Historical Foundation

of Social Studies and

Social Science

LEMUEL DEL ROSARIO, LPT, MAED

RODEL B. TAYAO, LPT
REBECCA ASTILLA, LPT
 Overview

Effective learning and teaching of Social Studies at any level

demands detailed but not lopsided understanding of its foundation.
In this module, you will learn the branches, scope and significance of
social studies and social science, as well as its value in society. The
primary role of this module is to explain the confusing issues,
differences and similarities between social studies and social
science. The course will also avail you the opportunity to acquire
basic concept of social science disciplines such as Geography,
Sociology, History, Economics, Politics and Governance as well as
some great minds who established, formulated, and developed the
Social Studies and Social Science.

“Foundations of Social Studies” focuses on the process of

creating historical narratives and the philosophical underpinnings it
possesses. Each unit is designed to give emphasis on the relevance
of social studies in honing one’s principles and views. This module
hopes to shed light on historical facts presented from formative days
until current academic year. By scrutinizing the multiple viewpoints
on how narratives were written, it aims to test individuals’ critical
thinking and cognitive skills to analyze topics involving social studies.
CONTENT

Unit 1: Social Studies and Social Science

Unit 2: History of Social Science

Unit 3: History of Social Studies

Unit 4: Sociology

Unit 5: Politics

Unit 6: Geography

Unit 7a: Historical Foundations of Social Studies

Unit 7b: Historical Foundations of Social Studies

Unit 8a: Economic Foundation of Social Sciences

Unit 8b: Economic Foundation of Social Sciences

Unit 9: Issues and Challenges in the Social

Science
 UNIT 1: Social Studies and Social Science

Lesson 1 – Definition of Terms

Lesson 2 – Distinctive Characteristic
Lesson 3 – Disciplines
Lesson 4 – Scope
Lesson 5 – Social Science vs. Natural Science
Duration: 3 hours, Week 1

Introduction

T
his unit will help you understand the concept of Social Studies and Social
Sciences. Understanding the foundation of social studies and social science
is relevant for you because it will help you deepened your knowledge about
the topic.
In this lesson, you will learn the meaning of Social Studies and Social
Science, the different disciplines, branches, and scope of Social Science, and the
difference between Natural and Social science. This module's primary role is to
understand the confusing matters between social studies and social science as well
as their differences and similarities. As a future teacher of Social Studies, you must
be familiar n the terminologies on this subject for your future use. At the end of the
lesson, you need to realize that Social Studies is more than just memorizing facts.
In fact, the subject demands you to be aware on various issues in society to become
a productive citizen of our country.

Objectives/ Competencies

At the end of this lesson, you must be able to:

1. Know the meaning and differences between Social Studies and Social
Science;
2. Identify the different disciplines of Social Studies and social science;
3. Make your own perspective about this lesson that you think will
be beneficial to your teaching career.

1|Page
 Question And
Answer!

Directions: Answer the following question on a ¼ sheet of paper.

1. What the definition of social studies according to National Council for social
studies?

A. The integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic
competence” social studies is mastery of learning which acquires knowledge
and produce active citizens.
B. Social science is the field of sciences concerned with the studies of the
social life of human groups and individuals
C. 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
A. All of the above
2. What is the definition of social science?

A. The integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic
competence” social studies is mastery of learning which acquires knowledge
and produce active citizens.
B. Social science is the field of sciences concerned with the studies of the social
life of human groups and individuals
C. 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
D. All of the above

3. Which of the following is not part of social studies?

A. Anthropology
B. Sociology
C. Biology
D. Law
4. What is the discipline that study of how people and society choose, with or
without the use of money, to employ scarce productive resources which could
have alternative services, to produce various commodities over time?
A. Economics
B. Political science
C. Law
D. All of the above
5. What discipline deals with the study of the chronological record of events?

A. Economics
B. History

2|Page
 C. Archeology
D. Sociology

6. Boyet is a social studies teacher in Parang National High School. He wants

to study artifacts and fossils and investigate the primary source of
knowledge of prehistoric, ancient, and extinct cultures. What disciplines
does Boyet need to enroll?

A. Anthropology
B. Archaeology
C. Sociology
D. History

7. What is the discipline on how the human brain works how we think,
remember, and learn, and it is called the science of mind?
A. Sociology
B. Law
C. Psychology
D. Anthropology

8. What is discipline is concerned with theory, description, analysis, and

prediction of political behavior, political systems, and politics?
A. Law
B. Political science
C. Psychology
D. Geography

9. Which of the following statement is true?

A. Natural Science and Social Science are quite similar because of this to
branch of science use quantitative data?
B. Social science branches are biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, and
astronomy, while natural science economics, history, political science, law,
and geography
C. Social science branches are economics, history, political science, law, and
geography, while Natural science branches are biology, chemistry, physics,
earth science, and astronomy
D. All of the above.

10. What discipline deals with the relation to that which they regard as
holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence. It
is also commonly regarded as how people deal with ultimate concerns about
their lives and their fate after death.
A. Religion
B. Anthropology
C. Sociology
D. Philosophy

Guess it!!!
Question. Base on your understanding, what is the difference between Social
Studies and Social Science? State your answer on a separate sheet of paper using
3-5 sentences.

3|Page
 Preliminary Task!
Direction: Guess the correct word for the given pictures below.

1 2 3

_R ______ C_ C__T___ ____ER_

5

__I_E

___A_I_N

a) What did you notice from the pictures above?

b) In what particular studies or SPECIFIC subject area that the above photos
will fall?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

4|Page
 Discussion

Lesson 1 – Definition of Terms

Foundation of Social Studies

The Foundation of social studies is designed to cover the basic social
concepts and content essential to all disciplines of social studies. Upon completing
the course to understand how human society has evolved, it is structured and
functions.

Social Studies

The National
Council has described
Social Studies for Social
Studies as "an integrated
study of social sciences
and humanities to promote
civic competence."
Social studies is a
mastery of learning which
acquires knowledge and
produce active citizens.

Social Science
Social sciences are
group of academic
fields that focus on the
study of society. This
branch of science
analyze how people
interact with each other,
behave, develop as a
culture, and influence the
world.

5|Page
 Lesson 2: Distinctive Characteristics of Social
Sciences

• The study of man as a unique living being can be seen in two

fundamental dimensions:

A. Man as an individual being B. Man as a social being

Thus the focus of the social sciences is on the study of the

Change in human relationships and reinterpretation

between the present and the past event.
Human activities and spatial distributions and interaction
of culture, biology and physical elements
Basic social systems, institutions, and processes
Relationships of people and institutions and
interaction between political, economic, and social
institutions
Meaning of culture; relationship of individuals with each
other and their social and physical environment.

Difference between Social Science and Social

SOCIAL STUDIES

Social Studies is the systematic analysis of an

integrated body of social sciences and humanities
content. It helps students to improve their knowledge
and understanding of the complex and dynamic nature
of society and how interactions between cultures,
organizations, and environment occur.

 It represents a child-approach.
 It has simplified portions of social sciences to be
taught at the primary level.
 Social Studies is the practical part of human
affairs and give insight into various aspects of
6|Page
man and society.
 SOCIAL SCIENCE

The field of science dealing with the study of the social life of human
groups and individuals is social science. Social science is a term
used to describe the extensive study of different fields, including past
and present human behavior and relationships.

It represent an adult approach

Social sciences are to be taught at the high school and college
level. Social sciences are the theory part of human affairs.
Social sciences are large bodies of organized and authentic
knowledge representing human affairs

Comparison Social Science Social Studies

Purpose Studying the society and its Promoting civic
individuals competence
History Dates back to the Age Dates back to 20th
of Enlightenment Century
Branches Many branches Social science and
Humanities

REMEMBER!!

There are different focus and emphasis

between Social Science and Social Studies:

When a student studies geography as a Social Science, he has to focus his

attention on the methods of geography, tools and concepts, etc.
On the other hand, when studying geography as a Social Studies, he should focus
his attention on using ideas and concepts from geography to understand man;
how efforts to control environment have led to a better life and how various
geographical factors influence the life of human.

7|Page
 Lesson 3: Disciplines of Social
Sciences

According to Seligman, social sciences can be divided into three classes:

 Purely social sciences – political science, history,
economics, anthropology, sociology, penology, and
jurisprudence.
 Semi social sciences – ethics and education
 Sciences with social implications–biology, medicine,
geography, linguistics, and arts.
According to Fairchild: social science is connected in the following field of study:

 Economics
 Government
 Law
 Psychology
 Sociology
 Anthropology

Disciplines of Social Science

Social studies offers organized, structured study within the school

curriculum, drawing on disciplines such as anthropology, archaeology, economics,
geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion,
sociology, and relevant humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences content.

DISCIPLINE DEFINITION

Anthropology It is the study of humanity (see genus

Homo). This discipline is holistic that is
concerned with all humans at all times in all
humanity's dimensions.
Anthropology is traditionally determined
from other disciplines by emphasizing cultural
relativity, in-depth examination of context, and
cross-cultural comparisons.
Natural Science The science collectively involved the study of the
physical world and its phenomena, including
biology, physics, chemistry, and geology, but
excluding social sciences, abstract or theoretical
sciences, such as mathematics, and applied
sciences any one of these sciences.

8|Page
 Archeology Archeology is the study of the ancient and
recent human past through materials remains. It
includes human artifacts from the earliest stone
tools to the human-made objects buried or
thrown away in the present day.
Anthropology comes from the Greek
word Archaia (“ancient things”) and logos
(“theory” or “science”).

Economics Economics comes from ancient Greek

work “oikonomikos,” meaning “the task of
managing a household.”
Economics can be described in a variety
of different ways. It is the scarcity study, the
study of how people use capital and respond to
incentives, or the decision-making study. It also
includes topics like wealth and banking, but it is
not just about money. Economics is a broad
discipline that helps everyone understand past
patterns, analyze recent headlines, and make
forecasts about the coming years.
Geography
The word “geography‟ comes from the
Greek words “geo” which means „the earth‟ and
“graph,” which means “to write.” It is the study of
places and the relationships between individuals
and their environments.
Geographers study both the physical
properties of Earth’s surface and the human
societies spread across it. Geography seeks to
know where things are located, why they are
there, and how they develop and change over
time.
History
It is a discipline that examines the
chronological record of events based on a
critical analysis of the source materials and
typically discusses their reasons.

History is the study of change over time,

and it covers all aspects of human society.
Political, social, economic, scientific,
technological, medical, cultural, intellectual,
religious, and military developments are all part
of history.

9|Page
 Law
It is a discipline and profession dealing
with the traditions, practices, and rules of
conduct of a society accepted as binding on
society.
It is by a regulating authority to enforce
the structure of laws. The law serves many
purposes. Four principal ones are establishing
standards, maintaining order, resolving
disputes, and protecting liberties and rights.

Philosophy
It is the rational, abstract, and methodical
interpretation of the truth of human life and
experience as a whole or essential dimension.
The analysis of general and essential
topics, such as those related to truth, existence,
knowledge, beliefs, purpose, mind, and
language, is called philosophy. A key factor in
the intellectual history of many civilizations is
philosophical inquiry.

Political Science
It is the systematic study of governance
through the use of empirical and typically
scientific methods of analysis. Political science
explores the state and its organs and
organizations, as historically described and
examined.
However, contemporary discipline is far
more comprehensive than this, encompassing
analyses of all the societal, cultural, and
psychological influences that have a common
effect on government and the political body's
functioning.

Psychology Psychology is a science that deals with

emotional states and processes, and actions of
humans and other species.

Psychology's discipline is widely divided

into two parts: a broad career of professionals
and a smaller yet increasing study of mind,
brain, and social behavior. Both have unique
aims, training, and practices, but some
psychologists merge the two.

10 | P a g e
 Religion It is a discipline by which people regard holy,
divine, absolute, sacred, spiritual, or worthy of
special reverence. And also regarded as consisting
of the way people deal with ultimate concerns
about their lives and their fate after death. In many
traditions, this relation and these concerns are
expressed in terms of one’s relationship with or
attitude toward gods or spirits.

In more humanistic or naturalistic forms

of religion, they expressed in terms of one’s
relationship with or attitudes toward the
broader human community or the natural
world.
Sociology
Sociology is a study of human societies,
their interactions, and the processes that
preserve and change communities. It
examines the dynamic parts of society, such as
populations, institutions, racial, gender, or age
groups.
Sociology also examines social class or
stratification, social movements, social reform,
and social dysfunction in the form of violence,
revolution, and deviance.

Humanities It is concerned with human beings and

their culture or analytic and critical inquiry
methods derived from understanding social
values and the unique capacity of the human
spirit to express itself.

The humanities are distinguished in method

and content from the biological and physical
sciences and, somewhat less decisively, from
the social sciences. Humanities include the
study of literature and all language, the arts,
philosophy, and history.

11 | P a g e
 Mathematics Mathematics is a science of order,
form, and relation that has evolved from the
basic method of calculating, counting, and
defining objects' shapes.
It deals with quantitative calculations
and logical reasoning. Mathematics
development has involved an increasing
degree of the idealization and abstraction of
the subject matter.

Importance of Social Studies

 Geography
 History
 current events
 Interdisciplinary
 Understanding

Aim of Social Studies

- To promote civic competence.

- Tool of empowering the individual and giving them the autonomy and
responsibility to control and manage their own lives beyond the social
circumstances they find themselves.

The primary goal of social studies is to help young people make wise choices
and decisions for the public good as members of a culturally diverse, democratic
society in an interdependent world.

Lesson 4: Scope of Social Studies

According to Michaelis, the goal of social studies program is to provide a

variety of experiences so that the students will become well rounded and well
balanced.
The main points are as follows:

12 | P a g e
 1. Vast and wide as the world.
Social studies is the study of
human relationships in areas
such as:
a) People of one’s own
nationality and people
across the world.
b) People and various
kinds of institutions.
c) People and earth.
d) People and time.
e) People and resources.
2. A functional study of Natural
and Physical Sciences as well
as the study of Fine Arts.
- social science
- natural science
- physical science:
These disciplines are
interrelated on each other and
change in one field may affect
others.

3. A Study of Current Affairs

4. A Study leading to
international understanding.

These contents must be included in teaching

social studies. It is because the primary concern
of Social Studies is to acquaint children with the
past and the present problems related to social,
economic, political, and geographical
environments.
Therefore, its area extended to history,
geography, civics, economics, environmental
studies, and sociology.
.

13 | P a g e
 Lesson 5: Natural Science & Social
Science

NATURAL SCIENCE SOCIAL SCIENCE

Study in the world of nature.

It includes the phenomena and It is a vast field that is concerned
objects of nature and the real world. with human society and the
Natural science consists of the relationships among individuals
description, understanding, and within it.
prediction of natural phenomena This field has many sub-fields such
using empirical and observational as economics, geography, political
data. Hypothesis established in science, history, archaeology,
natural sciences must be verified anthropology, linguistic, law
scientifically to be accepted as a and sociology.
socioloogy
scientific hypothesis.

Natural Science Social Science

 Natural Science is the branch of  Social Science is the study of

science which deals with the human society and human
physical world relationship

 It includes fields such as  It includes fields such as

biology, chemistry, physics, economics, history, political
earth science and astronomy. science, law and geography.

 Social Science use the scientific

 Natural science always method and other methods.
scientific method.
 Uses critical or analytic approach
to study human patterns
 It can be measured by
quantitative data

14 | P a g e
  The students who study social
 The students who study science can become a historian,
natural science can become teacher, lawyer linguistic.
a medical doctor, nurse,
engineer, biologist,
chemist, astronomer, etc.

Application

Directions: Answer the following questions.

1. Why do you think Social Studies is a so-called Interdisciplinary subject?

2. What are the differences between Social Science and Social Studies?

Directions: On a yellow pad paper, choose and Write three (3) disciplines that you
think are the most helpful or essential for becoming an effective teacher of Social
Studies in the future.

Reflections and Insights

In your own opinion, how does Social Science and Social Studies
affect individuals and communities?

15 | P a g e
 Post Assessment!

Direction: Write T if the statement is TRUE, and F if it is FALSE.

1. Social Science refers to the study of people interactions and behavior.
2. Sociology is the study of a sequence of events as a representation
of the past.
3. Social Studies must be taught in advance schools or tertiary levels.

4. Semi Social Sciences include the study of life, literature and languages.
5. Law talks about the enforcement of rules and regulations.
6. Social Studies is an integrated body of content drawn from the Social
sciences and the humanities.
7. Students who studied Natural Science may become a historian in the future.
8. Religion is a discipline by which people are
influenced by the aspect of holiness and God.
9. Economics is the study of the allocation and consumption of goods in a society.
10. There are 3 disciplines of Social Studies: Geography,
History, Contemporary Issues and Government.

Glossary
National Council for the Social Studies - is the largest professional
association devoted solely to social studies education founded in 1921.
Natural Science - a branch of science which deals with the physical world,
e.g., biology, physics, chemistry, geology, etc.
Social Studies - an integrated study of social sciences and humanities to
promote civic competence.
Social Science - Social sciences are a group of academic fields that focuses
on the study of society.
Scientific method - a method of procedure that has characterized natural
science since the 17th century

Suggested Readings
Teaching of Social Studies by R.P. Pathak.PDF retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-
science

References

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk02Od5bCtyWlJdNlrDXVPdl3-
1zOaw%3A1598360340909&ei=FAtFX5TwNpyVr7wP6MWayAY&q=National+Council+for+the
+Social
+Studies+defined+Social+Studies+as+%E2%80%9Cthe+integrated+study+of+the+social+scie
nces+and+humanities+to+promote+civic+competence&oq=National+Council+for+the+Social+
Studies+define d+Social+Studies+as
In Critical Issues in Social Studies Research for the 21st Century, edited by William B .
Stanley. Greenwich, Conn. : Information Age Publishing, 2001.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/historyhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/law

16 | P a g e
 UNIT 2: History of Social Science

Lesson 1: Antiquities and 16th Century

Lesson 2: 17h and 18th Century
Lesson 3: 19th and 20th Century
Duration: 6 hours, Week 2-3

Introduction

D o you have any thoughts or ideas about the history of Social Science or Social
Studies and its importance to your life?
In your previous lesson, you have learned the definition of Social Science and
Social Studies. In this module, you will learn the historical background of Social
Science during pre-classical up to the 21st century. These lessons will help you to
understand the proponents and scholars of Social Science.

One of these lessons' primary purposes is for you to familiarize yourself with
terminologies and different disciplines. You will understand the views, beliefs,
perspectives, theories, and scientific explanations of various scholars in their times.
This lesson will boost your critical thinking to choose your own belief and rspective in
life. You will observe in this topic how scholars explain their own idea to make the world
a better place.

Objectives/
Competencies

At the end of this lesson, you must be able to:

A. Understand the different perspective of the scholars;

B. Identify how and who build the different perspective in Social Science;

C. Differentiate various studies of scholars;

D. Justify which proponent or scholar had the best influence in Social Science
today.

17 | P a g e
 PreliminaryTask!

What do you think???

Directions: Answer the diagram below.

FAMOUS PROPONENT/
SCHOLAR COUNTRY OR ORIGIN

a. Plato
b. Socrates
c. Rene Descartes
d. John Locke
e. Max Weber
f. David Hume
g. Francis Bacon
h. Karl Marx
i. Auguste Comte
j. Karl Popper

Question And
Answer!

True or False. Write T if the statement is true and write F if the statement is false.

1. During Pre Classical, the belief is based on faith, not in science.

2. Socratic Method is a form of a cooperative argumentative dialogue between
individuals, based on explaining thought.
3. Bacon suggested that knowledge can only be derived from observations in the real
world and emphasized knowledge acquisition as an empirical activity rather than a
reasoning activity.
4. Symbolic interactionism is a theory that focuses on meanings attached to human
interaction, both verbal and non-verbal.
5. Anti-positivists emphasized that social actions must be studied through interpretive
means based upon an understanding of the meaning and purpose that individuals
attach to their actions.
6. Rationalism is a philosophical belief that states that your knowledge of the world is
based on your experiences, particularly your sensory experiences.
7. Karl Popper believes in “Truth cannot be ascertained it can only falsified.”
8. The development of the “scientific method” was originally called the “Baconian
method”, consisting of systematic observation, measurement, and experimentation.
9. Kant argue the experience is purely subjective, and processing them using pure
reason without first delving into the subjective nature of experiences will lead to
theoretical illusions.
10. Empiricism views reason as the source of knowledge or justification and suggests
that the criterion of truth is not sensory but rather intellectual and deductive.

18 | P a g e
 Discussion

Lesson 1: Antiquities and 16th Century

Pre Classical

During the pre-classical period, the

people's faith and knowledge were
recognized by theological precepts.

Classical Age

From the earliest days of human inquiry, knowledge

was generally known in theological precepts based
on faith. During the 3rd century BC, Greek thinkers
such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates challenged
this challenge. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, who
suggested that the fundamental nature of being and
the world can be understood more accurately
through systematic, logical reasoning called rationalism.

View reason as the source of knowledge or justification and

RATIONALISM suggest that the criterion of truth is not sensory but rather
intellectual and deductive which often derived from a set of first
principles or axioms. Rationalism can be explained using the analogy of white swan.
If I am given the premise that all swans are white and the belief that this is a swan,
then I can come up with a rational conclusion that this swan is white without actually
seeing the swan.

Socrates Socrates was an ancient Greek

philosopher considered to be the primary
source of Western thought. He condemned
to death for his Socratic method of questioning. He
believed that he was ignorant (or mindful of his own lack
of knowledge) and thought that untested life was not
worth living for human beings.
Socrates professed not to teach anything and really not to know anything
important but only to find answers to urgent human questions ("What is virtue?" and
"What is justice?" and to help others do the same. His philosophizing style is to
participate in public debates about any issues in society and, by skillful interrogation,
to prove that his opponent did not know what they were talking about. In view on his
interactions to other, Socrates held a variety of broad ideals including that virtue is a
form of wisdom and that "care for the soul" (cultivation of virtue) is an essential human
responsibility.
19 | P a g e
 Aristotle is a leading figure in the ancient Greek
philosophy, who made significant
contributions to logic, criticism,
rhetoric, physics, biology, psychology,
mathematics, metaphysics, ethics,
and politics. For twenty years, he was
a Plato student but is famous for
rejecting Plato’s theory of forms. He
was more empirically minded than
Plato and
Plato’s teacher, Socrates.

Metaphysics Theology
Philosophy is concerned with the The study of a God or
perception of the true meaning of gods.
truth. Aristotle had called the Universal science
subject matter of the treatise “first The study of first
philosophy” or “theology. principles, upon
which logic is based.

Ontology
The study of being and existence,
the philosophical analysis of
being in general, or the neutral Law of Non-
application of everything real. It Contradiction
was called “first philosophy” by
Aristotle in Book IV of his (P is not non P)
Metaphysics.
The rule of non-
contradiction states that an
assertion cannot be
accurate or false at the
same time at the same
place. For example,
Bulacan is experiencing
Logic rainfall today but it does not
The study of necessary mean that
correct reasoning, Aristotle Manila is experiencing
defined logic as "new and rainfall as well. The two
necessary reasoning," opposite statements
"new" because it allows us cannot be factual both at
to understand what we do the same time and in the
not know, and "necessary" same way.
because its conclusions
are inescapable.

