THE DISCIPLINES

WITHIN SOCIAL
SCIENCES
OBJECTIVES
1.Identify the nine disciplines of Social
Sciences.
2.Analyze the natures and functions of each
disciplines
3.Relate each discipline to Social Science as a
study of society.
 Society
Social
Sciences
People
VISUAL PROMPT

R O T H P O L O G YA N

NISTCSULISIG

OPTLICILA ICECNES

RAPGOGHEY
VISUAL PROMPT

COSIOLOSOGY NECOMICES

PHYGRADEMO
TOHISRY
PHSCYLOGOY
GROUP ACTIVITY

• The class will be divided into 9 groups.

Each group will be given a task to do
the following:
• Meaning/definition of the discipline
• Its significance/relation to Social
Sciences
ANTHROPOLOGY

• Etymology: “anthopos” (human), “logos”

(study of)
• Definition: Study of human population
and dynamics
ANTHROPOLOGY

• Function: Essentially to understand as many

aspects of human life as can possibly be
studied, to record its findings, and contribute
to both historical understanding as well as to
ascertain current states of the human condition
in an attempt to better understand and/or act
upon those findings. (Fethe, 2017)
ANTHROPOLOGY

Nature:
• The aim of modern social anthropology is
just not to study human society but also to
understand the complex issues of modern
human life.
ANTHROPOLOGY

Nature:
• As primitive people have been the focus of
anthropological study, the problems faced by
these people in the process of development in
modern days become very important for the
anthropologists to study.
ANTHROPOLOGY
Nature:
• Anthropologists not only deal with the study of
these problems but also try to find out a solution
for this.
• Developmental anthropology and Action
anthropology etc. are the specialized fields within
social anthropology which deal with such
problems
ANTHROPOLOGY

Nature:
• Therefore, we can say that the scope and aim of
social anthropology go together; one influences
the other. As much as the scope increases a new
aim comes out of it.
GEOGRAPHY

Etymology: “geo” (Earth), “graphein”(description)

Definition: Deals with the study of the relationship
between the earth and people
GEOGRAPHY
Function: To understand basic physical systems that
affect everyday life (e.g. earth-sun relationships,
water cycles, wind and ocean currents). To learn the
location of places and the physical and cultural
characteristics of those places in order to function
more effectively in our increasingly interdependent
world. (Bonnett, 2008)
GEOGRAPHY
Nature:
• Geography is concerned to provide an accurate,
orderly, and rational description of the variable
character of the earth's surface" (Hartshorne, p. 21).
• Understandably this characterization has not been
universally accepted, and others have suggested
terms such as "areal differentiation," and "spatial
interaction" as better expressing the core of
geography
GEOGRAPHY
• It has been seen as more akin to history than to
the systematic sciences (physics, chemistry,
biology, geology, meteorology, etc.) in that it has
no body of material peculiar to itself, but rather
adopts a point of view.
• But subjects studied by some geographers, such as
map projections, are highly "scientific."
SOCIOLOGY

• ETYMOLOGY: “socius” (people together,

associate), “logos” (study of)
• DEFINITION: Study of groups - how they are
formed, how they change, and how the group
impacts individual behavior
SOCIOLOGY
• FUNCTION:
• Can study society with a wide variety of focuses.
From studying the power elite, to the interaction
of the economy, society and the environment, to
the examination of various rights movements,
Sociology examines the way different aspects of
society behave and function. (San Juan, 2011)
SOCIOLOGY
• NATURE:
• Sociology is an independent science: Sociology is
not treated and studied as a branch of any other
science like philosophy, history. Now it has
emerged into an independent science. As an
independent science it has its own field of study.
• Sociology is a social science and not a physical
science: All the sciences are divided into two
categories: natural sciences and social sciences.
SOCIOLOGY
• NATURE:
• Natural sciences study physical phenomena where
as social sciences study social phenomena. Social
sciences include Economics, Political Science, and
Anthropology etc.
• Sociology belongs to the family of Social science.
As a social science it concentrates its attention on
man, his social behavior, activities and social life.
In other words, it studies man as a social being.
SOCIOLOGY
• NATURE:
• Sociology is a pure science and not an applied science:
The aim of applied science is to apply the acquired
knowledge into life and to put it to use.
• But the aim of pure sciences is the acquisition of
knowledge and it is not bothered whether the acquired
knowledge is useful or can be put to use. Sociology is a
pure science, because it aims at the acquisition of
knowledge about human society, hot the utilization of
the knowledge.
SOCIOLOGY
• NATURE:
• Sociology is an abstract science and not a concrete
science: This doesn't mean that Sociology, is an art and
not a science. It only refers that Sociology is not
interested in concrete manifestations of human events.
• It is more concerned with the form of human events
and their patterns. Similarly, Sociology does not confine
itself to the study of this society or that particular
society. It simply means that Sociology is an abstract
science, not a concrete science.
SOCIOLOGY

