro level structures and institutions simply
from the models of individual social action.
 Rational choice assumption that almost everything humans do is
rational is problematic, since not all human actions are rational.

Institutionalism

Institutionalism is an approach that highlights the role of institutions,

both formal and non-formal, in affecting social behavior. It is a theory that
views institutions as humanly devised constraints that structure political,
economic and social interactions.
Institutionalism made its debut during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries through the initiatives of American institutional economists along
with Thorstein Veblen as a leading figure. The German sociologist Max
Weber is considered the most important institutionalist who was influenced
by early German historical economists. Also, Johan Olsen and James March
are some of the well-known figures in institutionalism.
Key concepts in Institutionalism:
A. Institutions – often referred to as the “rules of the game” (North, 1991).
They are humanly-devised constraints that affect human interaction,
devised by people to be able to gain control over their environment for
the purpose of bringing about certainty in an uncertain world. It is

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 also seen as a way of minimizing transaction costs or the costs of
relations between people.
B. Informal Institutions – refers to rules governing behavior outside official
channels which may have constitutive and regulative effects on
human behavior. Constitutive effects refer to aspects of culture that
affect economic behavior while regulative effects refers to the ways in
which values and beliefs of a society are manifested through social
norms and behaviors which regulate behavior. Example is cultural
practices concerning courtship and marriage, which may vary from
one society to another (Soya & Jutting, 2014).
C. Formal Institutions – refer to those officially established, often by
governments. They are legally introduced and enforced by the state.
Excellent examples are laws, business organizations, religious groups
and educational institutions.

Strengths of Institutionalism:
 New institutionalism emphasizes that institutions are central makers
in the process of preference formation.
 New institutionalism provides the analytical tools for determining
institutional change.
 Even though the new institutionalists return to the institutional root
of political science, they also stress the importance of individual actors
in the political process.
 New institutionalism helps us to really examine the nature of
institutions in a political system.
 The theory is very helpful in explaining how existing institutions
continue to exist, since the persistence of an institution often depends
on the benefits it can deliver.

Criticisms of Institutionalism:
 Its claim that rationality is the basic factor of human choice in all
undertakings.
 Too focus on macro-level analysis.
 Inability to offer a refined comprehension of how institutions affect
human behavior (Bethani, 2011)

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 Explore

Here are some enrichment activities for you to work on to master and
strengthen the basic concepts you have learned from this lesson.
Don’t hesitate to go over the lesson on Rational Choice Theory and
Institutionalism.

Enrichment Activity 1. ESSAYhan Lang Natin!

Direction: Answer the following questions in two or three sentences. Write
your answers in your study notebook.

1. How do people make choices according to Rational Choice Theory?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. How can social phenomena be explained according to Rational Choice

Theory?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. How do institutions constrain human behavior according to

institutionalism?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

4. How do formal institutions differ from informal institutions?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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 Scoring Rubric
Points Description
5  Learner’s understanding of concept is
clearly evident
 Learner uses effective strategies to get
accurate results
 Learner uses logical thinking to arrive at a
conclusion
4  Learner’s understanding of concept is
evident
 Learner uses appropriate strategies to get
accurate results
 Learner shows thinking skills to arrive at
conclusion
3  Learner has a limited understanding of a
concept
 Learner uses strategies that are ineffective
 Learner attempts to show thinking skills
2  Learner has a lack of understanding of
concept
 Learner attempts to use a strategy
 Learner shows little understanding
1  Learner has a complete lack of
understanding of concept
 Learner makes no attempt to use a strategy
 Learner shows no understanding

Enrichment Activity 2. Identify Me!

Direction: Identify the concept being described in each number. Write your
answers in your study notebook.
1. People act based on or in accordance with reason or logic.
2. People will choose the object that provides the greatest reward at the
lowest cost.
3. Credited for establishing rational choice in sociology.
4. “Rules of the game”
5. The most important key institutionalist figure.
6. Rules outside government or church.

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Assessment
Directions: Complete the table by showing a brief description, contributors,
strengths and criticisms of the lesson (Rational Choice Theory &
Institutionalism) being discussed. Copy the table in your study notebook.