20 | P a g e
 16th CENTURY

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon is an

English historian, lawyer,
statesman, essayist, intellectual
reformer, philosopher, and
modern science champion. Francis Bacon
suggested that knowledge can only be derived from
observations in the real-world. Bacon highlighted
knowledge acquisition as an empirical activity rather
than a reasoning activity and developed
empiricism as an influential philosophy branch.
Bacon's study contributed to the popularization of
inductive methods in scientific inquiry and the
creation of the "scientific method" originally called
the "Baconian method," consisting of systematic
measurement, observation, and analysis, which
may even have cultivated the seeds of atheism or
the denial of theological precepts as
"unobservable."

Empiricism is a scientific belief that states that your perception and

knowledge of the universe are based on your experiences, especially
sensory experiences.
Empiricism continued to clash with rationalism in the Middle Ages
because philosophers have different belief on the most effective way to
obtain appropriate knowledge. Rene Descartes, a French philosopher,
sided with the rationalists, while British philosophers John Locke and
David Hume sided with the empiricists. Other scientists, such as Sir Isaac
and Galileo Galilei Newton, have attempted to merge the two theories into
natural philosophy, with a particular focus on the physical world and the
understanding of nature, which is considered the precursor of natural
sciences. Galileo was probably the first to argue that nature's laws can be
represented mathematically. He also contributed to the field of astronomy
using an innovative combination of experimentation and mathematics.

17th CENTURY

Rene Descartes Rene Descartes, a French philosopher, is

generally considered the father of modern
philosophy and
one of the earliest and best known proponents of
Rationalism, often known as Cartesianism. He
believed that knowledge of eternal truths such as
mathematics and the epistemological and
metaphysical foundations of the sciences could be
reached by reason alone without any sensory
experience. He is responsible for one of the best-
known quotations in philosophy: "Cogito, ergo sum"("I
think, therefore I am").
21 | P a g e
 Dualism, in additional to the physical substance the body there exists the mental
substance the body.

John Locke John Locke was the most famous

philosophers and political
theorist of the 17th century. He made foundational
contributions to modern theories of liberal government, and
one of the founders of a school of thought known as British
Empiricism. Locke was also influential in the religious
toleration, areas of theology, and educational theory.
He believed that all our ideas were ultimately based on experience, and therefore the
knowledge that we are capable of is severely limited in scope and certainty. His philosophy
of mind is frequently quoted as the origin of modern conceptions of identity and "self." He also
postulated, contrary to Cartesian and Christian thought, that the mind was a "tabula rasa" (or
"blank slate") and that humans were born without inherent ideas.

David Hume

Philosophy of Mind
The branch of philosophy studies the
nature of the mind like consciousness, mental
functions, mental events, and mental
properties and its relationship to the physical
body.

Hume is a Scottish philosopher, economist and historian of the Age of Enlightenment. Although
David Hume is commonly known for his philosophical skepticism and empiricist theory of knowledge,
he also made many significant moral philosophies. He was a major figure in the Scottish
Enlightenment and one of the three main figures of the influential British Empiricism movement, along
with John Locke and Bishop George Berkeley. He was a fierce critic of Descartes, Leibniz, and
Spinoza's rationalism, as well as an atheist. Combining empirical and skeptical arguments, Hume
claimed that neither inductive nor deductive proof could determine the validity of reality. Knowledge
may consist of intuitively visible matters or demonstrable links between thoughts, but not of anything
beyond experience; the mind may discover no necessary connections within the experience or root
causes of experience. Beliefs about the world are based not upon reason or evidence, nor even upon
appeal to nature's uniformity, but only on habit and custom.

22 | P a g e
 Natural Philosophy
Fusion of Rationalism and Empiricism

Galileo Galilei & Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei attempted to merge the two
concepts into natural philosophy (the philosophy of nature) and focus
primarily on understanding nature and the physical world, which is
considered to be the successor to the natural science. Galileo was perhaps
the first to argue that nature's laws are mathematical and contributed to
astronomy through an innovative combination of experimentation and
mathematics.

18th CENTURY

Immanuel Kant In his book Critique of Pure

Reason, Immanuel Kant sought to
resolve the dispute between
empiricism and rationalism by arguing that experience is
purely subjective without first delving into the
subjective nature of experiences. Kant claims that by a
"critique of pure reason," he means a criticism of "the
faculty of purpose in general” and that he tries to reach a
decision on "the probability or impossibility of
metaphysics." The two method of analysis proposed by
Kant are:
a. Phenomenology - the philosophical analysis of unusual individuals or
events encountered as they occur without further research or
explanation. A phenomenological example is the green flash study that
often appears shortly after sunset or just before sunrise.

b. Hermeneutics - the theory and technique of interpretation, in particular

the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical
scriptures.

Kant's theories led to the development of German Idealism, which later influenced the
development of interpretive methods such as phenomenology, hermeneutics, and
critical social theory. German Idealism is an intellectual movement centered in
Germany during the period of Enlightenment in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.
It evolved out of the work of Immanuel Kant and is closely associated with the
Romanticism movement. Often, it is known as Kantianism.

23 | P a g e
 Auguste Comte The French philosopher Auguste Comte
(1798–1857), founder of the sociology
discipline, attempted to blend
empiricism and rationalism in a new doctrine
called positivism. In the nineteenth century, he was the first
to coin the word "social science”. He suggested that
observations and theory have circular dependence on each
other. While theories are created via reasoning, they are
only authentic if they can be verified through observations.
During the French Revolution, he was also a prominent
figure who advocated for a science-based doctrine. His goal as a philosopher was to
understand human society and recommend a framework in which we could bring order
out of chaos and transform society for the better. Later on, he developed what he called
a positive philosophy system in which mathematics and logic, combined with sensory
experience, could better assist in understanding human relationships and action. In the
same way, the scientific method had allowed an understanding of the natural world.
The emphasis on verification started to distinguish modern science from philosophy
and metaphysics, and the "scientific method" was further developed as the primary
means of validating scientific claims. Emile Durkheim expanded Comte's ideas in his
development of sociological positivism (positivism as a foundation for social research)
and Ludwig Wittgenstein in logical positivism. The scientific method refers to a
systematic and standardized set of techniques for building scientific knowledge, such
as how to make valid observations, analyze the findings, and generalize the results.
19th CENTURY

We come to scientific laws or theories by process of logic and evidence. Logic

(theory) and evidence (observations) are the two and only two elements on
which scientific knowledge is based. Theories and observations
are interrelated in science and do not exist without one another. Theories
provide context and importance to what we observe, and observations help
reinforce or modify existing theories or create new theories. Any other way of
acquiring knowledge, such as faith or authority, cannot be considered science.

Karl Marx Karl Marx is a revolutionary, sociologist,

historian, and economist. He published
(with Friedrich Engels) the Communist
Manifesto, the most celebrated pamphlet in the socialist
movement history. Marx was also the author of the
movement's most significant book, Das Kapital. These
writings and others by Marx and Engels form the basis of the
body of thought and belief known as Marxism. Marx argue
philosophical problems arise out real-life circumstances and
can only be resolved by changing those

24 | P a g e
 situations and rebuilding the world.
According to Marx, it was not the population's pressure that reduced wages or
income to the subsistence level, but rather the presence of a vast army of unemployed,
which he blamed on the bourgeoisie or capitalist. He maintained that labor was a mere
commodity within the capitalist system and could only gain subsistence wages.
Capitalists, however, may force workers to spend more time at work than necessary
to earn their subsistence and then appropriate the excess commodity or surplus value
produced by the workers.
In Marx's opinion, history's dialectical nature is expressed in the conflict of
classes with capitalism's growth; the class struggle is taking on an acute form. Two
basic classes, through which other less important classes are clustered, contradict
each other in the capitalist system: the ownership of the means of production, called
the bourgeoisie, and the workers, or the proletariat. "The bourgeoisie creates its own
grave-diggers, and the collapse of the bourgeoisie and the victory or triumph of the
proletariat are equally inevitable.” When people become aware of their failure, of their
isolation as a universal non-human condition, they would be able to make a radical
transformation and drastic change of their situation by revolution. This movement
would be the prelude to the creation of communism and the reign of the sovereignty
of liberty. "In the position of the old bourgeois society, with its inequalities and social
antagonisms, there would be an interaction in which the free development of one is a
condition for the free development of everyone."

Critical Theory

Marxist-inspired movement in social and political philosophy was initially

associated with the work of the Frankfurt School. Drawing mainly on the thought of
Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx, critical theorists maintain that the central goal of
philosophy is to understand and to help overcome the social structures through which
people are oppressed and dominated. Believing that science, just like other forms of
knowledge, has been used as an instrument of oppression, they caution in opposition
to blind faith in scientific progress, arguing that scientific knowledge should not be
pursued as an end without reference to human emancipation. Since the 1970s, critical
theory has been immensely influential in studying the story, literature, law, history, and
the social sciences.
20th Century

The Rise of Anti-Positivism

Early 20th century, outstanding positivism accounts were rejected by

interpretive sociologists (anti positivists) belonging to the German
idealism school of thought. Positivism was usually equated with
quantitative research methods such as experiments and surveys and
without explicit philosophical commitments, while anti positivism
employed qualitative methods such as unstructured interviews and
participant observation.
Anti-positivists emphasized that social actions must be studied through
interpretive means based upon an understanding of the meaning and
purpose that individuals attach to their actions.

25 | P a g e
 Paul Felix Paul Felix Lazarsfeld is an Austrian-
Lazarsfeld American popularly known as the founder
of a modern research survey, made
considerable contributions towards
statistical survey analysis, contextual
analysis, latent structure analysis, and panel
methods.

In the early 1930s, Lazarsfeld was introduced to research through the use of surveys
by conducting a study of Marienthal, a small industrial place near Vienna, which
suffered from a high unemployment rate. He published a paper in 1933 entitled
'Marienthal: The Sociography of an Unemployed Community,' which provides insight
into Lazarsfeld's ability to qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Max Weber A German was a sociologist and

political economist who inspired many of
the social sciences to come. He was one of the first to
research methodological anti positivism or conclude that
social science cannot be adequately explained by the
scientific method and instead rely on social action
implication.

Ideal type, a mental construct in the social sciences, is extracted from observable
reality, although not in-depth due to deliberate simplification and exaggeration. It is just
not ideal in the sense that it is outstanding or average; instead, it is a constructed ideal
used to approximate truth by choosing and accentuating certain elements. German
sociologist Max Weber developed the ideal type concept, who used it as an analytic
tool for his historical studies. As a methodological tool for comparative sociology,
Weber created the ideal type. In analyzing Western societies' history, Weber focused
on rationalism as a unique and central force shaping all Western institutions, including
family, religion, politics, music, and stratification systems. The development of
subsequent, more specialized sociological studies has had a decisive effect on these
typologies.

George Simmel

George Simmel is a German art critic who wrote widely on

social and political issues as well. Simmel took an anti-
positivism stance and addressed social conflict, the function of
money, individual identity in city life, and the European fear of
outsiders (Stapley 2010). Much of his work focused on the
analyzed the dynamics of two-person and three-person groups
micro-level theories. His work also emphasized individual culture
as the creative capacities of individuals. Simmel's contributions
to sociology are not often included in the discipline's academic
histories, perhaps overshadowed by his contemporaries
Durkheim, Mead, and Weber (Ritzer and Goodman 2004).

26 | P a g e
 One of the social science theories is symbolic interaction. The theory
claims that facts are based on and directed by symbols. The foundation of
this theory is meanings. Symbolic interaction tests the meanings that result
from the reciprocal communication between individuals and others in a
social environment and focuses on the question of "what symbols and
meanings originate from interaction between individuals?"

Symbolic interactionism is a micro-level theory that focuses on concepts,

verbal and non-verbal, and symbols attached to human interaction.
Communication, the exchange of meaning by language and symbols, is
thought to be how people make sense of their social world.

In order to explain how a person's self

Charles Horton grows through interactions with others,
Cooley he developed the looking-glass self
(1902). For this development, he
proposed a three important
processes: 1) we see how others react to us, 2) we
perceive the reaction of other people to us (typically as
positive or negative), and 3) based on those perceptions,
we develop a sense of our self. These processes revolve
around the concept of "Looking-glass" self. It is an archaic
word for a mirror which means that when we interact with
others, Cooley theorized that we "see" ourselves.

He considered a founder of symbolic

George Herbert interactionism, though he never published
Mead his work on this subject. In reality, the
student of Mead, Herbert
Blumer coined the word "symbolic interactionism"
and outlined its essential premises. According to
this theory, humans interact with other based
on meanings ascribed to particular objects. The
meaning ascribed to things comes from our
interactions with others and society; a person
interprets the meanings of things when dealing
with things in specific circumstances (Blumer
1969).
This sounds similar to the looking-glass self of Cooley. However, Mead's attention was
still more to self-development, especially in childhood. For example, if you love books,
a symbolic interactionist might say that you discovered that books were excellent or
valuable through the interactions you had with family, friends, school, or church.
Maybe every week, your family had a special reading session, and having your library
card makes you remember a special occasion, or warmth and relaxation correlated
with bedtime stories.
27 | P a g e
 Edmund Huserl The founder of the philosophical
movement known as phenomenology was
Edmund Huserl. Without metaphysical
and theoretical
interpretation, phenomenology can be described as the
continuing attempt to describe experiences (and the' things
themselves').

Phenomenology
A philosophical movement that originated in the
20th century. The primary objective of this theory is
to analyze, investigate and explain phenomena as
a conscious experience without causal
interpretation of unexamined preconceptions and
presupposition

He was one of the 20th century's

most influential philosophers of
Karl Popper science. He made valuable
contributions to
debates on general scientific methodology and choice
of theory, the demarcation of science from non-science, the
nature of probability and quantum mechanics, and social
sciences' methodology. His work is notable for its vast
influence both within the philosophy of science, within
science itself, and within a broader social context.

Popper's falsifications methodology holds that scientific

theories are characterized by entailing predictions that future
observations might reveal to be false. When such observations
falsify theories, scientists can respond by revising the theory,
rejecting the theory or maintaining the theory and changing an
auxiliary hypothesis. In either case, however, this process must
be endured to address falsifiable predictions. Popper maintains
that scientific practice is characterized by its continual effort to
test theories against experience and make revisions based on
these tests' outcomes. By comparison, theories that introduce
untestable ad hoc hypotheses, are permanently immunized
from falsification and can no longer be classified as scientific.

28 | P a g e
 According to Popper, a scientific theory should make predictions that can
be checked. He argue that theory can be discarded if the predictions
made are found not to be accurate. He proposed that science would make
the most progress using deductive reasoning, known as critical
rationalism, as its main emphasis. For example, if Europeans have been
studying millions of white swans for thousands of years, we might come
up with the idea, using inductive evidence, that all swans are white.
However, the exploration of Australasia introduced black swans to
Europeans. The point of Poppers is this: no matter how many discoveries
are made to support a theory, there is still the risk that the next discovery
may dispute it. He believe that it is possible to reject false beliefs using
positivist notion of objective truth and its emphasis on the scientific
method.

Application

Create your own thoughts about the lesson. Choose the best scholar for you and
explain why his idea/s is/are the best for you. Limit your answer in to 5 sentences.

Reflection and Insights

a. What are the importance of the ideas of the scholars in pre-classical to

21stcentury in building the aspects of Social Science?

b. How these ideas will affect you as a future educator.

29 | P a g e
 Post Assessment!

Direction: Read the following question carefully. Write the correct answer before each
number.

1. Which of the following method of inquiry and instruction was employed by

Socrates using series of questionings?

A. Socratic Method
B. Deductive Method
C. Inductive Method
D. None of the above

2. Which of the following identify reason as the source of knowledge or

justification, and suggests that the criterion of truth is not sensory but rather intellectual
and deductive?

A. Deductive
B. Inductive
C. Rationalism
D. Empiricism

3. Which of the following identify reason as the source of knowledge or

justification, and suggests that the criterion of truth is not sensory but rather
intellectual?
A. Deductive
B. Inductive
C. Rationalism
D. Empiricism
4. Which of the following refers to the philosophical study of being and what
applies neutrally to everything that is real?
A. Ontology
B. Theology
C. Universal Science
D. D. Logic
5. Who was the scholar that initiate the development of inductive methods of
scientific inquiry and scientific method during the 16th century?
A. Max Weber
B. Karl Marx
C. Francis Bacon
D. Rene Descartes
6. Which of the following believes that experience is purely subjective and
processing them using pure reason without first delving into the subjective nature of
experiences will lead to theoretical illusions?
A. Immanuel Kant
B. Paul Lazarsfeld
C. Karl Popper
D. Aristotle

30 | P a g e
 7. What is a philosophical system that holds that every rationally justifiable
assertion can be scientifically verified or is capable of logical or mathematical proof
and blending of rationalism and empiricism?
A. Positivism
B. Anti-positivism
C. Post-positivism
D. All of the above
8. Which of the following is a philosophical movement with a primary
objective of direct investigation and description of phenomena as consciously
experienced, without emphasizing about their causal explanation?
A. Atheism
B. Phenomenology
C. Symbolic interaction
D. All of the above
9. Which of the following is true about capitalism according to Karl Marx?
A. Marx Capitalism is the most effective system in the economy and believe
that the capitalist will provide the capital so that people can get a job.
B. Marx believed that capitalism contained the seeds of its own destruction
and described how the wealth of the bourgeoisie depended on the work
of the proletariat.
C. Marx believed that in the system of capitalism the wealth of proletariat is
depend on the production of the bourgeoisie.
D. Marx believed that the capitalism is almost the same with communism.

10. Which of the following philosopher combined the empirical and skeptical
arguments and asserted that neither inductive nor deductive evidence can establish
the truth of any matter of fact?
a. David Hume B. Rene Descartes C. Francis Bacon D. Max Weber

Glossary

Anti-positivism - is the view in sociology that social sciences need to create and use
different scientific methods than those used in the field of natural sciences.
Empiricism, in philosophy, the view that all concepts originate in experience
Rationalism - is the philosophical view that knowledge is acquired through reason,
without the aid of the senses.
Positivism, - in Western philosophy, generally, any system that confines itself to the
data of experience and excludes a priori or metaphysical speculations.
Post positivism - In philosophy and models of scientific inquiry, and also called post
empiricism is a Meta theoretical stance that critiques and amends positivism.
Suggested Readings
https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Social_Work/Book%3A_Social_Science_Resear
ch_Principles_Methods_and_Practices_(Bhattacherjee)/01%3A_Science_and_Scientific_R
esearch/1.06%3A_History_of_Scientific_Thought

31 | P a g e
 References

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Social_sciences

https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Social_Work/Book%3A_Social_Science_Researc
h_-
_Principles_Methods_and_Practices_(Bhattacherjee)/01%3A_Science_and_Scientific_Resea
rch/1.06%3A_History_of_Scientific_Thought
https://openpress.usask.ca/soc112/http://paleeri.blogspot.com/2019/09/m

eaning-and-definition-of-

social.htmlhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/social-

sciencehttps://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_rationalism.htmlhtt

ps://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_hume.htmlhttp://psulibrary.

palawan.edu.ph/wtbooks/resources/pdf/908382.pdfhttps://gtu.ge/Agro-

Lib/RESEARCH%20METHOD%20COHEN%20ok.pdf

https://www.pearson.com/us/about/news-events/news/2014/11/pearson-unveils-new-
approach-to-social-studies-education.html
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/368079?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchT
ext=history+of+social+studies&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQ
uery%3Dhistory%2Bof%2Bsocial%2Bstudies%26filter%3D&ab_segments=0%2
Fbasic_SYC-5187_SYC-5188%2F5187&refreqid=fastly-
default%3A1274aedcebbf982cd4d67cefcebd3a06&seq=1
https://www.academia.edu/9091881/SOCIAL_STUDIES_DEVELOPMENT_SIN
CE_THE_EARLY_OF_THE_20TH_CENTURY

32 | P a g e
 UNIT 3: History of Social Studies

Lesson 1 – Development of Social Studies

Lesson 2 – History and Social Science
Lesson 3 – The Emergence of the Social Studies
Duration: 3 hours, Week 4

Introduction

D
o you have any idea how Social Studies came into progress? Before you pursue
this course, have you ever wondered how history of social studies started?

Perhaps the Philippines has an educational system during the Spanish era, but
the education at that time was religion-oriented, and it was for the elite. During
American colonization, one of the most significant contributions of Americans in the
Philippines is Free Education, and the first teacher is called Thomasites. One of
Americans' goals is to educate and train Filipinos in science of self-government and
build a classroom in their assigned location. That is why this module focuses on the
development of social studies in the West, specifically in the United States of America.

The primary purpose of this lesson is for you to know the development of Social
Studies. This will guide you to become more knowledgeable about the important details
of its history, development, and familiarization with different scholars' accounts in
creating Social Studies. Understanding this lesson will allow you to have a broader
knowledge and be open-minded about the changes in the past study of Social Studies
until the changing environment happening in the 21st century.

Objectives/Competencies

At the end of this lesson, you must be able to:

a) Understand the history of Social Studies;

b) Identify the different accounts of the scholar in;

c) Make a justification on why Social Studies is important in

building productive citizens in a community.

33 | P a g e
 Question and Answer!

1. What is meaning of AHA founded in1884?

a. Association of Historians in America

b. American Historical Association
c. American Heritage Association
d. Association of Heritage in America

2. In what year did the American Revolution ended?

a. 1783 c.1785
b. 1784 d.1786
3. When did the word Social Studies officially used to indicate the whole field of
subjects dealing with human relationships?

a..1915 c. 1917
b. 1916 d. 1918

4. He gave critical impetus to the birth of new academic disciplines such as sociology
as well as to the significant reorientation in law, economics, political science, and
religious studies.

a. Max Weber c. Emil Durkheim

b. Karl Marx d. Benjamin Franklin
5. He is the president of United States as well as the Chairman of the Commissioners
for the University of Virginia who reported that history and geography were important
subjects for a primary education.

a. Thomas Jefferson c. Theodore Roosevelt

b. George Washington d. Benjamin Franklin
6. He is the president of United States who saw the need for an educational system
that would develop in students a sense of patriotism and nationalistic values.

a. Thomas Jefferson c. Theodore Roosevelt

b. George Washington d. Benjamin Franklin
7. According to him history had to be studied to increase understanding of the present.

a. Robinson c. Marshall
b. Adams d. Comte
8. These are the dominant social science courses found in the early American
elementary and secondary curricula except.

a. Geography c. Economics
b. History d. Civics
c.
9. Which of the following organizations promote Social Studies in the 21stcentury

34 | P a g e
 a. National Committee on Social Studies
b. National Council for the Social Studies
c. National Counsel for Social Studies
d. None of the above
10. What is the importance of Social Studies in your students?

a. It will help them to become a productive member of our society.

b. It will teach them to have a patriotism in their country.
c. They will become critical thinkers.
d. All of the above

Preliminary Task!

Direction: Analyze the photo below. Write your insights on the blank provided.