• NATURE:
• Sociology is a categorical and not a normative
discipline: Sociology "confines itself about what is, not
what should be or ought to be."
• As a science it is silent about questions of value. It does
not make any kind of value judgment. It only means
Sociology as a discipline cannot deal with problems of
good and evil, right and wrong.
SOCIOLOGY

• NATURE:
• Sociology is a generalizing and not a particularizing
science: Sociology does not study each and every event
that takes place in society. It makes generalization on
the basis of some selected events. For example, not by
studying or examining all the secondary groups but by
observing a few secondary groups, a sociologist makes
generalization of secondary groups.
SOCIOLOGY

• NATURE:
• Sociology is a general science and not a special social
science: The area of inquiry of Sociology is general and
not specialized. Social sciences like Political Science,
History, Economics, etc. study human interaction but
not all about human interactions.
• But Sociology does not investigate special kind of
phenomena in relation to human life, and activities but
it only studies human activities in a general way
SOCIOLOGY
• NATURE:
• Sociology is both a rational and empirical science:
Empiricism is the approach that emphasizes experiences
and the facts that result from observation and
experimentation.
• On the other hand, rationalism stresses reason and
theories that result from logical inference. The empiricist
collects facts, the rationalist co-ordinates and arranges
them
• In sociological theory both are significant. Thus, Sociology is
both a rational and empirical science.
GROUP ACTIVITY: GALLERY OF SOCIAL SCIENTIST

The class will be divided again into 9 groups. Each

group will be tasked to research about the nature of
job, tools used, and achievements of the social
scientist assigned to the group.
GROUP ACTIVITY: GALLERY OF SOCIAL SCIENTIST
10-8 7-5 4-2 1-0

1. Presentation

2. Creativity

3. Accuracy

4. Collaboration
POLITICAL SCIENCE

• Etymology: “politika,” “polis” (affairs of

the cities)
• Definition: Deals with the system of
governance
POLITICAL SCIENCE

• Function: A social study concerning the

allocation and transfer of power in decision
making, the roles and systems of governance
including governments and international
organizations, political behavior and public
policies. (Mortel et al. 2003)
POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Nature: Politics is not only a mere
institution of governance but also a
mechanism for achieving societal goals.
Political Science is thus a study of the
state in the past, present, and future;
POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Nature:
• Study of Political organization, political
processes and political fun
• Study of Political Institutions and Political
Theories.
• Study of several subfields: Political Theory
DEMOGRAPHY

• Etymology: “demos” (people), “graphein”

(description
• Definition: Study of human population
and dynamics
DEMOGRAPHY

• Function: To know the population of a

particular area; To ascertain as to which
factors are influencing the population of that
particular area; To explain the factors relating
to changes in population; and To study the
population trends on the basis of the above
three factors.
ECONOMICS

• Etymology: “oikanomia” (household

management)
• Definition: Study of what constitutes
rational human behavior in the endeavor
to fulfill needs and wants
ECONOMICS