THEORIES DESCRIPTON CONTRIBUTORS STRENGTHS CRITICISMS

Rational Choice
Theory
Institutionalism

Deepen

After doing those pen and paper activities, it is time for you to apply
the concept you have learned. Choose one scenario from the ones listed
below and share your own personal and social experience or knowledge of
them using one of the two theories discussed in this lesson. Write a
reflection paper about it.
a. Being a member of a particular organization (religious or socio-
civic)
b. Deciding where to eat during lunch break
c. Roles of your family in shaping your norms and values

Rubric for Reflection Paper

CRITERIA DESCRIPTION POINTS POINTS
OBTAINED
Content The learner was able to choose 10
one scenario and was able to
interpret personal and social
experiences using one of the two
approaches discussed in this
lesson.
Analysis Analysis was clear and concise 6
based on the data presented.
Organization The paper was well-written with 4
ideas easily conveyed to readers.
Total 20

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 Gauge

Summative Assessment
I. Multiple Choices. Carefully read and understand the following questions
and statements. Write your answers in a separate sheet of paper.
1. What does Rational Choice Theory is referring to?
A. RCT refers to historical phenomena that interpreted differently in
proper context.
B. RCT refers to the notion that person will choose the option that will
best serve his or her objectives.
C. RCT refers to the viewpoint that institutions are parts of a whole,
each with important functions to maintain stability.
D. RCT refers to institutions that are humanly devised constraints
that structure political, economic and social interactions.
2. Who established Rational Choice Theory in Sociology?
A. Emil Durkheim C. George Homans
B. Joshua Haber D. Adam Sandler
3. When was the beginning of rational choice?
A. Dark Ages C. Neo-Classical Period
B. Period of Enlightenment D. Post-Modern Age
4. Who among below is a contributor in the study of Rational Choice
Theory?
A. Gary Becker C. Dustin Hoffman
B. Sigmund Freud D. Steven Speilberg
5. Below are concepts in Rational Choice Theory EXCEPT:
A. Utility maximization C. Informal institutions
B. Structure preference D. Decision-making under uncertainties
6. What is the highlight of institutionalism?
A. It highlights the relationship of humans and the environment.
B. It highlights the role of institutions in affecting social behavior.
C. It highlights the option that will best serve a person’s objectives.
D. It highlights the symbolic meaning developed by people in the
process of interaction.

7. Who among below did NOT contribute in the study of institutionalism?

A. Herbert Blummer C. Johan Olsen
B. James March D. Max Weber
8. What does formal institutions refers to?

10
 A. Refers to phenomena that interpreted differently in proper context.
B. Refers to those officially established, legally introduces and
enforced by the state.
C. Refers to rules governing behavior outside official channels which
may affect behavior.
D. Refers to the established connection between humans and
environment.
9. Below are criticisms of Institutionalism EXCEPT:
A. Institutionalism too much focuses on macro-level analysis.
B. Rationality is the basic factor of human choice in all undertakings.
C. It emphasizes on the role of deliberate interaction in determining
political results.
D. Inability to offer a refined comprehension of how institutions affect
human behavior.
10. What does informal institutions confers to?
A. Confers to phenomena that interpreted in proper context.
B. Confers to those officially established, legally introduces and
enforced by the state.
C. Confers to the established connection between humans and
environment.
D. Confers to rules governing behavior outside official channels which
may affect behavior.

II. Essay: Using a separate sheet of paper, discuss your answers on the
following statement. Make sure that you will utilize at least five sentences.

“A person is likely to help someone in need if in his past experiences, his

actions has been rewarded” – George Homan

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 Rubric for the Essay
CRITERIA DESCRIPTION POINTS POINTS
OBTAINED
Content The learner was able to choose 10
one scenario and was able to
interpret personal and social
experiences using one of the two
approaches discussed in this
lesson.
Analysis Analysis was clear and concise 6
based on the data presented.
Organization The paper was well-written with 4
ideas easily conveyed to readers.
Total 20

Good job! You are done with this module. 

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Answer Key

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References:
Printed Materials
 Jose, Mary Dorothy et al. (2016) Disciplines and Ideas in the
Social Sciences: Quezon City, Philippines: Vibal Group, Inc.
 Tatel Jr., Carlos, P. (2016) Disciplines and Ideas in the
Social Sciences: Manila, Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc.

Links
 https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/decision-making/decision-
making-under-certainty-risk-and-uncertainty/3371
 http://socialsciences101.blogspot.com/
 https://slideplayer.com/slide/13700036/
 https://www.slideshare.net/SamuelSumaoang/dominant-approaches-and-
ideas-in-the-scientific-study-of-society-focused-on-positivist-social-science

Image/Picture
 http://clipart-library.com/free/thinking-clip-art-black-and-white.html

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