Lesson 1: Development of Social Studies

Discussion

The year 1783 marked the end of the American Revolution and set this nation
on its path as the "United" States of America. At this time, the majority of Americans
remained uneducated. Family, jobs, and church all played a larger role in education
than the schools (Barr, Barth, and Shermis, 1977). However, the citizens of the United
States would need to be educated in the values and responsibilities necessary for
national cohesion and survival.
When the Americans began their self-government experiment, the seeds for
what we call "social studies" were planted to ensure the nation's survival. Benjamin
Franklin and other prominent citizens saw the need for an education system that would
establish a sense of patriotism and nationalist values among students. They promoted
instruction to promote "moral training, citizen readiness, judgment and imagination"
(Hooper and Smith 1993).
The concepts that would become part of "social studies" started by some of the
early nineteenth century's brilliant minds as a vital aspect of education.

35 | P a g e
 The thinking of Thomas Jefferson inspired educational thought. Jefferson
announced in 1818, as Chairman of the Commissioners for the University of Virginia,
that history and geography were appropriate and essential subjects for primary. He
also believed that these subjects were necessary for achieving a higher education
goal, with political economy and nature and nations' law.
Darwin Warren Saxe believed that the "foundations" of social studies originated
in Britain in the 1820s and spread rapidly to the United States. Social studies first
developed as an attempt to use education as a tool for promoting social welfare, and
its subsequent growth has been inspired by both Americans and others. According to
Jarolimek (1981), the dominant social science courses of the early American
elementary and secondary curricula are history, geography, and civics. It seems
necessary to examine these types of texts for hints as to the content of early social
sciences, the precursor to social studies.
Lesson 2: History and the Social Sciences

Textbook Influence on Social Education

The textbooks before 1880 emphasized "moral and patriotic values through
historical myths, moral parables, and even religious stories," according to Barr, Barth,
and Shermis (1977). Around 1801 and 1860, 351 textbooks were written or used in
the history of the United States. Most of these were Ancient Histories 77, General
Histories 109, followed by U.S. Histories 105, English Histories 28, and 32. But then,
during the earliest period of United States nationhood, in secondary or elementary
grades, the subject of history did not occur as a separate course and was commonly
taught as part of reading, geography, or classics. The first writer to use history as a
part of a reader was Noah Webster. History was not usually allowed an autonomous
place in schools until after the 1830s. However, it was found in several private schools
and academies before that time. In 1787, a Philadelphia publisher, John McCulloch,
compiled a U.S. history book for lower grades. This was the first American history
textbook. In 1827, in high schools located in towns with five hundred families or more,
Massachusetts needed the study with U.S. history, and general history was required
in schools where the population of the town exceeded four thousand inhabitants
(Cremin1980).
Social education was dominated by historians at the turn of the century. The
establishment by university-trained historians of the American Historical Association
(AHA) in 1884 marked the development of a professional organization that would
authorize historians to exert influence over the curriculum of the school (Hertzberg
1989; Barr, Barth, and Shermis (1977). In the years between 1890 and 1911,
historians were the appropriate authority to make decisions on social studies. Despite
the dominance of history in the early years of the 20th century, social scientists trying
to further their respective disciplines' interests began to form new professional
organizations. The creation of the American Political Science Association (APSA)
occurred in 1903. The American Sociology Association was created in 1905. These
social scientists view the school curriculum as a fertile ground for their respective
disciplines. Social scientists have found history unable to answer the complex and
difficult challenges facing America in the 20th century. Social scientists have found
history unable to answer the complex and difficult

36 | P a g e
 problems facing the 20th century in America. The social sciences have increasingly
viewed as a tool for studying and offering solutions to the problems resulting from a
dynamic and evolving American landscape. With increasing immigration and the rise
of industrialization and urbanization, American society was viewed to be experiencing
rapid and unprecedented change (Hofstadter 1955; Ross 1991). Social studies
students would focus on first understanding and improving a rapidly changing,
contemporary American society through the social sciences. Social studies, its
advocates argued, would properly educate democratic people to live in their present
society. In the Thesis of Andrew Norman Cruikshanks, he summarized the social
studies curriculum of 1893 - 1915 as one in which the subject matter in secondary
social studies was stabilized, with the content being determined mostly by historians.
"Government" became "Civics," a more practical course. Geography has been taught
either as part of history or mostly as physical geography. Economics seemed to be
well developed in the curriculum. By 1911, sociology had been introduced but was
rarely found in schools.

Lesson 3: The Emergence of the Social Studies

The emerging social studies curriculum sought to involve students in analyzing

their surrounding political, economic, and social environment, adopting from the
curriculum ideas of educational reformers such as Arthur W. Dunn. By studying and
analyzing contemporary problems and issues of society, these social studies
advocates argued, students would be better able to function in and contribute to the
improvement and the development of society.
Economics, sociology, and civics were considered as the first discipline of
'social studies' in Edgar Bruce Wesley's book (1937) as early as 1905. The "Social
Studies" in the Hampton Curriculum taught at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural
Institute in Hampton, Virginia, was established in 1905 by Thomas Jesse Jones, a
sociologist at Columbia University.
Robinson (1912) believed that history had to be learned in order to improve
understanding of the present. If history did not do this, Robinson argued, it failed to
contribute to society's improvement. Many historians opposed Robinson's utilitarian
vision of history, as they understood their field to be a more systematic and scientific
study of the past. It was the advocates of social studies who moved forward to bridge
the gap between the academic study of the past and the current concern for good
citizens' production. These social studies suggested that schools be concerned
primarily with the production of democratic people.
The Progressive Movement in America started to expand democracy and
promotes economic and social justice in the country. It was influenced by education
and the curriculum. Progressive educators wanted to incorporate ideas from social
sciences and psychology research. Progressives were concerned that, because
education was to be given for everyone, the methods of teaching school and the
meaning of education needed to be modified (Cremin1964). Influenced primarily by
John Dewey and other progressive educators, schools have gradually been called
upon to educate "good citizens" that will contribute to society's general improvement.
The official use of the word "social studies" to indicate the entire field of subject dealing
with human relationships dates from 1916. In the same year, the Committee on Social
Studies of the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education of the
National Education Association announced a report that approved its use and
delimited its definition. In 1921, the organization of teachers in this field and its name,
the National Council for Social Studies, tended to organize
37 | P a g e
 the use of the term. The constitution of the Council now states that 'the word 'social
studies' used to cover civics, history, sociology, economics, geography, and all
modifications or combinations of subjects whose content as well as goal is
predominantly social.' Whether the word 'social studies' is apt, correct, or fortunate
must be a matter of opinion, but there is no doubt that it is the term used to designate
those school subjects that deal with human activities, relationships, and achievements.
At the start of the 21st century, the National Council for the Social Studies plays a
leadership role in promoting an integrated study of social studies and offers support
and services to its members. The membership includes k to 12 teacher, curriculum
specialist, content supervisors, college and university faculty, students, and
educational leader in the social studies. The Council has developed a framework to
promote academic and civic competence by integrating national standards across
disciplines. These National Council for the Social Studies standards and are published
in Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies and serve as
a guideline for social studies educators' decision-making. They have integrated
approaches from the humanities, social sciences, and behavioral sciences to structure
a comprehensive and effective social studies program. The framework highlights ten
themes in organizing strands for Social Studies.
1. Culture
2. People, places, and environments
3. Individuals, groups, and institutions
4. Production, distribution, and consumption
5. Global connections
6. Time, continuity, and change
7. Individual development and identity
8. Power, authority, and governance
9. Science, Technology, and Society
10. Civic ideals and practices.
The Council has developed position statements to lead the profession in critical
education fields, such as capacity-building, ethics, character education, information
literacy, global education and multicultural, religion, and testing.

Application

Give 3 reasons on why does Social Studies important in DepEd curriculum?

What are the qualities of an effective Social Studies teacher?

38 | P a g e
 Reflections & Insights

What do you think are the possible effect if Social Studies will no longer be included
in our curriculum?

Post Assessment!

True or False: Write T if the statement is true and F if it is false.

1. Arthur W. Dunn stated that the students should actively participate

in examining the social world by studying contemporary issues.
2. Before the American Revolution, some textbooks about Social
Studies emerged.
3. Social Studies didn’t just originate on its own. There are sequence
of events that provide context on its beginning.
4. AHA stands for American Historical Association
5. The word “Social Studies” was officially used in year 1916.
6. Wesley stated that economics, sociology, and civics was called
"social studies" as early as1905.
7. Saxe asserts that Social Studies originated from United States
and quickly influenced Great Britain.
8. Studying contemporary issues is enough to become a productive
citizen.
9. After American Revolution, the majority of the Americans
are uneducated.
10. Thomas Jefferson stated that civics is the most important subject in
schools.

Glossary

American Historical Association (AHA) - is the oldest professional association of

historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world.
American Political Science Association (APSA) - is a professional association of
political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903
American Sociological Association (ASA) - is a non-profit organization dedicated
to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905
National Education Association (NEA) - is America's oldest and largest
professional employee organization committed to the cause of public education
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) - is the largest professional
association devoted solely to social studies education founded in1921.

39 | P a g e
Suggested Readings

Book: Defining the social studies / Robert D. Barr, James L. Barth, S. Samuel
Shermis Social Studies: Past Present Future by: J.J Cogan

References

http://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/publications/se/5907/590702.htmlh

ttps://www.britannica.com/topic/social-

sciencehttps://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/american-

historical-reviewhttp://paleeri.blogspot.com/2019/09/meaning-and-definition-of-

social.html

https://www.academia.edu/9091881/SOCIAL_STUDIES_DEVELOPMENT_SINC
E_THE_EARLY_OF_THE_20TH_CENTURY

https://www.k12academics.com/Education%20Worldwide/Education%20in%20the%
20Philippines/history-education-philippines

https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=ApIFnctnFGgC&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PA16

40 | P a g e
 UNIT 4: Sociology

Lesson 1- Sociological Concepts

Lesson 2- Culture
Lesson 3- Social Structures
Lesson 4 - Social Stratification, Race, and Ethnicity
Lesson 5- Globalization

Duration: 6 hours, Week 5-6

Introduction

H
ave you ever wondered why individuals and societies are so varied? Do you
ask what social forces have shape different existence? Are you curious why
our conditions of life are so different from those our parents and grandparents?
Since ancient times, many have been fascinated by the relationship of people
and societies to which they belong. From the challenges and opportunities
brought by industrialization and to the rise of capitalism, many philosophers
and theorists had seek explanations to various changes happened in our
world.
Today, in a world that is intensely worrying, yet full of the most extraordinary promise
for the future. A world marked by deep conflicts, tensions, social divisions, destructive
onslaught of illnesses and calamities as well as challenges brought by modern
technology on the natural environment, the quest to understand society still continue
to exist. Making sense of the societies we belong still pose importance because if we
cannot understand the social world, we are more likely to become overwhelmed by it.

It is the prime concern of sociology to help us understand our world better since it
examine how social world influence the way we think, feel and act. In this unit, we will
discuss sociological concepts and perspectives in culture and society. We will
determine the concept behind society and culture and how, when they are combined,
become a complex structure that affects human lives. This lesson will help you to
effectively engage with and apply “sociological imagination” on your everyday life, to
think critically about the social world, and to have more holistic appreciation on your
active role in society.

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you must be able to:

a) Analyze sociological concepts and perspectives on culture and society;

41 | P a g e
 b) Explain society and culture as a complex whole;
c) Create an essay that will discuss distinct culture in a region and its effect on the
people;
d) Analyze the concept of social mobility, stratification and social inequality;
e) Determine the effects of globalization in society and people,

PRETEST:
Direction: Select the best answer. Write your letter of your answer on the space
provided before each number.
1. In contrast to functionalism, which sociological theory from Marx believe that
competition not consensus is the essential cause of social change?
a. Conflict theory b. Symbolic Interaction c. Post modernism d. Feminism
2. Who is the father of sociology?
a. Emile Durkheim b. Auguste Comte c. Karl Marx d. Albert Bandura
3. It refers to any behavior, belief or condition that violates significant social
norms of the society or group in which it occurs.
a. Crime b. Stigma c. Violence d. Deviance
4. This perspective focuses on how individuals act with one another in daily
situations.
a. Functionalist b. Conflict theory c. Symbolic Interactionism d. Structuralism
5. Which theory states that society is a system of interconnected parts that
work together to maintain balance?
a. Structural Functionalism b. Conflict theory
c. Symbolic Interactionism d. Connectionism
6. Which theory views society as composed of different groups and interests
competing for power and resources?
a. Functionalist b. Conflict theory c. Symbolic Interactionism d. Connectionism
7. Functionalism and Conflict theory tend to focus on , or larger
scale patterns of society in conducting their analysis.
a. Macro level b. Interactionist level c. Symbolic level d. Micro level
8. It is the feeling of aimlessness and despair provoked by modern social life
where many individual feel that their daily life lack meaning.
a. Conformity b. Conflict c. Anomie d. Positivism
9. All the following are basic elements that make up culture except what?
a. literature b. animals c. religion d. art
10. Which of the following is not part of a persons’ culture?
a. Holidays b. food c. height d. beliefs
11. Which dimension of power is given by respecting a doctor?
a. prestige b. power c. wealth d. assets
12. Which of the following is the most distinguishing characteristic of caste
system?
a. People can change their social status easily.
b. People can choose their social status.
c. Social status can be change through education and hard work.
d. Social status is inherited and cannot be changed.

13. Which of the following describe a transnational company?

a. Exporting and importing products.
b. Large global firms that operate in a number of different countries.
c. Getting a job from the company outside your country.
d. Selling goods to countries.
42 | P a g e
 14. A society in which a people frequently can, by acquiring skills and working
hard, move from one level of social stratification to a higher level of social stratification.
a. Social mobility b. Close Society c. Open Society d. Vertical Mobility
15.How does globalization affects politics and government?
a. Rise in popularity of K-Pop.
b. Technological innovation
c. Increase supply of Japan surplus in the Philippines.
d. Growth of international organization.
16. Which of the following activities pertain to the time-space compression due
to globalization?
a. Using computer to type important document.
b. Using video call to contact relatives abroad.
c. Using bus to go to province.
d. Using google in researching.
17. Which of the following products are under the weightless economy?
a. Agricultural products b. manufacturing products
c. Media and Entertainment d. Industrial Products
18. It is a form of prejudice that assumes superiority of one racial group over
the others.
a. Racial distinction b. Racism c. Bias d. Discrimination
19. The idea that one’s own culture is better than other is called?
a. Prejudice b. Stereotyping c. Egocentrism d. Ethnocentrism
20. It is the kind of status that someone is born with.
a. Ascribed Status b. Achieved Status c. Status Symbol d. Status Set

21. Kind of status achieve at some point of life after birth through effort.
a. Ascribed Status b. Achieved Status c. Status Symbol d. Status Set
22. It is a behavior expected of someone within a certain status.
a. Responsibility b. Duties c. Role d. Status Set
23. It is the basic unit of the society.
a. Religion b. Family c. Education d. Government
24. Which of the following best describe globalization?
a. Term use to describe the unity of different countries.
b. Term use to explain migration and urbanization.
c. Term use to describe the removal of borders for international expansion of
markets.
d. Term given to the cause of global warming and climate change.
25. Which of the following is true about race?
a. Racial categories are biologically determined.
b. Some races have natural advantage over others.
c. Racial differences play a significant role in genetics.
d. Race determine the social status of the people.

Preliminary Task!
Direction: Cite one personal problem that you or your family is experiencing today on each
sector of the society. List down its possible causes and identify its effect on you or your
family. The table below will serve as your guide in doing the activity.

43 | P a g e
 • Personal Problem: • Personal Problem: • Personal Problem:

• Cause of My • Cause of My • Cause of My

Problem: Problem: Problem:

• Effect: • Effect: • Effect:

Health/ Health
Education Work
care system

Discussion

Lesson 1: Sociological Concepts

Sociology is a scientific study of human social life, groups and societies.

However, studying sociology cannot be just a routine process of acquiring knowledge.
A sociologist is someone who is able to breach free from the immediacy of personal
circumstances and put things in a wider context. American author C. Wright Mills
introduced the concept of sociological imagination. Sociological imagination,
requires us, to think ourselves away from the familiar routine of our daily lives in order
to look at them a new. Sociological imagination allows us to see that many events that
seem to concern only the individual actually reflect larger issues. Thus, our personal
problems are directly related on much wider social problems and vice versa.
Social context of our lives do not consist just of random assortments of events
and actions. They are structured and patterned in a distinct ways. Social structure
proposes that there are regularities in the way we behave and in the relationship we
have with one another. However, unlike building structure which are fixed and
consistent, human societies are always in the process of structuration. Meaning,
actions may be reconstructed depending on the situation, person involved or even
yourself.

Early theorists
1. Auguste Comte(1798-1857)
French author who coined the term Sociology. He live
during French Revolution when significant changes in the
society is introduce and growth of industrialization alter
human lives. Comte vision for sociology was that of
positive science. He believed that sociology should

44 | P a g e
 apply the same rigorous scientific method to study society. Positivism hold that
science should be concerned only with observable entities that are known directly to
experience. A positive approach to sociology believes in the production of knowledge
about society based on empirical evidence drawn from observation, comparison and
experimentation.

2. Emile Durkheim(1858-1917)
French author that proposes that the main intellectual
concern of sociology is the study of social facts.
According to him, rather than applying sociological
methods to study individual, sociologists should instead
examine social facts. Social facts are aspect of social life
that shape our actions as individuals such as the state of
the economy and influence of religion. It is the way of
acting, thinking and feeling that are external t individuals
and have their own reality outside the lives and
perceptions of individual people. Another attribute of
social facts is that they exercise a coercive power over
individuals.
The constraining nature of social facts is often not recognized by people as coercive because
people generally comply with social facts freely believing they are acting out of choice. Social
facts can constrain human actions in variety of ways such as punishment for crimes and social
rejection in case of unacceptable behavior. Another concept introduce by Durkheim is the
anomie. Because the process of change in the modern word is rapid and intense, they gave
rise to major social difficulties. Anomie is the feeling of aimlessness and despair provoked by
modern social life where many individuals in modern societies feel that their daily lives lack
meaning.

3. Karl Marx (1818-1883)

The ideas of Karl Marx contrast sharply with those of
Durkheim and Comte. However, like them, he try to
explain changes during Industrial Revolution. Most of his
work centered in economic issues which includes
capitalism and class struggle. Capitalism is a system
of production of goods and services sold to a wide range
of consumers.
It has two elements which includes the capital (assets
including money and machine) and wage or labor (also
known as Proletariat or pool of workers who do not own capital but must find employment
provided by the owners of capital). According to Marx, capitalism is inherently a class system
where ruling class own capital while the mass of population become the working class. This
relationship, according to him, is characterized with conflict. It is because the relationship
between the classes, though dependent on each other, is an exploitative one since workers
have no control over the labor and employers are after on generating more profit. This
viewpoint was grounded on what he called materialist conception of history. According to
this view, social change arise not because of ideals and values but rather by economic
influence. Conflicts between classes provide the motivation of historical change. Marx argued
that just like how capitalists had united to overthrow the feudal order, capitalism can also be
supplanted to give way on Communism where society would no longer be split into small
class that monopolize economic and social power. This economic system would be under a
communal ownership and a more humane society would be established.

45 | P a g e
4. Max Weber (1864-1920)

In comparison with other thinkers of his time, Weber

also try to understand the nature and causes of social
change. He was influenced by Marx but also a strong
critic of some of Marx major views. He rejected the
concept of materialist conception of history. In Weber’s
view, economic factor is important but ideas and
values have just as much impact on social change.
Weber celebrated work, “The Protestant Ethics and
the Spirit of Capitalism (1976)”
proposes that religious views were fundamental in creating capitalistic outlook.

Also, unlike Durkheim and Comte, he argued that human motivation and ideas were
the forces behind change. Individuals‟ have the ability to act freely and to shape the
future. Because of these, he believed that sociology should focus on social action not
structures. Some of important sociological perspectives of Weber are the ideal type
and rationalization. Ideal type as a conceptual model did not mean perfect or desirable
goal of society. It is because in real world, ideal types can be rarely seen or if ever
exists, only some of its attributes will be present. However, this can serve as a fixed
point of reference in analyzing society specially when discussing about bureaucracy
and market. Rationalization, on the other hand, is the term use to collectively describe
the development of science, modern technology and bureaucracy. It is, according to
him, the organization of social and economic life according to the principle of efficiency
and on the basis of technological knowledge. In Weber’s viewpoint, Industrial
Revolution and the rise of capitalism were proof of larger tend towards rationalization?
Capitalism is not dominated by class conflict, as Marx believed, but by the rise of
science and large scale organizations.

Modern Theoretical Approaches

The early sociologist were united in their desire to make sense of the
challenging society in which they live. They wanted to do more than simply depict and
interpret events in history. However, differences of perspectives as seen by previous
theorists give rise to the three recent theoretical approaches.
1. Functionalism/ Structural Functionalism
Society is a complex system whose various parts work together to produce stability
and solidarity. Functionalists, including Comte and Durkheim, have often use the term
organic analogy to compare the society to that of living organism. They argue that
parts of society work together just as how various parts of our body works for the
benefit of the body as a whole. Merton’s version of functionalism broaden the theory
by introducing manifest and latent function. Manifest function are those known to
and intended by the participants as the outcome. Latent functions are consequences
of that activity of which the participants are unaware. To illustrate the distinction,
Merton provide an example of rain dance performed by Hopi Tribe of Arizona and New
Mexico. The Hopi believe that the ceremony will bring rain (manifest function) but by
doing and participation on it, Hopi also promote their society and unity (latent function).

2. Social Conflict
This theory reject functionalism idea of consensus instead put emphasis on divisions
in society. By doing do, they concentrate on issues about power, inequality and class

46 | P a g e
 struggle. They tend to see society as composed of distinct groups pursuing their own
interest. The existence of separate interests means that the potential for conflict is
always present and that certain groups will benefit more than the other.

3. Symbolic Interactionism
George Mead, an American philosopher, had an important influence in sociological
thought in particular through symbolic interaction. This perspective is concern with
language and meaning. The key element here is the symbol which is something that
stand for something else. Symbolic interaction directs our attention to the detail of
interpersonal interaction and how that details used to make sense of what others say
and do. Sociologists influence by this often focus on face to face interaction in the
context of everyday life. They stress the ole of such interaction in creating society and
its institutions.

Levels of Analysis: Microsociology vs. Macrosociology

One important distinction between the different theoretical perspectives we have

discussed involve level of analysis each is directed at. Microsociology concerns in
the study of everyday behavior in situation of face to face interaction. Macrosociology
is the analysis of large scale social systems. The two may have different focus but they
are closely connected on each other.
Given the discussions in sociology, the next question would be how sociology
can help us in our daily lives. Here are some influences sociology can do. First, it
will give us an awareness in cultural differences. It will let us see the world in various
perspectives making us more considerate among other people. Second, it will help us
understand that problems are not ours alone. There are connections that link our
personal problems to public issues thus making us realize our connection in society
and vice versa. Lastly, studying sociology can help policy makers to limit conflict.
Giving importance on the labor force and ensuring their welfare can help to somehow
diminish conflicts between the owner of capitals and laborers.