• Function: The three most important functions

of economics are as follows: Just as feeding,
digestion and growth are the vital processes
of living beings; similarly production,
consumption and growth are the essentials of
economies. (Leaňo, 2012)
ECONOMICS
• Nature: Economics is a science: Science is an
organized branch of knowledge that analyses
cause and effect relationship between economic
agents.
• Further, economics helps in integrating various
sciences such as mathematics, statistics, etc. to
identify the relationship between price, demand,
supply and other economic factors.
ECONOMICS
• Nature:
• Positive Economics: A positive science is one that studies
the relationship between two variables but does not
give any value judgment, i.e. it states ‘what is’. It deals
with facts about the entire economy.
• Normative Economics: As a normative science,
economics passes value judgment, i.e. ‘what ought to
be’. It is concerned with economic goals and policies to
attain these goals.
ECONOMICS
• Nature: Economics is an art: Art is a discipline that
expresses the way things are to be done, so as to
achieve the desired end.
• Economics has various branches like production,
distribution, consumption and economics that provide
general rules and laws that are capable of solving
different problems of society
ECONOMICS
• Nature:
• Therefore, economics is considered as science as well as
art, i.e. science in terms of its methodology and arts as
in application.
• Hence, economics is concerned with both theoretical
and practical aspects of the economic problems which
we encounter in our day to day life.
LINGUISTICS

• Etymology: “lingua” (tongue, language)

• Definition: Study of languages and focuses
on the three aspects of language
PSYCHOLOGY

• Etymology: psyche” (mind), “logos” (study

of)
• Definition: Scientific study of the mind
and behavior
PSYCHOLOGY

• Function: According to earlier psychologists,

the function of psychology was to study the
nature, origin and destiny of the human soul.
But soul is something metaphysical. It cannot
be seen, observed and touched and we
cannot make scientific experiments in soul.
(Kendra, 2020)
PSYCHOLOGY
• Nature:
• Psychology is the scientific study and practical
application of observable behavior and mental processes
of organisms.
• Psychology differs from other social sciences such as:
Sociology, History, or Economics, because psychology
specifically deals with the study of an individual. The
other social sciences will study groups, or history
PSYCHOLOGY
• Nature:
• Psychology is less a science of reported findings, it
attempts asks and answers questions using observable
behavior and what can be determined as mental
processes of the subject.
• The symbol for psychology is the Greek letter “psi” (Ø).
The subject matter of psychology is, affect, behavior, and
cognition.
PSYCHOLOGY

• Nature:
• The affect for psychology is the actual mental
processes that make up: moods, feeling, and
emotional state.
HISTORY

• Etymology: “histoire” (recorded and

documented events)
• Definition: The study of the past and its
records about events
HISTORY

• Function: A useful for work. Its study helps

create good businesspeople, professionals,
and political leaders. The number of explicit
professional jobs for historians is
considerable, but most people who study
history do not become professional
historians. (Evans, 2001)
HISTORY
• Nature:
• A study of the present in the light of the past:
The present has evolved out of the past.
• Modern history enables us to understand how
society has come to its present form so that
one may intelligently interpret the sequence
of events
HISTORY
• Nature:
• The causal relationships between the selected
happenings are unearthed that help in
revealing the nature of happenings and
framing of general laws.
• History is the study of man: History deals with
man’s struggle through the ages. History is not
static.
HISTORY
• Nature:
• By selecting “innumerable biographies” and
presenting their lives in the appropriate social
context and the ideas in the human context, we
understand the sweep of events.
• It traces the fascinating story of how man has
developed through the ages, how man has studied
to use and control his environment and how the
present institutions have grown out of the past.
HISTORY

• Nature:
• History is concerned with man in time: It deals
with a series of events and each event occurs at a
given point in time. Human history, in fact, is the
process of human development in time.
• It is time which affords a perspective to events and
lends a charm that brightens up the past.
HISTORY
• Nature:
• History is concerned with man in space: The
interaction of man on environment and vice versa is
a dynamic one. History describes about nations and
human activities in the context of their physical and
geographical environment.
• Out of this arise the varied trends in the political,
social, economic and cultural spheres of man’s
activities and achievements.
HISTORY
• Nature:
• Continuity and coherence are the necessary
requisites of history: History carries the burden of
human progress as it is passed down from
generation to generation, from society to society,
justifying the essence of continuity.
• Relevant: In the study of history only those events
are included which are relevant to the
understanding of the present life.
HISTORY

• Nature: Comprehensiveness: According to modern

concept, history is not confined to one period or
country or nation. It also deals with all aspects of
human life-political, social, economic, religious,
literary, aesthetic and physical, giving a clear sense
of world unity and world citizenship.