What is the relationship and difference between antropology and other social field of studies?

Anthropology is the study of human beings and their cultures. It is a social science that uses a
variety of methods to understand how people live, work, and interact with each other.
Anthropology is closely related to other social sciences such as sociology,History, psychology,
and political science. However, there are some key differences between anthropology and these
other fields.

1. Relationship between Social Anthropology and Sociology

Sociology is a science of society that studies human behavior in groups. Anthropology is a

science of man and studies human behavior in social surroundings. Thus it is clear that the
subject matter of sociology and social anthropology is common to a great extent. Sociology and
anthropology have highly influenced each other.
Even though social anthropology and sociology share an interest in social relations, organization
and behavior, there are important differences between these two disciplines.
Here is a table that summarizes the key differences between anthropology and sociology:
Feature Sociology Anthropology
Focus Human cultures Human society
Methods Fieldwork, participant Surveys, interviews, statistical
observation, interviews, analysis
surveys
Theoretical perspectives Cultural relativism, holism Social constructionism,
functionalism
1. Relationship between Social Anthropology and History
The common features between history and anthropology are, both the disciplines depend for
their materials on the actual happenings or occurrences in the natural course of human life.
Teamwork is Suitable for both. historians use documentary evidence infrequently available to
anthropologists, and anthropologists employ first-hand observation rarely possible for historians.

Feature Anthropology History

Focus Human cultures
Methods Fieldwork, participant
observation, interviews,
surveys
Theoretical Perspectives Cultural relativism, holism
Research questions How do cultures differ?
How do cultures change?
Relationship between Social Anthropology and Political Science
Past events
Written records, oral
histories, archaeological
evidence
Historical materialism,
social constructionism
How and why did events
happen the way they did?
 Anthropologists typically focus on the everyday lives of people in different cultures, while
political scientists focus on the institutions and processes of government.
Studying political organizations cross-culturally, anthropologists find out a wide range of various
political and legal systems. It is found that legal codes along with ideas of crime and punishment,
means of resolving conflicts vary substantially from culture to culture.
Feature Anthropology Political science
Time period Present and past Present and past
Scope Cultures Political system
Methods Fieldwork, interviews, Quantitative analysis,
participant observation historical research, legal
analysis
Goal Understand how different Understand how political
cultures think about and systems work and how they
organize themselves can be improved
politically

Relationship between Social Anthropology and Psychology

Both social anthropology and psychology deal with the same basic subject matter, people in
relation with other people. Psychology is mainly concerned with the nature and functioning of
individual human minds. Social anthropology is more keenly interested in the study of various
forms and structure of groups and organizations.
Here is a table that summarizes some of the key differences between anthropology and
psychology:

Features Anthropology Psychology

Scope Human beings and their The mind and behavior
cultures
Methods Fieldwork, interviews, Experiments, surveys,
participant observation clinical interviews
Goal Understand human Understand the individual
behavior in its cultural and their mental processes
context
Approach Holistic Focused

Relationship between Social Anthropology and Economy

Economic anthropology classifies the diversity of economic systems into different types at
different technological levels. Anthropologists find such categories as hunter-gatherer or band
economics, pictorial economies, hoe and forest cultivators, sedentary cultivators and so.
Anthropologists can provide economists with insights into the cultural and historical factors that
influence economic behavior. Economists, on the other hand, can provide anthropologists with a
quantitative framework for understanding how economic decisions are made.

Feature Anthropology Economics

Scope Holistic Specialized
Methods Qualitative Quantitative
Focus Culture, language, religion, Allocation of scarce resources
economics
Historical context Yes No
Economic laws No Yes