Application
Direction: Analyze the cartoon below and answer the question for each number. Limit
your answer into 5 sentences.

Retrieved from:

https://cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/economic-inequality-philippines

1. What does the cartoon portray?

2. Where can you relate the most? Why?
2. What do you think is the cause of the situation? Explain the cartoon using the
theories that we learned.

47 | P a g e
 Reflections and Insights

What do you think is the importance of the theories that we discussed in different
social issues that we are experiencing today? Explain your answer.

Lesson 2: Culture and Society

Preliminary Task!

Direction: Across the world, there are people or group of people who have not been
swayed by the technological advancement but rather maintained their traditional way
of life. The concept of beauty is one of the aspect of culture that seems to be
untouched by this advancement. In this activity, you are tasked to compare beauty
standards of some countries to the beauty standards in the Philippines. Note the
differences or similarities and answer the given questions below. Limit your answer
into five sentences.

Fat Camp in Lotus Feet in China Lip Plate in Ethiopia

Mauritania
Foot binding is one of In The Mursi tribe of
Full figured women the most important Ethiopia, women
are considered part of ancient wear lip plates to
beautiful in African Chinese culture. appear prettier and
country of Mauritania. Even after being to attract men for
If women are pale banned in 1940s, it is marriage. The
and weak in still practiced in some process starts when
Mauritania, they are parts of the country. It a girl attains puberty.
forced to put on is a gruesome Plates of increasing
weight by sending practice in which size are inserted on
them to fat camps. women's toes are the lower lip to
There, they are force- broken to make their stretch it until she
fed high fat foods and feet small and can insert a full-size
even given drugs to delicate which is lip plate. The women
increase their considered a symbol decorate the plates to
appetites. of beauty and social showcase their skills
status in rural China. and personality.

48 | P a g e
 1. Describe how beauty standards differ from each country.
2. How can you relate these beauty standards in the Philippines?
3. What do you think is the relation of culture on these beauty standards?

Discussion

Society refers to a group of people sharing a common culture. It may also be

defined as an organized group or group of people who generally share a common
territory, language, culture and who act together for collective survival and well- being.
The ways in which people depend on one another can be seen in the features of
society such as their economic,
communication and defense system. They
are bound together by a sense of common
identity, thus, society arises only when
individual are knit together in a network of
mutual stimulus and response. In other
words, society exist when social beings
behave towards each other in a way
determined by their recognition of one
another.

Culture, according to Taylor (1920), is the

complex whole which encompasses
beliefs, practice, values, attitudes, laws,
norms, artifacts, symbol, knowledge and everything that a person learn and share as
a member of the society. Popularly, culture is also known as the human’s way of life.
It is so encompassing that all the things we have and do can be deemed as a part of
culture.
Aspects of Culture
1. Dynamic, Flexible and Adaptive
Cultural behaviors allow people to fit into and adapt to their respective
environments. For instance, people wear clothes to protect their body from harsh
climate. They also search food for nourishment and survival. In contemporary
societies, culture is highly develop that people can even fit their environments to their
daily needs. For example, building temperate houses in tropical regions or
constructing ice amusement park in countries like Philippines.

2. Shared and Contested

This concept means that various members of society or group commonly share
ideas, activities and artifact. Hence, the behavior of people in a group or society
become socially and conventionally standardized in form and manner. In such
behaviors when culture is useful, gratifying and helpful to people in gaining ends and
satisfying needs, then it will become part of other cultural ways. However, its
transmission is not simply automatic but largely depend on the willingness of people
to give and receive it. People, at least potentially, can alter ideas, activities and artifacts
if they no longer give them satisfaction. They can change ideas, activities and artifacts
prior to transmission and even reject them afterwards.
49 | P a g e
 3. Transmitted
Acquired through learning, cultural ideas are handed down from generation to
generation as a super organic inheritance. For instance, epic chanting is passed on to
the next generation of chanters through teaching the craft to younger ones. Some form
of culture are also acquired through social learning or by imitating the act of others
and through communication and language. Language is considered the most
important part and the soul of culture. Because people possess language, we can
transmit, learned and share our culture.

4. Learned
Behavior pattern that constitute a specific culture are not genetically and
biologically determined. Every individual has the potential to learned culture as he/she
grows and survive on the various stages of life. Through the process of socialization,
a person eventually acquire the prevailing attitude and beliefs, the form of behavior
appropriate to the social roles he/she occupies and the behavioral patterns and values
of the society into which he/she is born.

Cultural Forms and Threats

In studying culture, it is important to determine its forms. A good portion of
culture is visible and tangible. It was consists of a huge number of products conceived
and manufactured by people. Tangible cultural heritage includes all material objects
like artifacts, buildings, tools, furniture’s etc. The other form of culture is Non-material
or Intangible. It is composed of knowledge, belief, values, rules, performing arts,
technologies and religious ceremonies. Both tangible and intangible forms of culture
can be considered as cultural heritage according to UNESCO. Cultural heritage is
an expression of ways of living developed by a community and passed from generation
to generation including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expression and
values.
However, there are numerous risk and dangers threatening the cultural heritage
such as looting, theft, disappearance, neglect and illegal export and import for tangible
culture. Likewise, intangible cultural heritage faces lack of support, pollution,
destruction and alteration brought by globalization, technological revolution, lack of
support and even cultural homogenization through the years.

Application

Direction: Read the article of Marvin Harris about the Abominable Pig and make a 1
or 2 page/s essay using the guide questions below. Follow the format given by the
teacher.
1. Explain the reasons why pigs are forbidden and abominable.
2. How can religion and science be reconciled to explain restrictions in society?
3. What is the importance of the article in understanding culture?

Reading: Harris, M. (1987). The Abominable Pig. The Sacred Cow and the
Abominable Pig: Riddles of Food and Culture. Touchstone Book, Pp 67-
79.
Article Link:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://etnologija.etnoinfolab.org/d
okumenti/82/2/2009/harris_1521.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjL2PnCv6_rAhVyFqYKHdoMB2IQFjAH
egQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw1vZzUv-V-vjZNU8kzUNhM8

50 | P a g e
 Reflections and Insights

What do you think is the importance of culture in understanding

society? Explain your answer.

Lesson 3: Social Structures

Preliminary Task!

Direction: Find and encircle the terms hidden on the grid which are related on the
discussion of social structures.

M R S B Y L I M A F
C C T D E F B G H S
S T A T U S S E T E
I J T M E D I A K L
L M U N B C O P Q O
R A S C R I B E D R

Discussion

Social life is composed of many levels of building blocks, from the very micro to macro
components. These building blocks combine to form the social structure. Social
structure refers to the social patterns through which a society is organized. It is a
distinctive arrangement of institutions where human beings in a society interact and
live together. Social institutions, status and roles, and social groups form an
interrelated whole of what social structure are.

51 | P a g e
 Society

Social Institutions Status and Role Social Groups

Traditional Emergent
Primary Secondary
Family Sports Groups Groups
Ascribed
Religion Media Achieved Schools
Status
Education Science/ Status Churches
Medicine Family
Government Corporations
Military Friends/ Peers
Economy

One component of social structure in society are status and role.

Status- Status has many meaning in sociology, but for now, we will define it as the position
that someone occupies in the society. Every individual occupies several status at the same
time. For example, you can be a student inside your class, a part- time worker in your
workplace, a son or daughter in your family or even mother or father on your child. We call all
the position an individual occupies as the status set. There are two types of status. Ascribed
status are the status that someone is born with and has no control over with. Example of this
is the race, ethnicity, gender, and religion where you belong. Achieved status, on the other
hand, are status achieved at some point after birth through direct efforts. This can be your
position, job or a marital status. Whatever status we occupy, certain objects can signify your
particular status. These objects are called status symbol. Example: Wearing a wedding ring
proclaims that a person is married or owning a luxury car can mean that a person is wealthy.

Roles- Whatever its type, every status is accompanied by a certain role. Role are the behavior
expected of someone with a certain status. Example, your role as a student includes going to
class regularly, studying your best for the exam and finishing or submitting school projects.
However, sometimes having too much role can cause conflict. Role conflict occurs when
fulfilling the role expectations of one status makes it difficult to fulfill the role expectations of
another status. Example: To be a student, you need to study hard to get high grades but as
a part time worker you need to allot time to accomplish your work tasks. On the other hand,
Role Strain can happened when a person has a difficulty meeting the role expectations of a
single status due to the difficulty of balancing self-interest and others interest. Example: As a
student, you need to do well on your classes without making other students feel bad about
their selves or as a boss, you need to maintain workers morale while getting your workers
work long hours of overtime.

Social groups
A social group consists of two or more people who interact frequently and share
common identity and feeling of interdependence. Primary group are generally small
in size. Interaction between its members are relatively longer and intimate. Example
of this is or family members or friends. Secondary group pertains to a larger group.
Interaction are relatively short and often temporary. There are little intimacy or mutual
understanding and the relationship is more formal and impersonal. Example of such
group are schools, churches and corporations.

52 | P a g e
 Social institutions
Another component of social structure is the social institutions or patterns of beliefs
and behavior at help society meet its basic needs. Modern society is filled with many
social institutions that all help society to achieve its goals. Example of social institutions
are the following.

Family

Economy

Media

Government

Education

Religion

Healthcare institution

Sports

Military

Application

Direction: Make a table about your own status and roles in a short bond paper.
Example is given below to serve as your guide.

Retreived from: https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/sethallen26/social-structure-14044288

53 | P a g e
 Reflections and Insights

What do you think is the importance of social structures in society? Explain

your answer.

Lesson 4: Social Stratification, Race and Ethnicity

Preliminary Task!

Direction: There are huge differences in opportunities, lifestyle and privileges between rich and
poor. Now, cite at least 3 differences on each one of them on the column below.

Social stratification describe inequalities that exist between individuals and

groups within human societies. It is defined as the systematic categorization of
individuals and institutions in society base on wealth, prestige and power but it can
also become attributed with gender, age, religious affiliation and military rank. Max
Weber proposes the Theory of Stratification to explain social stratification. According
to him, there are three things that enable society to become stratified. First is wealth
which is defined as the properties owned and assets of an individual. Second is the
power or the capacity to influence or control human behavior through persuasion or
coercion. Last is the prestige which refer to the self-esteem, respect or approval for
culturally valued acts or qualities. Prestige can also come with popularity and
achievements.

In studying stratification, we also need to consider not only the differences between
economic position and occupation but also on what happens to individuals who occupy
them. The term social mobility refers to the movement of individuals and groups
between socio economic positions. The ease or difficulty an individual experience in
moving from one social position to another is highly dependent on the type of society
he/she lives in the two kinds of society are Open Society and Closed Society.

54 | P a g e
 A. Open Society is a type of society when stratification is based on social classes
where people’s social position or status are determined by economic wealth and
income. Example: A poor family can improve their social and economic status
through hard work and perseverance. Education play a vital role because it allows
people to move upwards the social order.

B. Closed Society is a society that limit or prohibit social changes. This can
happened due to the prevailing cultural norms laid down by the society. Example:
India has a caste system where people in their social class inherit their status
from their parents and remain like this for the rest of their lives.
Social inequality

Social stratification gave rise to social inequality. Social inequality refers to the
unequal access to social, political and symbolic capital in society. This phenomena
exists every time individuals are categorized and differentiated.

Social Inequality based on Sex and Gender

Members of society are categorized into being boys or girls and men or women. Se
and gender inequality is not just about placing gender labels. It is also a form of
negative socialization in a stratified society. Any form of deviance become a subject to
ridicule, stereotyping, bashing and discrimination. For instance, a female who acts
boyish is tagged as lesbian. A male with feminine qualities is branded as gay. This
labeling is called stereotyping.

Social Inequality based on Race and Ethnicity

Individuals are also categorized according to race. This occurs when the inborn
biological feature of people such as skin color, hair texture and eye shape are the
basis of social status. Meanwhile, ethnicity is grouping of people whose common
identity is determined according to their non-biological traits such as language, culture
and history. Racism is a type of social inequality. Racism is a term that refer to the
belief that humans are subdivided into distant groups so different in their social
behavior, mental and physical capabilities that they can be ranked as superior and
inferior.

Social Inequality based on Disability

People with disabilities do not just suffer inequality because they are handicapped.
They further experience inequality because some societies do not cater on their
needs. Stereotyping of people with disabilities as useless also limits their opportunities
in society.

Global Inequality
Global inequality includes the concentration of resources in certain powerful countries
while other countries are left behind; thus affecting the opportunities and lives of
people in a less powerful countries. Globalization may create unbalanced outcomes
because while wealth is created in powerful economies, some countries and people
are unable to enjoy the benefits of globalization.

55 | P a g e
 Application

Direction: Read and watch the history about Apartheid system in South Africa. You
can use the link for your reference to answer the questions below. Limit your answer
in 5 sentences.

Article link:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheidhttp
s://www.history.com/topics/africa/aparthed
Video link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2f2k6iDFCL4

Questions:
1. How does South Africa categorize their citizens? What are the differences in rights
between the categories?
2. What do you think are the dangers of categorizing citizens?
3. What ways can we do to avoid this scenario to happen again?

Lesson 5: Globalization

Preliminary Task!

Direction: Identify words or phrases you can relate with the term globalization.

2.

1. 3.

Globalization

5. 4.

Discussion

The concept of globalization has become widely used in debates in politics, business and
media over the past few years. A decade ago, the term globalization was relatively unknown.
Today, it seems to be the tip of everyone’s tongue.

56 | P a g e
 Globalization is a word used to describe the growing interdependence of the
world’s economies, culture and population brought about by cross border trade in
goods and services, technology, flow of
investment, people and information. There are
three major factors contributing on the rise of
globalization.

First is the rise of information and

communication technology. The explosion
in global communication has been facilitated
by number of important advances in
technology and world’s telecommunicating
infrastructure. The impact of these
communication system has been staggering.
These forms of technology facilitate the time-
space compression where two individuals
located at the opposite sides of the world with
different time zones, not only can hold
conversation in real time but can also send
document and images to one another.

Second is the economic factor. Globalization is also being driven forward by the
integration of the world economy. In contrast to previous eras, the global economy is
no longer primarily agricultural or industrial in its basis. Rather, it is increasingly
dominated by activity that is weightless. The weightless economy is one that is
characterized by intangible products and services. Similar terms include „post-
industrial economy‟ and “new economy‟. The weightless economy is made possible
by information technology and intellectual property. Computer software, media,
entertainment products and internet based services are some of the products under
the weightless economy. Also, the rise of transnational companies (TNCs) that
produce goods or market services I more than one country is particularly important. A
transnational corporation is any enterprise that undertake foreign direct investment,
owns or controls income- gathering assets in more than one country which produces
goods and services outside its country of origin or engages in international production.

Third factor in the rise of globalization is the political changes. The growth of
international and regional mechanism of government such as United Nations (UN) and
European Union (EU) bring together nation states into a common political forum.

57 | P a g e
 Effects of Globalization

Globalization affects everyday aspect of our lives. In economy, globalization

enable businesses to scale up. Larger markets enable companies to reach more
customers and get higher return on the fixed cost of doing business, like building
factories or constructing research. Technology firms have taken special advantage of
their innovations this way. Globalization also provide business with comparative
advantage by allowing them to source raw materials on other places. With
globalization, different parts of the product may be made in different regions.
Corporations take advantage of lower labor costs in developing countries while
leveraging the technical expertise and experience on more developed countries. In
services, many business located in United States have outsourced their call centers
or information services to companies in India or Philippines. Also, better paying
positions have opened up in manufactured exports especially in high-tech areas,
such as computers, chemicals and transportation equipment and other high-skill work
notably in business services such as finance and real estate. However, though
globalization supports new job opportunities, it also contributes to job displacements
cause labor saving technologies, like automated machines and artificial intelligence.
Consumers benefit too. In general, globalization decreases the cost of
manufacturing. This means that companies can offer goods at a lower price to
consumers. Consumers also have access to a wider variety of goods. In some
cases, this may contribute to improved health by enabling a more varied and healthier
diet; in others, it is blamed for increases in unhealthy food consumption and diabetes.
In government, traditionally politics has been undertaken with national political
systems. National governments have been ultimately responsible for maintaining the
security and economic welfare of their citizens as well as protection of human rights
and the environment within their borders. Under globalization, politics can take place
above the state through political integration schemes such as UN, EU, and through
intergovernmental organizations such as International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World
Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Political activity can also transcend
national borders though global movements and Non-government organizations
(NGO‟s). Civil society organizations act globally by forming alliances with
organizations other countries, suing global communication systems and lobbying
international organizations and other actors directly.
In terms of culture, the discourse regarding the effects on globalization is a
challenging one. The advancement of technology dissolves international borders and
open culture to a whole new arena. Globalization can be an empowering entity
because it can interconnect the world and support economic development on places
however, it also have the ability to disempower people by misinterpretation of
culture, loss of individualism and self or group identity.

Application

Direction: This activity aim to know how connected you are to other countries in terms
on the products you use. What you need to do is list down 3 things (any products will
do) that you have and identify its manufacturer and the country where it was
manufactured. Then, you will need to provide short reflection about the outcome of the
activity. You can use the table below as your guide.

58 | P a g e
 Name: Section:

Item/ Product Manufactured by: Manufactured from:

1.
2.
3.
Things I learned from the activity:

Reflections and Insights

What do you think is the importance of globalization in our society? Explain your
answer.

hing to B
a. Sociological imagination of C. Wright Mills allow us to see that many
events that seem to concern only the individual actually reflect
larger issues.
b. Early theorists of Sociology examine changes using different
lenses. Comte uses Positivism, Durkheim concerns himself with the
study of social facts, Marx with class struggle and Weber with the
connection of values and ideas in social change.
c. Society and culture are closely connected to each other. It is culture
that give meaning to society. There are various aspects of culture
which includes being dynamic, shared, learned and transmitted.
d. Society is organized using social structures. Social structures can
be describe by social institutions, individual status and roles as well
as social groups.
e. Social stratification refers to the division of individual or group within
the society. Some countries are open for social mobility

59 | P a g e
 Test I. Read the sentences below. Write T if it is true and F if false.
1. Symbolic Interaction focus on microsociology.
2. Conflict theory is often criticized for over emphasizing the harmony and
stability that exist in the society.
3. Marx introduced into sociology the idea of class and explanation of social
inequality.
4. Social stratification is the study of social mobility in society.
5. Max Weber states that the culture of the society is the culture of the ruling
class.
6. People are born with culture.
7. Typically, an individual occupies many statuses simultaneously.
8. Culture refers to visible or tangible objects and artifacts.
9. All countries permits easy social mobility.
______10. Class conflict is Durkheim’s term for struggle between the capitalists who own the
means of production and the proletariat who does not.
11. UNESCO tagged tangible form of culture as the only cultural heritage
present.
12. Every status is occupied by a role.
13. Culture is dynamic and flexible.
14. Language is an important part of culture.
15. Tagging women as weak and men as strong is an example of racism.

Test II. Direction: Select the best answer. Write your letter of your
answer on the space provided before each number.
16. Which of the following is the most distinguishing characteristic of caste
system?
a. People can change their social status easily.
b. People can choose their social status.
c. Social status can be change through education and hard work.
d. Social status is inherited and cannot be changed.
17. Which of the following describe a transnational company?
a. Exporting and importing products.
b. Large global firms that operate in a number of different countries.
c. Getting a job from the company outside your country.
d. Selling goods to countries.
18. A society in which a people frequently can, by acquiring skills and working hard,
move from one level of social stratification to a higher level of social stratification.
a. Social mobility b. Close Society c. Open Society d. Vertical Mobility
19. How globalization affects politics and government?
a. Rise in popularity of K-Pop.
b. Technological innovation
c. Increase supply of Japan surplus in the Philippines.
d. Growth of international organization.
20. Which of the following activities pertain to the time-space compression due
to globalization?
a. Using computer to type important document.
b. Using video call to contact relatives abroad.
c. Using bus to go to province.
d. Using google in researching.

60 | P a g e
 FINAL REQUIREMENT: (ARTICLE REVIEW)
Direction: Read the article below. Analyze its major points and write a 1-2 page/s
essay using the guide questions.
1. What is a damaged culture?
2. How does Fallows describe the culture in the Philippines?
3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Fallows argument? Cite example.
4. What is the relevance of the article in understanding our society today?

Article: Fallows, J. (1987). A Damaged Culture. The Atlantic Monthly.

Article link: https://www.scribd.com/doc/7254660/A-Damaged-Culture-by-James-
Fallows-the-Atlantic-Monthly-November-1987

SUGGESTED READINGS:
Article
Fallows, J. (1987). A Damaged Culture. The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved from:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/7254660/A-Damaged-Culture-by-James-Fallows-
the-Atlantic-Monthly-November-1987
Harris, M. (1987). The Abominable Pig. The Sacred Cow and the Abominable Pig:
Riddles of Food and Culture. Touchstone Book, Pp 67-79.

References

Books
Giddens, A. (2006). Sociology. USA: Polity Press
Santarita, J. & Madrid, R. (2016). Understanding Culture, Society and Politics.
Araneta Avenue, QC: Vibal Group Inc.
Steger, M. (2003). Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. New York, NY: Oxford
University Inc.
Tonnies, F. (1963). Community and Society. New York, NY: Harper and Row
Website
https://www.google.com/amp/s/marketbusinessnews.com/financial-
glossary/weightless-economy-definition-meaning/
https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-
and-maps/transnational-
corporationshttps://www.piie.com/microsites/globalization/what-is-
globalizationhttps://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/effects-economic-
globalization/9th-grade/https://www.globalpolicy.org/globalization/globalization-o-
politics.htmlhttp://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/Globalization_and_its_Effect_on_Cultural
_Diversityhttps://www.google.com/amp/s/topyaps.com/weird-beauty-
standards/amp/https://hadithi.africa/2019/01/25/the-beauty-in-what-looks-like-
torture-that-comes-with-lip-plates/
Pictures Sources
https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/567383253028533312/https://sayaglo
bal.weebly.com/transnational-
corporations.htmlhttps://www.economicshelp.org/trade2/globalisati
on_uk_economy/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emile-
Durkheimhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Auguste-
Comtehttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Karl-Marx
https://cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/economic-inequality-philippines
61 | P a g e
 UNIT 5: POLITICS

Lesson 1- Nature and distribution of power

Lesson 2- Political theories
Lesson 3- Political Systems and Structures
Lesson 4- The Rule of Law and Constitution

Duration: 6 hours, Week 7-8

Introduction
ll of us live in a social world dramatically altered and recreated in recent

A
decades. It is a world still undergoing rapid economic, social, and political
change in lifestyle, in gender roles, in the running of the state, and in the very
definition of society in a globalized world.
For many, the question “what is politics? ‟ merits a straightforward and
probably brief answer. For some, it can be a complex scheme of legalities and policies.
Recent news about politics can also make us doubtful, enraged, or confused. However,
whatever meaning we attached to politics, it is true that many aspects of our lives
remain very “political‟. This module aims to introduce the basic concept in Politics and
Government. The goal is to help you understand its role, importance, structure and
how can it affect our everyday life.

Objectives/
Competencies
At the end of the lesson you will be able to:
a) Explain basic concepts in politics and government.
b) Describe how politics affect us in our everyday life.
c) Differentiate different government systems in the world.
d) Discuss the concept of power and authority in the government.
e) Determine the importance of the rule of law and its connection in the
Constitution.
Test I. Direction: Select the best answer. Write the letter of your answer on the space

Question and Answer!

provided before each number.
1. What is authority?
a. Ultimate power in society
b. Government rule by the few

62 | P a g e
 c. Branch of government that enforces the law
d. Government ability to exercise power without resorting to force

2. What is the difference between direct and representative democracy?

a. Amount of freedom that citizens have
b. Elected legislators
c. A king
d. Rule of the people
3. Which choice best describes the Queen of England's purpose in the
government?
a. Absolute ruler b. Ceremonial leader
c. Elected leader d. Parliamentary representative

4. Which type of government allows citizens to have a say in the government?

a. Anarchy b. Monarchy
c. Oligarchy d. Democracy

5. In a democracy, who elects the executive branch?

a. Legislative branch b. Congress
c. Parliament d. Citizens

6. A government ruled by enlightened few members of the elite class of

society according to Aristotle's classification of the government?
a. Tyranny b. Democracy
c. Aristocracy d. Oligarchy

7. A government by a despotic and unjust monarch according to Aristotle's

classification of the government?
a. Tyranny b. Democracy
c. Aristocracy d. Oligarchy

8. Which of the following pertains to a form of government where the power is

divided between the national government and different local government units?
a. Federal b. Republic
c. Constitutional monarchy d. direct democracy
9. A system of government in which citizens elect representatives or leaders to
make decisions about laws for all the people.
a. Federal b. Republic
c. Constitutional monarchy d. direct democracy
10. Mean that law should be fair, enforced and no one is above it.
a. Separation of Power b. Natural Rights
c. Rule of law d. Consent of the governed

11. Principle of having three separate and co-equal branches of government.

a. Separation of Power b. Natural Rights
c. Rule of law d. Consent of the governed

12. Constitution used after the People Power Revolution that toppled the
Marcos government?
a. 1899 Constitution b. 1972 Constitution
c. 1935 Constitution d. 1987 Constitution
63 | P a g e
 13. Which of the following is not a basic element of state?
A. People b. territory
c. Culture d. government
14. Refers to the power of the state to rule over its citizen free from the control
of the foreign state.
a. Supremacy b. Identity
c. Integrity d. Sovereignty
15. Refers to the definite geographical area occupied by the citizens of the
state.
a. Terrestrial b. Identity
c. Territory d. Sovereignty

Test II. Direction: Read the sentences below. Write T if it is true and F if false.
16. Legislative, judiciary and executive branches are independent and co-
equal in a democratic country.
17. The Philippines as a Catholic nation does not reinforce the separation
between church and state.
18. Politics can only be found in the government.
19. Political ideology is the people’s own set of values, of understandings and
beliefs.
20. The government refers to the body of people and different agencies that
make and enforce laws.

Lesson 1: Nature and Distribution of Power

Preliminary Task!

Take a closer look at the caricature below and enumerate at least five duties of the
government to address the issue.

Retrieved from: https://gallery.sunstar.com.ph/Editorial-Cartoons/i-4z3FVJq/A

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Discussion

In every society, individuals become acquainted with a political system in ways that
often structure their reaction to political events and their perception of what politics is
about. People, in this sense, have, at some level, to „learn‟ what political issues and
64 | P a g e
 politics are. Most people live their lives sticking to their own political ideology. Political
ideology is the people’s own set of values, of understandings and beliefs. This is, of
course, usually inconsistent over time. This can change depending on self- interest,
and self-evident truths, inconsistent or partially understood ideology, personalized
reference points, life history experiences and interactions with other politically-
motivated individuals, organizations, and groups.
In the broadest meaning, Politics is the process of decision making and
decision enforcing in any group that makes and enforces rules for its members. In that
sense, there is politics even at home because decision making and decision enforcing
take place there. There are also politics in the classroom when we organize ourselves
in class and there is politics in non-government organizations because organizations
are involved in decision asking and decision enforcing processes.
However, decision making and decision enforcing also conflict. This is
between and among those who decide and enforce it and those who are supposed to
abide by the decision. In that respect, politics can initiate conflict and it is through
politics that conflict can also be resolved and settled. Conflict is the natural outcome
of people relating to one another in social environments.
The question on who controls and who will be controlled, what and who
dispenses rules, and for whom and how these rules can be used is also a vital
question. This gives rise to the importance of power. Power is an element of politics
which does not mean force but rather the ability of one person or group of person to
influence the thoughts or behavior of others. Hence, Giddens (1985) argues that power
can be seen as a transforming capacity in all humans. It allows people to intervene
in a variety of events throughout the world in order to alter them. By
„power‟, an individual or a social group can have the ability to pursue a course of
action (to make and implement decisions, and more broadly to determine the agenda
for decision making) if necessary against the interests, and even against the
opposition, of other individuals or groups (Bottomore, 1979).
There are also different sources of Power. Mann (1986) suggests that power
emerges constantly in human societies and further identifies four organizational
sources of power as follows:
 Ideological Power, which emerges from the fact that humans seek to operate
in terms of meanings, norms, and rituals. It is ideologies that meet these needs.
As such, ideological power can be “transcendent‟, standing apart from society
in a sacred way, such as religion, or “immanent‟, dispersed through society by
group cohesion and a sense of shared membership.
 Economic Power, which derives from production, distribution, exchange, and
consumption. It is best expressed through a class structure.
 Military Power from competition for physical survival. It produces direct control
within a concentrated center and the effect of indirect coercion on surrounding
areas.
 Political Power, which comes from the control of physical territory and its
population by a centrally administered regulation, concentrated in the state.
In addition, Power can also be derived from social class (material wealth can equal
power), resource currency (material items such as money, property, food),
personal or group charisma, ascribed power, or social influences like religion. In
discussing government, political power is a vital subject. Without it, a political
system would not be I order and is useless. However, if power was used not to
serve the citizens, it could also be destructive.

65 | P a g e
 Power and Authority
Weber perceives power into two types. Legitimate power and illegitimate power.
Legitimate power is known as an authority. It is the power a people accept as right.
Illegitimate power is known as coercion. It is the type of power that people do not
accept.
The use of either power is a business of the government (the formal organization that
directs the political life of society). However, it is through the authority that the
government can make itself seem to legitimize in the eyes of the citizens.
The table below shows the different types of authority.

Traditional Authority

• Power legitimized by the respect for long established cultural patterns

• Characteristics
Usually hereditary leadership
Strong power of political system
Source of strength for patriarchy
People accept authority through their collective memory from the past
Example: Britain's Queen Elizabeth occupies position that was inherited
based on traditional rule of succession for the monarchy.

Rational/ Legal Authority

• Also known as bureaucratic authority
• According to Weber, it is the power legitimized by legally enacted laws
and regulations.

Charismatic Authority

 Power legitimized by extraordinary personal abilities that inspire

devotion and obedience.

Politics and Public Policies

The definition of politics stated above is so encompassing that it involves
various sectors of society. However, politics descriptions can be restricted. In a more
restricted sense, Politics can be defined as the process of making government policies.
Government policies here refer to public policies. Public policies are authoritative and
defined courses of actions handed down by officials and government agencies to attain
national needs and goals. They came in the form of legislation (laws), executive order,
etc. That set of government direction can influence the public lives of people. However,
even with this restricted definition, politics remain inescapable. To quote Lawson,
political decisions govern almost everything we do and everything done by us.
Therefore we cannot avoid politics. That makes the study of politics matter and more
relevant to us.

Application

Direction: Cite 1 existing law in the Philippines that is related on each criteria below.
Discuss what is it about and explain its relevance on you or on other people. The table
below will serve as your guide in doing the activity.
66 | P a g e
 • Title of the law: • Title of the law: • Title of the law:

• Brief desciption: • Brief Description: • Brief Description:

• Relevance: • Relevance: • Relevance:

Health/ Health Work

Education
care system

Reflections and Insights

What do you think is the relevance of understanding politics in our society today?

Lesson 2: Political Theories

Preliminary Task!

Direction: Find and encircle six terms hidden on the grid which are related to the
discussion of social structures.

P L U R A L I S T A
B E F H G J L M K E
C Y R O T I R R E T
M A R X I S T Q R A
D T S I N I M E F T
P E O P L E N O P S

67 | P a g e
 Discussion

What is a State?
When we are born, we automatically become a member of a family. It is an involuntary
membership to a basic unit of a human group. However, as our horizon broaden, we
also become a member of various institutions, organizations, or religious group.
Greater than these, we also become a member of a very large and complex
organization called state. The state can be defined in many ways. However, for the
discussion, we will refer state as the political organization of society where a
community of persons is permanently occupying a definite territory under an organized
government to which they render habitual obedience and enjoying freedom from
foreign control. From this definition, we can identify the major elements of the state
such as people (inhabitants of the population of the state which is called the citizen),
territory (definite geographical area occupied by people), government (body of
people and different agencies that make and enforce the law) and sovereignty
(supreme power of the state to rule over the citizen free from the foreign control).
However, not all societies possess the four elements stated above. These kinds
of societies can be referred to as „stateless’. The Nuer of southern Sudan and the
Jale of the highlands of New Guinea are two examples of such societies. These are
often based on hunter-gatherer economies and do not have the need to coordinate
large numbers of people or control the use of stored resources, within a fixed territory.
They, therefore, tend not to depend on central organizations or have a recognizable
state organization. Likewise, small-scale agrarian societies, while often operating
within a fixed geographical location, rarely have clearly demarcated boundaries or a
clear political organization. Also, some countries can also be stateless when the
people who have a government have no territory of their own. An example of this is
the Palestinian Arabs who are at bitter territorial war with the Jews of the state of Israel
over Palestine. The Kurds of Iraq are also stateless. Living in the mountainous border
of Iraq and Turkey, they too are striving to form their own state.

Political Theory
After identifying what is State, the next question that we can ask is how should
a state be governed? Political theory helps us better understand the concepts that
have shaped our politics, including freedom, equality, individuality, democracy, and
justice. Importantly, it is a part of Political Science that explores what a better political
world would look like and how we can create it.
McAuley (2003) presented six fundamental sociological approaches, which can
provide the tools to understand central notions of power, politics, and the state in
democratic capitalist societies. These approaches are elitism; pluralism; Marxism;
corporatism; feminism and Foucault's perspectives.

1. Elite theory, politics and the state

Let us begin with one of the oldest sets of explanations regarding politics. Elite
theories consider power to be concentrated in the hands of some select grouping. To
try to outline its tenets simply, the elite theory suggests that a single group, the ruling
elite, take all the major decisions in determining the direction and organization of liberal
democracies. This classical approach within elite theory can be traced back to the
works of Pareto and Mosca, two late nineteenth-century Italian social scientists. For
Mosca, the political ruling elite was made up of individuals whose „natural aptitudes‟
best suited them for the task of leadership. The group’s training, socialization,

68 | P a g e
 education, and life experiences all supported this. For Pareto, elites were not
necessarily based on the qualities of the individuals involved. Rather, they were an
inherent characteristic of organizations once they grew beyond a certain size.
Important decision-making in large-scale organizations or complex societies simply
cannot concern all of those involved. Rather, what inevitably happens is that decision-
making is condensed in the hands of a small number. A further consequence of this is
that the elite becomes self-perpetuating, with its own interests, not necessarily in
harmony with those of the larger organization. Such an elite becomes entrenched and
extremely difficult tore place.

2. Pluralist theory, politics and the state

Most pluralists believe that a concentration of power in any one individual or
grouping is simply not possible in any complex society. Rather, it should be recognized
that political power is both fragmented and widely dispersed. It is held by groups of
people acting together to press particular causes and viewpoints. Pluralism also draws
to some extent on another political tradition, that of liberalism, which upholds the
individual as the core of „moral worth‟. One of the key functions of the state,
therefore, becomes the protection of the individual from arbitrary interference,
whether from other individuals or the state itself. The state itself has to be controlled
and constantly checked in case it infringes on civil liberties.

3. Marxist theory, politics and the state

The core argument of a traditional Marxist approach to the state is easily
presented. It is that the interests of the ruling classes dominate the organization and
functions of the state. Further, political power and the nature and form of the state
itself are closely linked. The economic organization of society and the resultant class
structure provide the overriding roles in determining the nature of the state and
patterns of social life. The state is therefore an extension of civil society, a political
apparatus structured and shaped by class relations. In class society, the state cannot
be a vehicle for communal interest. All politics is “class politics‟, capitalists and workers
are constantly in conflict over the distribution of scarce economic resources. The state
is therefore the product of the historical struggle between classes.

4. Corporatism, politics and the state

Schmitter (1974) defined the concept of corporatism as a system of interest
representation in which the constituent units are organized into a limited number of
singular, compulsory, hierarchically ordered and functionally differentiated categories,
recognized or licensed (if not created) by the state and granted a deliberate
representational monopoly within their respective categories in exchange for
observing certain controls on their selection of leaders and articulation of demands
and supports. Fundamental to corporatist thinking is the idea that the determination of
interests becomes systematized along strict guidelines set by the state. So, for
example, membership of representative groups, such as trade unions or business
confederations, becomes compulsory. Further, organizations such as trade unions
have the power to negotiate legally binding settlements which, importantly, are
recognized by the state. In response, those representing corporate interests will
support agreed policies. The state directs the activities of a predominantly privately
owned industry in partnership with the representatives of a limited number of
hierarchically ordered interest groups. Power in real terms lies mainly in the hands of
the bureaucrats and professional decision-makers.

69 | P a g e
 5. Feminist theory, politics and the state

From within a feminist perspective, politics is seen as an activity definitely not

restricted to the domain of public decision-making. Indeed, central to feminist
arguments is the critique of other narrow definitions and understandings of politics as
something operating in the public domain. By arguing that the “personal is political‟
many feminists seek to challenge and undermine traditional divisions in society
between the public and the private. Such demarcations are largely seen as
conventions, which only serve to conceal relations of power between men and women.
In fact, it may well be that those areas marked as private actually represent the most
political of all sections of social life.

Bryson (1992) clearly identifies the most commonly held feminist views on
power, politics, and the state. They include the following perspectives:

 Liberal feminists: who believe essentially women are rational beings just like
men. Hence, they are entitled to the same legal, social, and political rights.
 Marxist feminists: believe that those rights outlined above can only benefit a
few middle-class women. Most women and men remain oppressed by
capitalism. The key to women’s liberation is therefore the class struggle.
 Socialist feminists: who seek to take the „best‟ of Marxist Feminism and
Radical Feminism to explain how class and sex oppression act together within
capitalism.
 Radical feminists: who claim that the above ideas ignore the central feature
of male power and that because the „personal is political‟ power and politics
have to be redefined in our society.
All the above feminist theories are, to a greater or lesser extent, tied up with the
broader notion of social change.

Application

Direction: Traditionally, there are many men that become a leader and ruler of the
state. However, this does not mean that women have no contribution in the political
arena. In this activity, you need to research some influential women in the world of
politics and identify the things that they have done for their country. The diagram below
will serve as your guide in answering.
WOMEN LEADER COUNTRY POSITION IN ACCOMPLISHMENTS
THE
GOVERNMENT

1. Angela Merkel

70 | P a g e
 2. Aung San Su Kyi

3. Tsai Ing-Wen

4. Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf

5. Corazon Aquino

Reflections and Insights

How can political theories related on the concept of state and politics?

Lesson 3: Social Structures

Preliminary Task!

Direction: Identify types of government that you can think of to fill out the diagram below

71 | P a g e
 Types of Government
1. 2. 3.

Leader: Leader: Leader:

Discussion

As discussed, politics is the process by which people decide how to live together-
whether it is a family, school, or nation. On the other hand, the government refers to
the body of people and different agencies that make and enforce laws. In this lesson,
we will discuss and identify the different systems of government. One of the earliest
and well-known systems of classification of government was developed by Aristotle.
He classified the different city-states during his time based on two criteria. The one
who rules and I whose interest they rule. Aristotle was of the view that when the rulers
aimed at the good of the community, the states would be a pure form of state. When
the rulers in such a state become selfish, the state would be called a corrupt state.
Aristotle’s Classification of Government
Legitimate Forms Corrupt Forms
Number of Persons who
Rule Rule in the interest of Rule in the interst of
All selves
• ONE • MONARCHY • TYRANNY
• FEW • ARISTOCRACY • OLIGARCHY
• MANY • POLITY • DEMOCRACY

The classification above was composed of a legitimate form of government or

the government that rules for the interest of people and corrupt government which rule
in the interest of themselves. Monarchy refers to a rule of one person, usually called
a monarch, and can be either king, queen, emperor, empress, tsar, or tsarina.
Government power here is vested in one virtuous and just person. The monarchy can
be transformed into a bad government in the form of Tyranny where the ruler becomes
unjust and despotic. Aristocracy is a rule of the most virtuous, intelligent, and
enlightened few members of the elite class of society. They are said to rule with
wisdom to lead people in a just and prosperous society. The corrupt form of Aristocracy
is Oligarchy. Oligarchy is a rule of the few who belong to a rich and privileged class
who think only of their self-interest. Polity is a type of government where people are
given a right to participate in selecting their leaders, in making laws, and in decision
making of the government. These rights are prescribed by written guidelines to protect
the interest of the minority over the interest of the majority. Political equality is enjoyed
by all adult citizens. The corrupt version of Polity is Democracy. It is a rule of the many
that may be corrupted and disorganized, dividing into different factions to the detriment
of others. Others calledi

72 | P a g e
 it mobocracy or the rule of the poor. For Aristotle, the worst form of government is
democracy. However, he has a different meaning of democracy as we understand it
today. though he describes democracy as the government in which the desire of the
majority of the people prevail, democracy as the rule is also synonymous with the rule
of the poor who lack education, tend to elect popular but lacking people in the office
and blindly follow self-serving politicians.
Aristotle’s classical classification of the government was simple and used fora
long time. But today, owning to the development of complex societies, the creation of
the modern classification of the government becomes necessary. The following is the
modern classification of the government based on a specified criterion.

Modern Classification of Forms of the Government

A. Number of people who hold power

• Monarchy- Monarchy can be absolute (monarch hold all the power of the
state) or Constitutional (the power of the monarch is limited by the
constitution).

• Democracy- Democracy can be divided into two. Direct democracy is when

the people directly take part on the decision making process of the
government and the Representative or Republican Democracy where
people elect their representative that will exercise their part on decision
making.
B. Division of power between national and local
government

• Unitary Government- Type of government where power is

centralized on the national government.

• Federal Government- Divides the power of the government between the

national government and different local units.

C. Relationship of Executive to Legislative

Department

• Presidential Government- The chief executive (The President) is

constitutionally independent to legislative body.

• Parliamentary- Real executive (Prime Minister and his cabinet/ministry) is

immediately and legally part of legislative department.

Application
Philippines is a democratic country. We choose and elect leaders who will hold
government office. The pictures below are some of the elected officials of the country.
Cite the name, position, and role of each person listed below.

73 | P a g e
 1. 2. 3. 4.
5.

Name: Name: Name: Name: Name:

Position:

Duties:

Reflections and Insights

How can you describe the political structure here in the Philippines?

Lesson 4: The Rule of Law and Constitution

Preliminary Task!

Direction: Fill out the diagram by asking 3 persons about their own understanding
about the rule of law. Then, define the rule of law base on the answers that you
gathered.

74 | P a g e
 Person 1

Person 2

Person 3

DEFINITION

Discussion

Rule of law refers to the mechanism, institution, and practice or norm that supports
the equality of all citizens under the law, secure a non-arbitrary form of government,
and more generally prevents supremacy of one group. Ideas about the rule of law have
been central to political and legal thought since at least the 4thcentury where Aristotle
distinguished the rule of law from that of any individual. In the 18 thcentury, the French
political philosopher Montesquieu elaborated on the doctrine of the rule of law that
contested the legitimate authority of monarchs who become despots. Since then, the
concept of the rule of law profoundly influenced Western liberal law.
There are four universal principles that governed the rule of law. First is the
accountability that declares that the government, as well as private actors, are
accountable under the law. Second, just laws. The laws should be clear and stable,
are applied evenly, and can protect fundamental rights including the security of the
persons and contact, property, and human rights. The third principle focuses on having
an open government. This pertains to how processes by which the laws are enacted,
administered, and enforced should be accessible, fair, and efficient. Fourth,
accessible justice. Justice must be delivered timely by competent, ethical, and
independent representatives who are accessible, have adequate resources, and
embody respect in the laws of the communities they serve. These four universal
principles constitute a working definition of the rule of law and developed in
accordance with internationally accepted standards and norms.

Historical Evolution of the Rule of Law

The rule of law has evolved over centuries and is inextricably linked to historical
developments that have led to the gradual emergence of liberal democracies and
their underlying modes of governance and legal systems. The following persons are
some of the philosophers that help on the foundation of the rule of law.

75 | P a g e
 1. Plato
The role that law plays in society was the subject of philosophical discussions in Greek
and Roman antiquity. In one of his last dialogues, The Laws (circa 360 B.C.), Plato is
credited with positing the idea that the government should be subservient to the
law.
2. Aristotle
The idea of Plato was further refined by his student Aristotle in his work The Politics
(circa 350 B.C.) in which he contrasted the rule of law and reason with the rule of man
and passion to explain why the government should be bound by the law as means to
prevent arbitrary rule and the abuse of power. Both philosophers agreed, then, that
laws must be promulgated for the common good.
3. Thomas Aquinas
Later on, in the medieval period, the rediscovery of classical texts including those of
Aristotle meant they became available again to European scholars. The Catholic priest
Thomas Aquinas developed a theory of natural law in Summa Theology (1265 to
1274) in which he affirmed Aristotle’s views that law is based on human reason and
must be promulgated for the common good. Although Aquinas acknowledged that the
sovereign was exempt from the law because no other person was competent to pass
a sentence on him, he reasoned that it was proper for kings to submit to the law
because whatever law a sovereign makes he should also respect it himself.
4. John Locke
For the English philosopher John Locke, which is considered by many as the “father”
of liberalism, liberty means to be free from restraint and violence with law playing a
role in preserving and enlarging freedom. In Two Treatises of Government (1690),
Locke formulated his idea of the “social contract” under which individuals voluntarily
agree to be governed in exchange for the government agreeing to protect their
personal freedoms and property. From Locke’s perspective, the government’s primary
purpose was the defense of individual rights and particularly the “preservation of the
property of all the members of that society, as far as is possible”.
5. Baron de Montesquieu
Montesquieu formulated a theory for the separation of powers as a means to prevent
governmental abuse and preserve liberty, which he defined as “the right of doing
whatever the laws permit”. In his view, “power should be a check to power” and so that
the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government should all be held in
separate hands.
6. Albert V. Dicey
The phrase “rule of law” only entered the discussion in the nineteenth century thanks
to the writings of British constitutionalist Albert V. Dicey. His Introduction to Study of
the Laws of the Constitution (1885) provides the first major explanation of what the
rule of law entails in a liberal democracy. According to Dicey, the rule of law
consisted of three inter-connected elements. Firstly, the rule of law demands that
no person should be subject to punishment except for a breach of a pre-established
law. Second, under the rule of law, everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. This
implies that government officials should not enjoy special immunities and should be
held accountable for their actions before the courts. Third, at least in the United
Kingdom where there is no comprehensive written constitution, the rule of law flows
from the judicial recognition of individuals‟ rights.
7. Friedrich Hayek
Sixty years after Dicey first gave us an explanation of what the rule of law should entail,
economist and philosopher Friedrich Hayek echoed many of Dicey’s prescriptions in
The Road to Serfdom (1944). For Hayek, the rule of law requires that laws should be
76 | P a g e
 general, equal, and certain and lastly, the law must provide for recourse to judicial
review.

The Constitution
A constitution is a set of rules, principles, and customs that establish the limit
and distribute the fundamental powers of the government and define its relations
with the citizen. From this definition, we can infer that the constitution has three basic
functions. First, it is the collection of fundamental laws of the state. It contains the
legal rules and principles that the people in a political community are governed.
Second, it sets and limits the power of the government and its agencies. The
constitution specifies the structure of government and the powers each component
agencies may exercise. Third, it defines the relationship between the government
and its citizens. The constitution states the power of government and the rights of the
citizens to prevent the government from intruding upon these rights.
Theoretically, there are four roles of the constitution. First, the constitution is
an expression of national ideals and unity. This is the reason why a preamble
preceded a constitution. The preamble enumerates people's ideals, values, and
aspirations. The preamble of the Philippine constitution states people’s aim of the
just and humane society and a government have the duty to embody these ideals.
Second, it is a symbol of government legitimacy. A constitution is written to
establish the right of a government. People’s acceptance of a government is
formalized under the constitution. Hence, the constitution legitimizes the power of the
government to enforce obedience to its citizens. Third, it serves as an outline of the
government structure. The constitution outlines and enumerates, in general, the
details of government organizations, its functions, and limitation to its power. It also
outlines the division of powers between and among its branches and between the
national and local governments. Fourth, it is an instrument of political stability.
The constitution states clearly the manner by which an elected official can assume
the powers of the government. I also provide for a smooth transfer of the power and
continuity of government functions in case of death or vacancy by those in the office

Application
Direction: Artwork depicting the Lady of Justice Statue,
whether in the form of painting or sculpture, throughout the
world has a very iconic characteristics. It is in the form of
women standing or in some cases sitting, holds a balance
and a sword and wears blindfold over her eyes. Now in this
activity, you need to research why does the Lady of Justice
look like this and make a 1-2 page/s essay by answering
the guide questions below. Follow the format given by your
teacher.
Questions:
What are the symbolism on the image of Lady Justice?
(Explain its meaning)
How does the image embody the basic principle of the
rule of law?

77 | P a g e
FINAL REQUIREMENT: (ARTICLE REVIEW)
Direction: Read the article below. Analyze its major points and write a 1-2 page/s
essay using the guide questions.
1. How does Ileto describe the democracy in the Philippines?
2. What is the relationship between America and Philippines according to Ileto?
3. What is the relevance of the article in understanding our society today?
Article: Ileto, R. (2001) Orientalism and the Study of Philippine Politics, Philippine
Political Science Journal, 22:45, 1-32, DOI: 10.1080/01154451.2001.9754223
Articlelink:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237295068_Orientalism_and_the_Study_of
_Philippine_Politics

T hings to REMEMBER:
g. Politics are present not just in the government. There is politics
in our home, school and any organizations that involves decision
making and decision enforcing.
h. Power does not mean forces. Power is an element of politics that
pertains to the ability of a person or group to influence thoughts
and behaviors of other.
i. State has four major elements which include government,
territory, people and sovereignty. Societies that do not possess
these four elements can be identify as “stateless”.
j. Aristotle provides the classical classification of governments
which are divided into legitimate form that focus on the interest
of all and corrupt form that focus on the interest of the few.
k. Modern classification of government can be categorized on three
criteria. First, number of people who hold power. Second,
division of power between national and local government. Third,
relationship of executive to legislative department.
l. The rule of law is essential to ensure the equality of all citizens
and prevent supremacy of one group.
m. The constitution as the highest law of the land symbolizes the
expression of national ideals, unity and government legitimacy.
It also serve as an outline of government and an instrument of
political stability.

Post Assessment!
Direction: Match the Column A to Colum B. Write the letter of your answer
on the space provided before each number.
I. Classification of the government
Column A Column B
1. Power is centralized on national government. A. Constitutional Monarchy
2. Real executive is immediately and legally B. Mobocracy

78 | P a g e
 part of legislative department.

3. Monarch hold all power of the state. C. Absolute Monarchy

4. Power is divided between national and D. Oligarchy
Local units.

5. The power of monarch is limited. E. Aristocracy

6. People directly take part on decision F. Tyranny
Making process of the government.

7. Rule of the poor. G. Polity

8. Ruler is unjust and despotic H. Unitary Government
9. Legitimate form of democracy I. Federal

10. Rule of few privilege class who think J. Parliamentary

who think only for themselves

11. People elect their representative that will

Exercise their part indecision making K. Direct democracy

12. Rule of enlightened few members of

Elite class of society L.Representative Democracy

13. The chief executive is constitutionally M. Presidential Government

Independent to legislative body

II. Historical Evolution of the Rule of Law

Column A Column B
14. Provide the theory of separation of power A. Plato
15. Write the book “The road of Serfdom‟ B. Aristotle
16, Formulate Social Contract C. Thomas Aquinas
17. State that the rule of law was D. John Locke
consisted of 3 interrelated elements

18. Write the book “Summa Theologiae‟ E. Montesquieu

19. He post an idea that the government F. Dicey
Should be subservient to the law

20. He contrasted the rule of law and G. Hayek

Reason with the rule of man and passion

SUGGESTED READING:
Ileto, R. (2001) Orientalism and the Study of Philippine Politics, Philippine Political
Science Journal, 22:45, 1-32, DOI: 10.1080/01154451.2001.9754223
REFERENCES:
Books
Godin, R. & Klingemann, H. (1996). A New Handbook of Political Science. New
York: Oxford University PressInc.
McAuley, J. (2003). An Introduction to Politics, State, and Society. London: SAGE
Publications Ltd.
Naguit, R. (2002). Discourses on the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Bulacan, Bulacan:
Gintong Sinag Publishing
Valcke, A. (2012). The Rule of Law: Its Origins and Meanings: A Short Guide for
79 | P a g e
 Practitioners. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255726723_The_Rule_of_Law
_Its_Origins_and_Meanings_A_Short_Guide_for_Practitioners
Website

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/politics-power-and-
authority/
https://politicalscience.gsu.edu/research-2/political-
theory/https://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/articles/classification-government-
sccording-aristotle/308
https://worldjusticeproject.org/about-us/overview/what-rule-
lawhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rule-of-
law/https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.constitution
net.org/sites/default/files/what_is_a_constitution_0.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjkzOe9ibHrAh
WOGqYKHXlWCGcQFjATegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw2KmJEwr2Kf-
RKofTucqBrQ&cshid=1598176984824https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/featur
es/g6961/female-leaders-you-should-know/

Pictures
https://gallery.sunstar.com.ph/Editorial-Cartoons/i-
4z3FVJq/Ahttps://www.britannica.com/topic/rule-of-
lawhttps://www.biography.com/political-figure/corazon-
aquino
https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/378654281140092352/?amp_client_id=nFGUQs_MvNi2j
933iMCIEDK8zhy_LqWqmCvPvMlj-
ZRwP3YoAdmuFn4JQf1L_7qq&mweb_unauth_id=85bdb5404fea41a3812cc9eb016
bb064&amp_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Famp%2Fpin%2F378654
281140092352%2F&amp_expand=true&amp_analytics=1*1jetwzd*cid*bkZHVVFzX0
12TmkyajkzM2lNQ0lFREs4emh5X0xxV3FtQ3ZQdk1sai1aUndQM1lvQWRtdUZuNEp
RZjFMXzdxcQ..

80 | P a g e
 UNIT 6: Geography

Lesson 1- Historical Traditions in Geography

Lesson 2- Five themes of Geography
Lesson 3- Geography and Natural Sciences.
Lesson 4- Geography and Other Social Sciences.
Lesson 5- Geography and History

Duration: 6 hours, Week 10-11

Introduction

G
eography is everywhere. It encompasses mountains, forests, plains or even
the most modernized cities in the world. Every region, states, boundaries, and
territories are included in this field of study. Geography is a fundamental
fascination that everything that we can think of has a certain location on the
surface of the Earth which can be expressed in terms of its latitude and longitude, or
merely a distance from one point to another. In this module, we will broaden our
knowledge in geography by discussing not just geography as the study of places and
locations but also an interaction of people and nature. At the end of the lessons, this
module aim for you to realize that geography is not just a unit of study but an essential
tool in knowing and making sense of our environment.

Objectives/
Competencies
At the end of this lesson you will be able to:
a. Explain basic concepts of geography and its relation in different branches of
sciences.
b. Determine the connection of people and geography and how each one of
them affects one another
c. Discuss how geography can be used to further understand history.

Question and Answer!

Direction: Select the best answer. Write the letter of your answer on the space
provided before each number.
1. Which of the following best describe movement?
a. Tell us how people, goods, resources and ideas move from one place to another.
b. Tell us how many people migrate on other countries.
c. Tell us what makes an area special.

81 | P a g e
 d. Tell us ways in which places are alike or different.

2. Cutting down trees to build houses is an example of?

A .location b. human environment interaction
C .place d. movement
3. People leaving their countries to avoid war and persecution is an example
of?
a. location b. human environment interaction
c. place d. movement
4. Exact location of place in relation to its surrounding water or lands.
a. place b. perfect location
c. absolute location d. relative location
5. Location of place in relation to its surrounding water or lands.
a. place b. perfect location
c. absolute location d. relative location
6. Sometimes, people have to go to a new place in order to get a better job.
Which theme does this situation represent?
a. location b. human environment interaction
c. place d. movement
7.Study of our physical surroundings and how humans interact with them.
a. geography b. topography
c. demography d. humanities
8. A spherical model of the Earth.
a. map b. compass
c. globe d. continents
9. Branch of geography that examines people and their activities from one
place to another.
A .human geography b. environmental geography
C .physical geography d. soil geography
10. Social Science that study the processes and principles of government and
other political institutions.
a. anthropology b. history
c. political science d. political geography
11. Describing Philippines as a tropical country and archipelago that
composed of over 7100 islands is an example of?
a. location b. region
c. place d. movement
12. Traditions in geography which focuses on the study of how planets
location in solar system affects its seasons etc.
a. earth science tradition b. area studies
c. spatial tradition d. man-land tradition
13. Traditions in geography which refer to the description of region or areas on
one another.
A .location b. human environment interaction
C .place d. movement
14. Refers to the scientific study of animals.
a.Botany b. Pedology
c. Zoology d.Geology
15. Tradition of geography which is the study of the relationship between
human beings and the land they live in.
a.location b. human environment interaction
c.place d. movement
82 | P a g e
 Lesson 1: Historical and Traditions in Geography

Preliminary Task!
Choose one picture below that you think will best describe geography and explain
why you chose it. Limit your answer into 5 sentences.

Explanation:

Discussion

The term geography comes to us from the ancient Greeks, who needed a word to
describe the writings and maps that were helping them make sense of the world in
which they lived. In Greek, geo means earth, and –graphein means to write. Using
geography, Greeks developed an understanding of where their homeland was located
in relation to other places, what their own and other places were like, and how people
and the environment were distributed. These concerns have been central to
geography ever since. However, the Greeks were not the only people interested in
geography. Throughout human history, most societies have sought to understand
something about their place in the world, and the people and environments around
them. Geography becomes especially important during the age of discovery and
colonization because geographic understanding allows European powers to extend
their global influences on their colonized countries.
Geography is divided into two main branches: human geography and physical
geography. The illustration below describes the basic characteristics of each branch.

83 | P a g e
 Branch of geography and

Physical Geography
mainly covers the study Branch of the geography
Human Geography
of the human race. It and mainly deals with the
examines people and their study of natural
activities from place to place. characteristics of Earth. It
This normally involves their covers both the ones that
backgrounds, how they are on the Earth's surface as
interact and the perceptions well as those near it.
that they have for various Physical geography allows
ideologies affecting them. In us to chart landmasses as
addition, the discipline also well as see what lies
studies the way in which group beneath Earth's ice caps
of the people that inhabit the and oceans. It study the
Earth organize themselves in Earth's natural features and
the particular regions that they how they vary from one
live. Modern application of place to another.
human geography can include
mapping human migration,
showing the movement of the
food resources and how they
impact communities as well as
the impacts climate change
can have on humans living in
vulnerable areas.

Geography’s core concepts

To further understand geography, let us first discuss its core concepts.

The first concept is Space. Space pertains to the location (where we are on the
Earth’s surface in relation to geographical coordinates), distance (amount of space
between two points/countries), and directions (movement; cardinal and secondary
direction). The key focus on understanding geographical space is on how Earth’s
surface has been depicted. Because of this, maps, cartography, and satellite images
are essential tools for geographical analysis to produce qualified scale and forms of
spaces. The place is another core concept in geography. The place is not independent
of space because it involves an area or territory which is a term used to determine a
bounded space. When describing the differences between places, the focus may be
on natural features such as rivers or mountain ranges, but boundaries may also be
included especially when arbitrating disputed territories. Thus, a place may be used to
pertain to a state or country to a neighborhood or home area. It also includes the
search for boundaries, edges, and limits of a recognized territory. The environment
is the third core concept for geography. In its simplest interpretation, it refers to the
terrain of the land. However, like the place, the environment encompasses human
perceptions and aspirations as well as the biophysical characteristics that can be

84 | P a g e
 measured and monitored. The relationship of humans to the environment can also use
to better understand the changes happening in the world. The reciprocal relationship
of the two is so dynamic that the early ideas that suggest how the environment
determined limitations on people have been debunked and modern researchers
become aware of the human impact on the natural environment.
These three core concepts of space, place, and environment can be identified
as the central concerns of geography that hold the subject together and give meaning
to its discourse.

Traditions in Geography
In 1963, William D. Pattison published an article in the Journal of Geography
that attempted to explain the focus of the geography by identifying a general
consistency in the nature of geographic interest and research. These four traditions
identification an alternative to the monistic definitions that have been used to pertain
geography for a longtime.

This tradition involves spatial tradition, an area studies tradition, a man-land tradition,
and an earth science tradition.
1. Spatial or Locational Tradition
Spatial tradition focuses on the importance of spatial analysis on understanding
geography. Spatial analysis is a type of geographical analysis that seeks to explain
patterns of human behavior and its spatial expression. This tradition emphasizes the
importance of knowing the connections that exist between the geographical location
and physical characteristics of a site and analyze their unique relationships. Because
of this, it is essential to use quantitative techniques and tools such as computerized
mapping and geographic information systems to understand the aerial distribution,
densities, movement, and transportation.
2. Area Studies or Regional Tradition
Area Studies refer to the description of region or areas on one another. It was intended
to sum up and regularize knowledge not of the location of places BUT of nature of
places, their character, and their differences.
3. Man-Land Tradition
The focus of Man-Land Tradition is the study of the relationship between human
beings and the land they live on. Man-Land looks not only at the impact people impose
on their local environment but also at how natural hazards and phenomena can
influence human life. Along with this, Man-Land Tradition also takes into account the
consequences that cultural and political practices have on the given area of study as
well.
4. Earth Science Tradition
The Earth Science tradition is the study of planet Earth as the home to humans and
its system. Along with the physical geography of the planet, it focuses on the study of
how the planet’s location in the solar system affects its seasons and how changes in
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere impact human life on the
planet.

Application

Direction: Human and environment are directly connected on each other. In this
activity you need to cite 3 news about nature and people and explain if the

85 | P a g e
 connection resulted in positive or negative effects. The diagram below will serve as
your guide in doing this activity.
MAN-LAND TRADITION
News Connection of human and Positive/ Negative
environment effects? (Explain
your answer)
1.

2.

3.

Reflections and Insights

What do you think is the importance of studying geography in our society?

Explain your answer.

86 | P a g e
 Lesson 2: Five Themes in Geography

Preliminary Task!

MAP MAKING

Direction: Making maps is an important aspect of geography. In this activity, you will
need to make a map of your barangay in a short bond paper. Include important places
like school, church and government offices. The picture below will serve as your guide
in doing the activity.

Retrieved from: http://www.filipinohomeschooler.com/intramuros-travel-guide/

87 | P a g e
 Discussion

Five Themes of Geography

Because geography is more than memorizing names and places. Geographers
organize space in much the same way that historians organize time. To help organize
space, geographers provided five themes of geography that will help us answer the
following questions:

Location • Where is it located?

Place • What's it like there?

Human-Environment • What is the relationship of humans and environment?
Interaction
Movement • How and why are places connected with one another?

Regions • How and why is one area similar to another?

1. Location
Absolute and relative location are two ways of describing the positions and
distribution of people and places on the earth's surface. Absolute location refers
to the grid coordinate on the surface of the earth. Latitude and longitude can be
used to pinpoint a location. For example, the absolute location of the Philippines
is 11.3333‟N and 123.0167‟E. On the other hand, the relative location pertains
to the location of a state in accordance with its surrounding water and land. For
example, the Philippines is located in the northern and eastern hemisphere and
is positioned off the Southern coast of Asia. It is found in the East of Vietnam
and Northeast of Malaysia.

2. Place
Geographers describe a place by two kinds of characteristics; physical
and human. The physical characteristics of a place make up its natural
environment and are derived from geological, hydrological, atmospheric, and
biological processes. They include landforms, bodies of water, climate, soils,
natural vegetation, and animal life. The human characteristics of a place come
from human ideas and actions. They include bridges houses and parks. Human
characteristics of the place also include land use, the density of population,
language patterns, religion, architecture, and political systems. The theme of
place helps flesh out information about the location. Taken together, the themes
of location and place provide a basis for observation in geography. These
themes can be used to help answer the first two questions of geography: Where
is it? And why is it there? With a sense of physical and human place, we can
read the landscape around us and make observations about what we see.

88 | P a g e
 3. Human/Environment Interaction
The physical and human characteristics of a place provide keys to understanding
the relationship between people and their environments. This geographic theme
addresses this question: What is the relationship between humans and the
environment? The following key concepts of human/environment relationships.
 Humans depend on the environment: The natural environment is made up of
living things and non-living things. Humans depend on the natural environment
for their basic needs; food, shelter, and clothing.
 Humans modify the environment: People modify the natural environment to
meet their needs. For example, they build dams, plow and irrigate fields, and
dig mines. They build houses, schools, and shopping centers on land.
 Humans adapt to the environment: Humans have settled in virtually every
corner of the world by successfully adapting to various natural settings. For
example, people who live in the northeastern United States use heating units
to keep their homes warm in winter People in the southern part of the country
use air conditioning much of the year to stay cool in the heat. The ways people
choose to adapt to their settings reflect their economic and political
circumstances and their technological abilities. Studying geography furthers
appreciation of our natural environment and of our cultural differences.
4. Movement
Relationships between people in different places are shaped by the constant
movement of people, ideas, materials, from one place to another. Because our world
is in constant motion and constantly changing, new issues such as migration,
urbanization, and trade arise which could bring positive and negative effects on
society.
5. Regions
A region is a basic unit of geographic study. It is defined as an area that has
unifying characteristics. The study of regions helps us answer these questions: How
and why is one area similar to another? How do the areas differ? Some regions are
distinguished by physical characteristics. Physical characteristics include landforms,
climate, soil, and natural vegetation. For example, the Philippines is a tropical country
and is an archipelago that is composed of over 7100 islands. On the other hand, some
regions are distinguished by human characteristics. These may include economic,
social, political, and cultural characteristics. The highly urbanized cities of Metro Manila
can be considered a human region.

Application
Direction: Use the map of Southeast Asia to find a country using a relative location.

Answer:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

89 | P a g e
 Questions:
1. Country found in the East of Vietnam and South of Taiwan.
2. Country found in the West of Laos and East of Myanmar.
3. Country found in North of Indonesia and East of Malaysia.
4. Country found in the East of Indonesia and South of the Philippines.
5. Country found in the West of the Philippines and East of Laos.

Reflections and Insights

How does people affect nature and how does nature affect people? Explain your
answer.

Lesson 3: Geography and the Natural Sciences

Preliminary Task!

Direction: Find and encircle four terms about natural sciences hidden on the grid.
A B A K D C G A H L
Z O O L O G Y G N M
P T R Y G O L O E G
S A T W Y E I B K H
M N G P R S U O D G
N Y G O L O D E P L

Question: What do you think is the connection of terms at the top in studying geography? Limit
your answer into 3 sentences.

Discussion

Physical Geography and Natural Sciences

All the branches of physical geography, have an interface with natural sciences. The traditional
physical geography is linked with geology, meteorology, hydrology, geomorphology, climatology,
oceanography, and soil geography respectively have very close links with the natural sciences as
these derive their data from these sciences. Bio-Geography is closely related to botany, zoology, as
well as ecology as human beings, are located in a different locational niche. Geography is very much
linked with the study of astronomical locations and deals with latitudes and longitudes. A geographer
should have some proficiency in mathematics and art, particularly in drawing maps. The shape of
the earth is Geoid but the basic tool of a geographer is a map which is a two-dimensional
representation of the earth. The problem of converting geoids into two dimensions can be tackled by
projections constructed graphically or mathematically.

90 | P a g e
The cartographic and quantitative techniques require sufficient proficiency in mathematics,
statistics, and econometrics. Maps are prepared through artistic imagination. Making
sketches, mental maps, and cartographic work require proficiency in arts.

The table below enumerates some of the counterparts of geography on various natural
sciences.

GEOGRAPHY AND NATURAL SCIENCES

GEOGRAPHY NATURAL SCIENCES

Climatology
- The study of the structure of
atmosphere and elements of weather
and climates and climatic types and
regions.
Hydrology
- studies the realm of water
over the surface of the earth including
oceans, lakes, rivers and other water
bodies and their effect on different life
forms including human life and their
activities
Soil geography
-devoted to study the
processes of soil formation, soil types,
their fertility status, distribution and use.
Meteorology
-branch of science concerned with the
processes and phenomena of the
atmosphere especially as a means of
Fore casting weather.
Oceanography
-Branch of science that deals with
physical and biological properties and
phenomena of the sea
Pedology
-also known as the soil science ad deals
with the study of soil in their natural
environment.

Plant geography Botany

-which studies the spatial pattern of -The scientific study of plants
natural vegetation in their habitats.

Zoo geography Zoology

-which studies the
spatial patterns and geographic
characteristics of animals and their
habitats
Environmental geography
-concerns the world over leading to the
realization of environmental problems
such as land gradation, pollution, and
conservation concerns has resulted in
the introduction of this new branch in
geography.
Geomorphology
-devoted to the study of landforms, their
evolution, and related processes.
-the scientific study of animals
Environmental Science
-Branch of science concerned with the
physical, chemical, and biological
conditions of the environment and their
effect on organisms
Geology
-A science that deals with the earth’s
physical structure and substance, its
history, and the processes that act on it.

91 | P a g e
 Lesson 4: Geography and the Social Sciences

Application
Direction: Describe your barangay by stating its physical attributes then
identify how these attributes help in understanding the geography of your
community. The diagram below will serve as your guide in doing this activity.

DESCRIBING MY COMMUNITY

Name of your barangay:

Physical attributes: (include the plants, animals, and landforms
found in your community)

Question:
How can these attributes help in understanding the geography of your
community?

Reflections and Insights

What do you think is the role of natural science in understanding geography?

Explain your answer.

Preliminary Task!
Direction: Group the terms in physical and human geography and answer the
questions that follow.

92 | P a g e
 TERMS

Ocean Migration Population Agriculture

Land Animals Earth’ s structure Government

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Questions:
1. How did you group the terms into physical or human geography?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. How can you differentiate physical geography to human geography?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

93 | P a g e
 Discussion

Human Geography and Social Sciences

Like in Physical Science, the relationships between geography and social sciences
have can also be outlined in detail. For example, human geography is connected in
society, politics, economics, and population (demography) as one of geography’s
spatial attributes. The core concern of political science is the territory, people, and
sovereignty while political geography is also interested in the study of the state as a
spatial unit as well as people and their political behavior. Economics deals with basic
attributes of the economy such as production, distribution, exchange, and
consumption. Each of these attributes also has spatial aspects and here comes the
role of economic geography to study the spatial aspects of production, distribution,
exchange, and consumption. Likewise, population geography is closely linked with the
discipline of demography.
The table below enumerates some of the counterparts of geography in various
social sciences.

GEOGRAPHY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

GEOGRAPHY SOCIAL SCIENCES

Cultural geography
-encompasses the study of society and
its spatial dynamics as well as the
cultural elements contributed by society.
Anthropology
-the science of humanity which studies
human beings in aspects ranging from
biology and evolutionary history of
Homo Sapiens to the features of society
and culture that distinguish humans
from other animal species.

Historical geography History

-studies the historical processes -study of man’s past and his decisions
through which space gets organized. in order to find relationships between
Every region has undergone some the events and causes for them.
historical experiences before attaining
the present-day status. The geographical
features also experience temporal
changes and these form the concerns of
historical geography.
Political geography Political Science
-looks at the space Study of the processes and principles of
from the angle of political events and government and other political
studies boundaries, space relations institutions.
between neighboring political units,
delimitation of constituencies, election
scenario and develops theoretical
framework to understand the political the
behavior of the population

94 | P a g e
 Population geography
-It studies population growth,
distribution, density, sex ratio, migration,
and occupational structure, etc.
Settlement geography studies the
characteristics of rural and urban
settlements.
Demography
-Study of statistics such as births,
deaths, income, or the incidence of
disease which illustrate the changing
structure of human populations.

Economic geography Economics

--studies economic -Study of the ways in which society deals
activities of the people including with money and availability of goods.
agriculture, industry, tourism, trade,
and transport, infrastructure and
services, etc.

Application

Direction: Geography and the lives of people are closely linked to each other. In this
activity, you need to make a 1 or 2 page/s essay that will analyze how geography
affects the culture of the country. You can use the questions below as your guide.

Article: Harris, M. (1978). India’s Sacred Cow. Human Nature.

Article Link:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://spraakdata.gu.se/tara
ka/SacredCow.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjD3q3l68TrAhWoy4sBHfxOAosQFjAAegQIAhAB&
usg=AOvVaw2PeS3ozpff-cG_a7m-1rZV

1. How does Harris explain the sacredness of the cow?

2. How does geography play a role in tagging cow as a sacred animal?
3. What is the relevance of the article by explaining the connection
between geography and culture?

Reflections and Insights

What do you think is the role of natural science in understanding geography?

Explain your answer.

95 | P a g e
 Lesson 5: Geography and History

Preliminary Task!

Choose one quote below that you think will best describe the connection of geography
and history then explain why you chose it. Limit your answer into 3-5 sentences.

Explanation:

Geography: The place where HISTORY happens

Last discussion, we learned how geography is connected to natural and social sciences. In this lesson, we
will deepen our knowledge of the relationship between geography and history. Geography and history are
different ways of looking in the world but they are so closely related that neither one can afford to ignore or
neglect the other. Moreover, each one of them offers not just one perspective to explain the world but
multiple perspectives upon the characters of people, places, and periods. The fundamental difference
between the two is expressed in terms of history’s focus upon periods/time and geography’s focus upon
places.

96 | P a g e
 However, this difference can also be a key to understand the relationship between geography
and history by fully recognizing how periods and places both deal with the people. Thus, we
can say that historical geographers tell us stories about how places have been created in the
past by people while historians will tell us different stories about how periods have been
created in the past by people. Take Ancient Egypt for example. They were a successful
civilization because they built their community beside the great Nile River. Each year, the Nile
River flooded which deposits rich black soil that can be used to assist farmers who could grow
food enough to feed their population. Without understanding their geography, Egyptian
civilization would not become successful. The same is true on other ancient civilizations. The
Mesopotamia has the Tigris and Euphrates, China has Yellow River, and Indus civilization
has Indus River. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), a German philosopher in the Age of
Enlightenment, affirm the connection of Geography and History by stating that knowing
geography is essential in understanding history. He identified geography and history as the
two basic forms of human knowledge, the one addressing things and events in space, the
other things and events in time; the one reaching out, the other drilling down.

Comparison of Geography and History

GEOGRAPHY HISTORY

Concern in more specialized field Much broader field encompassing all

focusing on the interaction of human human experiences
in physical environment
Views human experience from the
Views human experience from the perspective of time
perspective of space

Interested in past events and human

Primarily concerned with physical Earth interaction on each other
and how it is affected by the people
who live here.
Follow the idea that something happens
Follow the idea that something that at one point i time can impact something
happens in one place can impact that can happen at the future.
another place

97 | P a g e
 Application

Direction: Watch the video about the Silk Road of China and answer the questions
below. Limit your answer in 3-5 sentences.

Video Link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vn3e37VWc0k&t=162s

1. What is Silk Road?

2. How do Silk Road routes represent an early version of world integration
and development?
3. How did geography affect the integration of Silk Road?
4. Why does Silk Road important in history?

Reflections and Insights

What do you think is the role of geography in Philippine History? Cite an

example and explain your answer.

98 | P a g e
 T hings to REMEMBER:
Geography comes from the Greek word geo means earth, and –
graphein means to write. Using geography, Greeks developed an
understanding of where their homeland was located in relation to
other places, what their own and other places were like, and how
people and the environment were distributed.
Geography is divided into two main branches: human geography
and physical geography.
In 1963, William D. Pattison published an article in the Journal of
Geography that attempted to explain the focus of the geography by
identifying its four traditions: man-land tradition, Earth Science
Tradition, Area Studies tradition and Spatial Tradition.
The five themes of geography include Human/Environment
Interaction, Location, place, movement and region.
Physical Geography is directly related in natural sciences while
Human Geography is related in Social Sciences.
Geography can be used to understand history better.

Post Assessment!

Direction: Match the Column A to Colum B. Write the letter of your answer
on the space provided before each number.

A. GEOGRAPHY AND NATURALSCIENCE

Column A Column B
1. Branch of science concerned with A. Hydrology
the processes and phenomena of the
atmosphere especially as a means of
forecasting weather.

2. Study the spatial pattern of natural B. Geology

vegetation in their habitats.

3. A science that deals with the earth’s C. Plant geography

physical structure and substance, its history,
and the processes that act on it.

4. Study the realm of water D. Pedology

over the surface of the earth including
oceans, lakes, rivers and other water
bodies and their effect on different life
forms including human life and their
activities

99 | P a g e
 5. Also known as the soil science and deals E. Meteorology
with the study of soil in their natural environment.

B. GEOGRAPHY AND SOCIALSCIENCES

Column A Column B
6. Study of the processes and principles A. Cultural Geography
of government and other political institutions.

7. Encompasses the study of society and B. Anthropology

its spatial dynamics as well as the cultural elements
contributed by society.

8. Science of humanity which studies human C. Political Science

beings in aspects ranging from biology and
evolutionary history of Homo Sapiens to the features
of society and culture that distinguish humans
from other animal species.

9. Study of statistics such as births, deaths, D. Economics

income, or the incidence of disease which illustrate the
changing structure of human populations.

10. Study of the ways in which society deals E. Demography

with money and availability of goods.

B. FIVE THEMES OFGEOGRAPHY

Column A Column B
11. Describe the places on Earth using latitude A. Place
and longitude and surrounding bodies of water or land.

12. It can be describe using natural environment B. Movement

or characteristics of it base on human ideas.

13. Pertains to the relationship between mankind C. Location

and nature.

14. Study motion, migration, urbanization and trade. D. Region

15. Defined as an area with unifying E. Human-Environment Interaction

characteristics.

SUGGESTED READINGS:
Article
Harris, M. (1978). India’s Sacred Cow. Human Nature. Retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://spraakdata.
gu.se/taraka/SacredCow.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjD3q3l68TrAhWoy4sBHfxOAo
sQFjAAegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw2PeS3ozpff-cG_a7m-1rZV

100 | P a g e
 REFERENCES:
Books
Baker, A. (2003). Geography and History. UK: Cambridge University Press
Bonnett, A. (2008). What is Geography? London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Matthe ws, J. & Herbert, D. (2008). Geography: A Very Short Introduction.
NewYork: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Pattison, W. D. (1964). The Four Traditions of Geography. Journal of
Geography, 63, 211-16. Retrieved from:
http://geog.ucsb.edu/~kclarke/G200B/four_20traditions_20of_20geography.pdf

Website
http://geophilippines.weebly.com/location.htmlhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/
abs/10.1111/0018-
2656.00011https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/geography/https://
www.studentsfriend.com/students-friend-folder-mobile/combine-
mobile.htmlhttps://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/compass/http://ma
ps.unomaha.edu/workshops/career/fivethemes.htmlhttps://kids.nationalgeograp
hic.com/explore/countries/philippines/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyc
lopedia/geography/https://www.thoughtco.com/four-traditions-of-geography-
1435583https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/meteorology/https://
www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oceanography/https://www.britannic
a.com/science/pedologyhttps://www.britannica.com/science/anthropologyhttps:/
/www.britannica.com/science/environmental-
sciencehttps://www.yourdictionary.com/social-
sciencehttps://www.britannica.com/topic/demographyhttps://www.dictionary.co
m/browse/geologyhttps://www.geographyrealm.com/what-are-the-branches-of-
geography/

Pictures Sources
https://www.indiaeducation.net/cbse/class-12/arts/geography/preparation-
tips.aspxhttps://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=79
926&printable
https://www.reference.com/world-view/definition-human-environment-
interaction-9bbb6024a57f2a34
https://www.bartleby.com/solution-answer/chapter-1-problem-2fq-fundamentals-
of-physical-geography-2nd-edition/9781133606536/what-physical-geography-
characteristics-can-you-observe-in-this-scene/08caba57-4d7c-11e9-8385-
02ee952b546e
https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/southeast-asia-map-with-
country-icons-and-location-vector-15738463
https://imgbin.com/png/eumfABPt/cartoon-royaltyfree-townhouse-
pnghttps://quotesgram.com/img/geography-
quotes/747224/https://quotesgram.com/img/geography-
quotes/3158417/https://www.azquotes.com/quote/935368https://todayinsci.com
/QuotationsCategories/G_Cat/Geography-Quotations.htm

101 | P a g e
 UNIT 7(A): Historical Foundations of
Social Studies

Lesson 1 – Historical Data

Lesson 2 – Methods
Lesson 3 – Narratives
Duration: 3 hours, Week 12

Introduction

hundred years from now, people will look back at you and the kind of society you are

A in. You may even be answer to an examination question. Just like what you are doing
now. Among the social sciences, history is the only field of inquiry that can be found
in every other field of inquiry. Because everything has a history. You have a
history. The natural sciences have their own history.
Studying history as an academic endeavor is a gateway to ensuring the future of a
nation. It provides people with a sense of identity and direction. You may have heard the old
Filipino adage, “Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan.”
And this is truer today than ever before. Many casual individuals, who have neither historical
research training nor have scoured through primary historical sources, are on the prowl to
change what the historical annals. This sort of historical revisionism is an affront to the energy
and rigor put forth by historians. And yet this has become a popular approach to validate the
present political climate.
But then again, to be a science, history cannot be infallible. It must be falsifiable, in the
words of Karl Popper. Ah, so history is wrong, you say. But no. Being falsifiable does not mean
it is false. It simply means that if an evidence is presented that is contrary to the current
historical narrative, then history must change. Such would be the true nature of a science, like
history. And such would be good way for you to think. This module will introduce you to the
process of creating historical narratives and the philosophical underpinnings it possesses. You
do not have to be hysterical, just historical.

Objectives/ Competencies

At the end of this lesson, you must be able to:

a) define history as a field of social sciences

b) identify the different historical sources

c) describe the creation of historical narratives

d) explain historiography

e) discuss the importance of history as an academic endeavor

102 | P a g e
 Question And
Answer!

Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.

1. What differentiates history with other fields of inquiry regarding the past?
2. Why are primary sources better than secondary sources?
3. Why is historiography important?
4. How does postmodernism undermine historical narratives?

Preliminary Task!

On a separate sheet of paper, briefly respond to the following questions and explain
your responses.

1. Are you afraid of ghosts?

2. Do you know how to cook rice?
3. Do you fear rejection in romantic relationships?
4. What is your favorite ulam?
5. Do you love your parents?
Read your responses and explanations. What is the common thread that ties your reasons?
If you answered that they all began in the past, then you may very well be understanding
yourself through you own personal history.

Discussion

Many people have often defined history as the study of the past, or the study of
past events. This definition does not encapsulate the true essence of what history is.
For example, dinosaurs lived and went extinct in the past, yet this is not part of history
as a discipline but rather a part of paleontology. History is just like the other social
sciences; it is the study of human behavior. Albeit human behavior in the past. It is
also not so much about the memorization of names, dates, and places. History instead
focuses on the impact of those names, dates, and places in human life. In the modern
academia, history is written. Being students, you read history, understand history, and
learn from history. As the pessimist Arthur Schopenhauer once said, “those who do
not learn from history are bound to repeat it” (Durant, 2006). We study history so that
we do not commit the same errors as our forebears. It will provide us with insight on
the current state of affairs among nations. Take China and India, why is there constant
tensions on their borders? Well, it all began in 1962 when the two countries went to
war with each other. Or studying the political history of the Philippines can help you
understand why civil liberties and democracy are particularly important to many
Filipinos. Studying history will help you gain critical-thinking skills, which will empower
you to ask questions and see the world in different points of view. It will develop in you
a sense that everything is constant flux. Looking back at people from the past you get
a clear picture of what you can do or what you should not do in the present.

So, how do historians create these stories in your textbooks? Obviously, not
out of thin air. They conduct historical research. All historical inquiry begins with a
103 | P a g e
 question that asks why or how things happened in the past. Or historians ask, “So
what (Eh ano ngayon),” which are reflective questions that seek meaning. Who, what,
where, and when questions are important to establish context, but do not offer deep
or interesting historical conclusions. The bottom line is all history begins with asking a
question. The trick to doing good historical work is to ask good analytical questions
from the start. Here are some examples of the differences between analytical historical
questions and descriptive historical questions.

Fact: Political dissidents were assassinated during Martial Law

Analytical questions Descriptive questions

1. Why were assassinations a
political phenomenon?
2. What does it tell us about the
political climate during the
Martial Law years?
1. Where did the assassinations
occur?
2. When did the assassinations start
and end?
3. How many were assassinated?

Here is a claim that political dissidents were the primary targets of assassinations. If
you wanted to evaluate this claim, you may ask the analytical historical questions on
the left. The descriptive questions on the right are helpful in establishing context but
do not grasp the deeper meaning of what actually happened. In the end, historians
use both types of questions together. Historians use two types of sources to learn
about the past. These are the primary and secondary sources. Primary sources were
created at the time of the historical inquiry. For example, law codes, diaries, trial
records, philosophical or theological tracts, music, etc. are good examples. Secondary
sources are written by historians about a research topic. For example, books,
academic journal articles written about the Martial Law years, or books and articles
written about a specific component of the Martial Law. Whether that be the legal
history, the history of religion, or the history of bahay-kubo, analyzing historical sources
require specific methodology.

When historians look at primary sources, they must keep several things in mind.
First off, who wrote the source, when and where was it written, what does the source
say, what is its thesis or conclusions, what perspective does the source reflect, how
does the source speak to the historical question. When they are using secondary
sources, they have to think about what this scholar says about the historical question,
and also how does he or she fit into the broader scholarly discourse about the historical
question. The key to good historical research is to use the conclusions they draw from
analyzing their primary source, in combination with the conclusions they draw from
what other scholars are saying about the research topic. In order to better explain the
process of historical research, let us look at the history triangle (Fig. 2).

The history triangle shows the

relationship between the question or
thesis, the historical context, and primary
evidence and secondary evidence.
Since, all historical inquiry begins with a
question, historians begin with a strong
analytical question about how or why
something happened in the past. Then,
they look at the historical context to see
what exactly happened.

104 | P a g e
Figure 2. The History Triangle
After they have a good sense of what happened, they start looking at primary source materials
to get a clear idea of how people in the past were contributing or reflecting on what was
going around them. Then, they consult specialized secondary sources written by historians
to see what they think happened in the past. The job of a historian is to synthesize the
historical context, primary evidence, and secondary sources together to come up with an
answer to the historical question or a thesis. Now, whether you have the correct answer or
thesis is an entirely different
subject.

History and historiography are two different children

of the same mother. You have learned history and
historical research just above. Historiography is a
deep investigation into the study of history and
historical writing. It is focused on the art and
profession of history and its relationship to the
society. This field of study deals with the changing
nature of historical interpretations. Historiography is
the history of writing history. There are two
concepts that drive how history is written. One is
epistemology: that is the theory of knowledge, and
the second is how social and political context
change the writing of history. So, epistemology and
the social and political context both change the way
the history is written. Let us first deal with
epistemology. As was mentioned, it is the theory of
knowledge.

This means that historians think about truth, ideas,

and how ideas are brought forward in different
ways. You might think about this in terms of “what
facts we have” and “how we can interpret those
facts.” There are many debates around truth,
whether truth is accessible, or what truth is. About
200 years before the 19th century, historical writing
tried to explain or interpret almost anything. God,
gods, or something divine was the end point of their
explanation. But, as you have learned from your
past lessons, empiricism emerged in the 19th
century. Empiricism is the idea that people need to Photo: Leopold von Ranke (Amazon)
have an empirical or tangible thing upon which to
base ideas. It was no longer about God.

Now, proof and documents are what they need.

Leopold von Ranke developed a methodology
through which the use of documents, scholars can
divulge the truth. For Ranke, truth exists, and it
exists in understanding the documents or evidence
and understanding the context that those
documents lived in. Historians do not simply look at
the documents to find out what happened, but they Photo: Zeus Salazar (GMA News)
also understand the context in which those
documents lived.

105 | P a g e
 Then, a more modern empiricism emerged with the scientific revolution, which
accounted for social and political context. Lord Godfrey Elton believed that there were
there was just too much history to understand at all that we could only understand a
small portion of it. He described them as bricks and each of us can only understand
our own little brick of history. You only get the entire history by
puttingthosebrickstogether.Bymid-20thcentury,scholars developed more complex
understanding of the truth, and it became clear that understanding the context in a
more sophisticated way is vital. The most important admission of historians is that the
historical record is incomplete. Therefore, they need to understand more about the
past, to look at the sources, not only to understand what the source says, but also to
know who the author is, who their audiences were, and when and where
they wrote. An example of this is the work of Salazar(1977). Here jected the
view that many Filipino historians held; that history is tripartite (viewed in three
periods). Furthermore, he rejected the perspective by which these Filipino historians
created the narrative; that they were talking to our former colonial masters as their
audience. He proposed a new way of looking at Philippine history. Further discussion
on this proposal will be done later.

Another in this new understanding of history led to Marxist history. Marxist

history is this idea that the motivations of people in the past can be understood by
their economic needs and their economic behavior. Marxist historians emerged during
the Cold War era and that was their social and political context and it shaped the way
that they were writing history. Eventually, there were people who started to question
the idea truth itself: the postmodernists. They think that truth cannot be found. That
it does not exist. They argue that documents only focus on elites, so they are
inadequate. Furthermore, they argue that human beings cannot break free from their
own social contexts, which makes history subjective, not
objective. Thomas Kuhn wrote about the history of science and
he found that scientists, the people who value objectivity, tend to
reconfirm the same knowledge that they already knew over and
over, until a major shift occurs in the social and political world
(Nickles, 2003). A great example is Albert Einstein, who
drastically changed the way scientists operate. Suddenly,
everybody operated under Einstein‟s paradigm. So, the
postmodernists claim that no one can get to the truth, just like
scientists cannot get to the truth because people are shaped by
their own ideas and contexts. Does this mean that humans Photo: Thomas Kuhn (Time
should stop writing history? Hardly, although postmodernism Toast)
brought three important qualities in writing history. The first is
vetting reliable sources. The second is identifying the audience of the source. And the
third is history can be viewed in many perspectives. In conclusion, historians have
changed how they study history as fundamental theories of knowledge have changed.
They also changed how they study history based on the social and political world in
which they live. Historiography writes about that change.

Abstraction
History is the study of human behavior in the past. As an academic field, its
importance lives in the idea that people who learn history develop critical thinking skills,
an understanding of the present situation, and empowerment to participate in on-going
discourse about human affairs. Historical research is at the core of creating historical
narratives derived from primary and secondary sources. Criticism of historical
narratives is done by historiography. It is a field that deals with the reliability of historical

106 | P a g e
 sources, the social and political contexts that such narratives where written. Many
perspectives can be used to view history such as empiricism, Marxism, or
postmodernism.

Application

In discussing history and historiography, there are three quotes that come to mind.
On a separate sheet of paper, discuss what these quotes mean to you. (30 pts.)

1. History is closer to literature than science.

2. The writing of history tells us more about the historian than about the past.
3. Those with power in the present control the past.

Reflections and Insights

As future teachers of history, whether that be of the world or the Philippines, it is necessary
to understand how historical narratives are created. But it is also equally important to teach
students how to learn from history and why people should learn from it. Being a citizen
informed of its nation’s history, empowers them to be better persons, to build, and forge a
better path for their nation. “Who we are is who we were” (Amistad, 1999) is a truism,
especially when you look at your personal history. Remove your memories and you are no
longer yourself, hardly understanding what it is you are doing, or why you are here. It is
because you are your memories.

Post Assessment!
Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. (20 pts.)
What differentiates history with other fields of inquiry regarding the past?
Why are primary sources better than secondary sources?
Why is historiography important?
How does postmodernism undermine historical narratives?

Final Requirement
Write a 300-word essay debunking the idea that “history is written by the victors.”

Glossary
Empiricism - a philosophical view that knowledge is acquired through sense experience
Epistemology - the study of the validity of knowledge Historiography - the study of history
as a field of social sciences History - the study of human behavior in the past
Postmodernism - a philosophical view that truth is subjective
Primary sources - historical evidence that are immediate, and first-hand accounts of
historical events
Secondary sources – historical evidence that are based on primary sources

References

Durant, W. (2009). The story of philosophy: The lives and opinions of the greater
philosophers. New York, N.Y: Simon and Schuster.

107 | P a g e
 Hester, R. (2018). Historical Research. London: ETP
Nickles, T. (2003). Thomas Kuhn. Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press.
Salazar, Z., & University of the Philippines. (1977). Kasaysayan. Diliman, Lunsod Quezon:
Departemento ng Kasaysayan, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas
Santillan, N., & Conde, M. (1998). Kasaysayan at kamalayan: Mga piling akda ukol sa
diskursong pangkasaysayan. Lunsod Quezon: Limbagang Pangkasaysayan.
Winks, R. W. (2007). Historiography. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Zaide, G., & Zaide, S. (2012). Kasaysayan at pamahalaan ng Pilipinas. Quezon City,
Philippines: All-Nations Pub.

UNIT 7(B): Historical Foundations of

Social Studies

Lesson 1 - Issues and Challenges in

Philippine History

Duration: 3 Hours, Week 13

Introduction

I
f a security guard guards a bank, who guards the security guard? Who audits the
auditor? Who writes the history of the historians? These statements are often
thrown when credibility and accountability are put in question. In studying history,
itisimportanttounderstandthemannerthroughwhichitwaswritten.Thelast
lesson delved on the importance of identifying and understanding an historian’s
context. Regardless of their claim to objectivity, human beings, much less historians,
have subjective views on past events.
This lesson hopes to bring you enlightenment to the recorded past you have
studied and memorized from your formative years in elementary and high school to
your own personal readings on Philippine history. It hopes to challenge your critical
thinking by presenting to you the different perspectives on how narratives were written.
It hopes to break the spell of undetected fanaticism created by the repetitive notions
of how great Filipinos were in the past.
While Filipinos should indeed be grateful to their ancestors, how they were
portrayed your history books are greatly flawed, and such flaws are not products of
failure to keep rigor in historical research but a product of flawed perspective.

Objectives/ Competencies

At the end of this lesson, you must be able to:

a) Define kasaysayan
b) identify the different historical perspectives in writing Philippine history
c) describe author-audience relationship of each perspective
d) explain Salazar‟s pantayong pananaw
e) discuss the effects of the Propaganda Movement in writing history

108 | P a g e
 Preliminary Task!

The truth, the whole truth. Below are five notable Filipinos in history. Your task
is to write two true statements for each of them. Write your responses on a separate
sheet of paper.
1. Antonio Luna
2. Diego Silang
3. Lapu-Lapu
4. Jose Rizal
5. Manuel Quezon

When you are done, ask yourself the following questions: In today’s standards, were
your statements about them positive or negative? Why were statements about them
positive? Or negative? What were your references for such statements? You do not
have to write your responses to this question. It does, however, tests your analysis of
your own knowledge and sources.

Discussion
The issues and challenges in Philippine
history should have been addressed in your
Readings in Philippine History class. If not, then
as future history teachers, you must be informed
of the criticisms that plague Philippine
historiography.
The idea of writing historical narratives
was never a strong point in the skills of ancient
natives in these islands. One cannot say the
Philippines yet because that name did not exist
until a few hundred years later. Although the past
was important to the natives, they never wrote it,
despite having a system of writing called the
baybayin. This unfortunate serendipity now
Photo: Baybayin (Omniglot) plagues historians as ancient Philippine history
can only be sourced through
foreign historians. Nevertheless, natives transferred
historical knowledge to their descendants through
oral tradition. This practice led to the creation of the
early myths and legends. Bathala, Diwata, aswang,
and other mythological deities and creatures are all
product of this tradition (Jocano, 1969). But we know
now that the Philippines was not created by two giants
from Luzon and Mindanao flinging stones at each
other until the islands drifted away. We know now that
Filipinos did not literally descend from Malakas and
Maganda. That is one of the problems with oral
Photo: Tarsila, (Saleeby, 1905)
tradition as historical source; it usually invokes (ProjectGutenberg)
“magic” as an explanation.
The first people to write about the past were
109 | P a g e
 the Arabs, particularly Karim Ul-Makhdum. They introduced the tarsila, a written
genealogy of people who lived in Mindanao at that time. It was not a narrative of
events, instead it was a like a family tree, a list of people tracing their links or ancestry.
Along with the tarsila, they introduced Islam. There are many historical narratives for
this event but mostly from other nations such as Indonesia and Malaysia (Majul, 1985).
And these meant a lot for Filipino historians today. They are primary sources but only
indirectly ties the Filipino natives (the term Filipino will be used just for clarification but
strictly, the natives were not Filipinos as the term did not exist yet).
When the colonialists came, the formal writing of Philippine history began.
When Magellan arrived in the islands in 1521, he brought with him a chronicler named
Antonio Pigafetta and was assisted by Enrique of Sumatra. Pigafetta wrote in his
journals and described what he saw when they were in these islands. His two books,
which are currently stored in France, are primary sources for Filipino historians. Thus,
began the formal Western-style writing of Philippine history. The most famous work
about the Philippines at that time was
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events in the Philippine
Islands) by Antonio de Morga. This literature described the
life of the natives in great detail. This book became the
Philippine history textbook of the schools established by the
Spaniards in the Philippines. It was the textbook that the
Filipino intellectuals studied and scrutinized in the colleges
and universities. One notable material was Jose Rizal’s
Anotaciones. Published in 1890, Rizal attacked Morga’s view
of Philippine history and criticized it for demeaning the
Filipinos. This perspective of writing history became a trend
during those times. It prompted Marcelo H. Del Pilar and
Graciano Lopez Jaena to write their own versions. Thus,
began the Propaganda Movement (Scott, 1982).
The manner by which history was written never Photo: Morga’s Sucesos de las
Isla Filipinas (Wikipedia)
changed since the Propaganda was established.
Contemporary, and even concurrent historians write Philippine history in this kind of
perspective. And as we have learned in the last lesson, it is important for readers to
understand the historian in order to deeply understand the narratives.

Salazar (1977) analyzed these historical perspectives comprehensively. The

Filipino term Kasaysayan is a compound word for salaysay and saysay. The former
means story or narrative, and the latter, value or worth. Hence, salaysay na may
saysay. A narrative that has value. But has value for whom? Here, he identified that
the history written by Morga was a narrative written by a foreigner for fellow
foreigners. It was for fellow
foreigners because it was written in
Spanish. His audience were
Spaniards. Salazar referred to this
as pangsilang pananaw (root word
is “sila,” meaning “they” or “them”).
And since the value favors the
Spaniards, they to belittle the
natives to justify their colonization.
Morga wrote that the natives were
uncivilized, they worshipped trees,
they ate rotten fish, or that they had
weak little houses. These qualities
110 | P a gTripartite
e View of Philippine History (Salazar &Penalosa, 2018)
 justified colonization to introduce
them to Christianity and save them
from hell, to teach them how to
buildhouses, to introduce them to
new food and crops and new
technology. The natives accepted
this for three hundred years. When
the Spaniards allowed native males
to enroll in higher education, a small
group of intellectual elites
challenged this view of history. Led
by Rizal, Del Pilar, and Jaena, the
Propaganda movement invented a
new historical perspective. They
divided Philippine history into three
Photo: L-R Rizal, Del Pilar, and Jaena (Pinterest)
periods: pre- colonial period,
colonial period, and post-colonial
period.

Salazar referred to this as “tripartite view.” This type of historical writing, especially found in
Rizal’s Anotaciones, sought to revise Morga’s view. Instead of being a group of uncivilized
people, Rizal responded to Morga by saying, “We are not like that. We are civilized, just like
you.” For Rizal, the pre-colonial Philippines was the same as the Spaniards: tree- worship
was similar to Catholics worshipping idols made of wood, bahay-kubo was like that because
it fits the climate, eating rotten fish (bagoong) was similar to Europeans eating rotten milk
(cheese). During the colonial period, Rizal attacked the Spanish clergy, the friars, blaming
them for the corruption and lack of development in the islands. And the post-colonial scenario
for Rizal was, initially, Spain recognizing the Philippines and its people equal to that of Spain.
Do you feel the same way as Rizal right now? Don‟t you want recognition for the Philippines
in international affairs?
Aren't you proud that Filipinos now can compete with other nations in various fields? Your
sense of being a Filipino is heightened every time Manny Pacquiao wins a boxing match.
“Para sa’yo ang laban na ‘to.” A small percentage of Filipino genes of an international celebrity
is placed on a microscope just to wave that Filipino pride. Just like Rizal and Plaridel and
Jaena. Remember, the context of Rizal was the Propaganda movement. Ask your elders,
particularly the senior citizens or older, right now what propaganda means to them. Stop
reading and ask them. What did they tell you? TV commercial? Palatastas or patalastas?
These commercials and patalastas convince you to buy their products. The Propaganda
Movement wanted their version of history to be bought. By whom? Who were their audience?
The Spaniards. Look at the entire catalog of Rizal‟s work. They are all written in Spanish. So,
Rizal, as the voice of Filipinos, was selling a story to the Spaniards about Filipinos. Salazar
referred to it as pangkaming pananaw (root word “kami,” meaning “we”). And this perspective
became the norm in writing Philippine history until now. If you have ever read a history book
authored by Gregorio Zaide, then you have encountered this perspective. But this perspective
is problematic, as Salazar pointedout.

What is the strongest tree? Narra. What is the most fragrant flower? Sampaguita. What is the
best fish? Bangus. These answers beg the question, have you ever seen other trees, or
flowers, or fishes for you to conclude that narra, or sampaguita, or bangus are indeed the
best? No. And yet these are your quick answers. Filipinos are proud of their own and
broadcast it to the entire world. “Filipinos are resilient despite calamities.” “Filipinos are world-
class chefs.” “Filipinos are the best in sports.” There is nothing wrong with these if done in

111 | P a g e
moderation and appropriately. But blind nationalism is dangerous. Should the Propaganda
Movement be blamed? Absolutely not. It was needed in their context. There are no more
colonialists in the Philippines today, but Philippine history is still written in that context. When
Rizal made a speech to celebrate the victory of Juan Luna and Felix Resureccion Hidalgo in
a painting contest, he equated them with the Spanish painters. You can read that in any
Philippine history textbook. What you will not read was that both Filipino painters did not win
first place. They were second and third. Nor will you read that Luna, later on, shot and killed
his wife and mother-in-law. Rizal was exposing the idea that Filipinos are equal to Spaniards.
He even created story, as part of his Anotaciones, that a world-class blacksmith named
Panday Pira, who had a flourishing hand cannon industry, lived in the islands before the
Spaniards came. But no evidence was found for the existence of this man, nor for his world-
class hand cannon industry. He just wrote it to convince the Spaniards that Filipinos equal
their Spanish counterparts. And textbooks of today still write about Panday Pira‟s world-class
industry. Indeed, this perspective isproblematic.
A new perspective was proposed by Salazar & Penalosa (2018) to prevent
theproliferation of the Propaganda‟s tradition. He referred to it as pantayong pananaw (root
word “tayo,” meaning “us”). Philippine history should be done by “us.” Not “they” (foreigners
talking to each other). Not “we” (Filipinos talking to foreigners). But “us” (Filipinos talking with
each other). History should be written by Filipinos, with the context and value for the Filipinos.
It promises to tell the truth and the whole truth. Pride would be set aside, weaknesses will be
discussed and strengthened. People in romantic relationships relate to this very well. Tayo
na ba? Tayo na nga. (Kinilig ka naman). Many historians write history in this manner now.
They do not hide the cultural defects, instead they talk about it. Just like a well-handled
relationship does. This historical perspective is for Filipinos to be a betterpeople.

Abstraction
Oral traditions were the means of learning history by early Filipinos. The first
written history of the Philippines was carried out by the Spanish colonialists who used
it as a tool for justifying the establishment of a colony. Opening the doors for Filipinos
in their colleges and universities, brought about a social unrest anchored in the
tripartite view of history. This perspective sought to convince Spain that Filipinos were
equal with the Spaniards. This view flowed into the contemporary narrative creation of
Filipino historians,that instead of being outright honest and well-meaning became a
vehicle for unfounded pride and blind nationalism of students. This challenge was and
is being addressed by present-day historians who takes a view of Philippine history
written by and for the Filipino. It hopes to shake away from the Propaganda
Movement’s tradition. It focuses on Filipinos and their shared values, based on the
idea that kasayasyan is salaysay na may saysay para sa mgaPilipino.

Application

On a separate sheet of paper, make a list of three notable persons in history

whose “whole truth” cannot be found in Philippine textbooks. Write two statements that
exposes their “whole truth.” Discuss why you think these statements were left out of
the records. (30 pts)

Reflections and Insights

A history written by the people involved, for the people involved is the best
112 | P a g e
 resource in studying history. Just like your life history. It is best written by you, for you
than to written by you for someone else or written by someone else for you. Then there
is chismis: your story told by someone, for someone else. Your life story is best told
by you. When you do, it will include not only the salaysay, but the saysay. You are the
best person to explain why you behaved in different ways: what was going on in your
mind, how you felt, what was happening around you. When discussing something like
a movie you watched, is it not better to talk with someone who had also seen the
movie? Your discussion would be much fruitful and deep. In the same way, Philippine
history is better when written by the same people immersed in the experience. This
perspective creates a clearer and truer narratives worthy of the Filipinos‟attention.

Post Assessment!
Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. (20 pts.)
1. How was formal writing of history introduced in the Philippines?
2. Why did Antonio de Morga publish Sucesos de las IslasFilipinas?
3. Why did the Propaganda Movement publish their own Philippine history?
4. How did the Propaganda Movement narrate their version of history?
5. How do context and bias affect the creation of narratives?
6. How were historical narratives created before the introduction of historical
writing in the Philippines?

Final Requirement
In Art. II Sec. 13 and Art. XIV Sec. 3(2) of the Philippine Constitution, the State,
through the schools “shall inculcate patriotism and nationalism” to the youth. As future
teachers write a 300-word essay discussing the direct connection between nationalism
and history.

References

Majul, C. (1985). The contemporary Muslim movement in the Philippines.

Berkeley: Mizan Press.
Pe alosa, M., Salazar, . (2018). Pantayong pananaw: Bagong historiograpiyang Pilipino
bagong balangkas ng kasaysayan ng kapilipinuhan.
Quibuyen, F. C. (2008). A nation aborted: Rizal, American hegemony, and Philippine
nationalism. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Salazar, Z., & University of the Philippines. (1977). Kasaysayan. Diliman, Lunsod Quezon:
Departemento ng Kasaysayan, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas
Saleeby, N. M. (2013). Studies in Moro History, Law, and Religion. Project Gutenberg.
Santillan, N., & Conde, M. (1998). Kasaysayan at kamalayan: Mga piling akda ukol sa
diskursong pangkasaysayan. Lunsod Quezon: Limbagang Pangkasaysayan.
Scott, W. H. (1982). Cracks in the parchment curtain and other essays in Philippine history.
Quezon City: New Day Publishers.
Websites
https://omniglot.com/writing/tagalog.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucesos_de_las_Islas_Filipinas
https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/150378075033934803/https://w
ww.gutenberg.org/files/41770/41770-h/41770-h.htm

113 | P a g e
 UNIT 8 (A) : Economic Foundation of
Social Sciences

Lesson 1 - Core Concepts in Macroeconomics

Duration: 3 Hours, Week 14

Introduction

W
ith the COVID-19 pandemic gripping every nation, people are forced to select
between keeping their jobs, maintaining their health, or doing both. News of
declining economic growth and fluctuating economic activities are worrying
analysts and businesspersons alike. It is a time of great changes, and as Charles
Darwin would have it, people must also adapt to change. The means by which we produce,
consume, and distribute goods and services must also evolve. But change must not be done
haphazardly. It requires careful planning, especially since such changes involve vast numbers
of people.
Billions of pesos were spent addressing the impact of this pandemic to the lives of
millions of Filipinos. From government handouts to medical facilities, these are what our
policymakers and decision-makers opted to spend their resources. Is that that not what
economics is? All along we thought economics was simply the production, consumption, and
distribution of wealth. But it is more than these. Economics is about people selecting the best
option to put their resources. Decision-making is central to economics. With the pandemic not
slowing down, our national debt increasing, and people losing their jobs, effective resource
management is imperative, and planning is a necessary activity in management.
To help you better understand economics, we have to go back to our Grade 9 lessons
in macroeconomics. Macroeconomics sounds boring, but it is not boring. It is exciting.
Macroeconomics is about booms and busts. Will you get a job when you graduate? Should
the government increase taxes? Remember, the goal of learning economics is to become a
better decision-maker and part of that, we learn about how the whole economy works, so let's
learn about the whole economy.

Objectives/
Competencies

At the end of this lesson, you must be able to:

a. Define economics
b. identify the three core economic goals in economics
c. describe gross domestic product
d. explain the mechanisms of inflation
e. discuss unemployment rate
114 | P a g e
 Question and Answer!

Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.

1. How is economic growth measured?
2. What factors affect the price of commodities?
3. What is the most important factor of production? Why?

Preliminary Task!

Read the excerpt from a Reuters article:

The Philippines was among Asia’s fastest-growing economies before the pandemic, but now
the government expects its GDP to shrink 5.5% this year - the biggest annual drop in 35 years
- from a previous forecast for a 2.0-3.4% decline. The government sees the economy
rebounding in 2021 and 2022.

With the excerpt in mind, interview three persons within your pandemic bubble. Ask
them this question: “If you were the president and want the economy to boom again, what
would be the first three aspects of the economy would you focus on to rise from a recession,
and why?” On a separate sheet of paper, tabulate their responses using the template below.
You may write their responses in Filipino.

Persons Focus Reasons

Discussion

Economics is the study of

production, distribution, and
consumption of wealth. It also involves
the study of growth and development.
This field of social sciences is borne out
of the scarcity of resources. If resources
are infinite, there would be no need for
economics. But more importantly,
Photo: American workers protesting during the Great Depression
economics is focused on decision-
(Time Magazine, 2020) making. Putting the resources where it
will have its optimum use.
Since your high school economics dealt with microeconomics, the study of how humans
behave and make decisions about allocation of scarce resources, this lesson will deal with the
bigger picture of economics as a foundation of social science. Macroeconomics is the study
of the whole economy. Economists say the huge concepts like economic output,
unemployment, inflation, interest rates, and government policies. When it comes to fields of
study in macroeconomics, it is a relatively new subject. It was not until the Great Depression
in the 1930‟s that economists fully appreciated the need for a systematic way to measure the
overall economy and that we might need theories to guide policies and fix potential problems.
A hundred years ago, comprehensive data on economic activity was inexistent.

115 | P a g e
 Today, economic data is abundant, but that does not mean that economists agree about where
the economy is at present, where it is headed, or what should be done to help. Economists
make predictions based on data, theoretical models, and historical trends. But in the end, they
are just predictions. If you ask three economists the same question, you are likely to get three
different answers, just
like in your activity. Economics is not a
traditional science because it is nearly
impossible to control all the different
variables. Like all the social sciences,
economics is studying people and we know
for a fact that people are unpredictable.
However, it does not mean that economics
is just fortune-telling mumbo jumbo. Case
in point, in 2015 the economy of Greece
was not good. But what happened? Will
things go back to normal? Is it going to get
worse? What would be their solution?
These are all questions that economists try Photo: Cartoon from Hedgeye (2015)
to answer.
But for now, we are going to concentrate on the question: What happened?
Policymakers have three economic goals. They want to keep the economy growing,
they want to limit unemployment, and they want to maintain stable prices. When those three
things happen, people are happy, politicians get proudly re-elected, and economists get
praised. There are three specific measurements that economists analyze to see whether
countries are achieving each goal. They are the gross domestic product, unemployment
rate, and the inflation rate.
The most important measure of an economy is gross domestic product or GDP. GDP
is the value of all final goods and services produced within a country's border in a specific
period of time. Usually, there are some details worth mentioning. GDP does not include every
transaction within the economy. For example, if you buy a used smartphone, it does not count
for GDP because nothing new was produced. The same applies to buying financial assets like
stocks, or when one company buys another company, like when Disney bought Marvel, it does
not count for GDP because no new good or service was produced. Also, GDP often does not
include illegal activities, since drug pushers do not report their sales to the government. Even
non-traditional economic activity like household production. For example, if a tubero charges
P500 to fix your faucets, that counts toward GDP. But when he fixes his own faucets,that does
not count as GDP. Here is a list of the top 20 countries organized by GDP.

LIST OF COUNTRIES BY GDP (NOMINAL)

IN MILLIONS OF USD, ACCORDING TO THE WORLD BANK (2019)
Economy GDP Economy GDP
1. United States 21,427,700 11. Russia 1,699,877
2. China 14,342,903 12. S. Korea 1,642,383
3. Japan 5,081,770 13, Spain 1,394,116
4. Germany 3,845,630 14. Australia 1,392,681
5. India 2,875,142 15. Mexico 1,258,287
6. United Kingdom 2,827,113 16. Indonesia 1,119,191
7. France 2,715,518 17. Netherlands 909,070
8. Italy 2,001,244 18. Saudi Arabia 792,967
9. Brazil 1,839,758 19. Turkey 754,412
10. Canada 1,736,426 20. Switzerland 703,082

116 | P a g e
 If you will notice, GDP is measured in dollars, not in the raw number of things produced. It is
because if we analyze just the raw number, then a country that produces 5 million facemasks,
will look like they are doing just as good as a country that produces 5 million laptops. There is
also a problem with using the dollar value of goods produced. It’s called inflation. If two
countries produced the same amount of televisions, but one has higher
prices, then that country can have a higher
nominal GDP, or GDP not adjusted for
inflation. To get more accurate idea of the
health of the economy, what economists
look at is the real GDP, which is GDP
adjusted for inflation.

What does the real GDP in Greece

tell us about its economy? In 2013, the
Greek real GDP was around
239.9 billion dollars, but that number will
be more meaningful if we compare it to
previous years. In 2012, it was 245.7
billion dollars, in 2011, it was 287.8 billion,
and in 2010, it was 299.4 billion. Notice
Figure 1. Graph of Greek first quarter GDP from 2002-2008 that starting in 2008, Greece has had six
(Globalist, 2019) years of decreasing GDP. The data
reveals that this recession is just as
deep and persistent as the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930‟s (Fig. 1).

The term recession has been misused by many people to describe a bad
economy. A recession is not just when the economy is bad. It occurs when two
successive quarters (six months) showed a decline in real GDP. Even though the
economy in Greece is still struggling, it climbed out of its recession in 2014,
experiencing a slight increase in GDP. A depression on the other hand does not have
a technical definition, but it is a severe recession when the economy is really bad. The
topics of recession and depression will be discussed in a future module. It is worth
noting though, that GDP can be a little challenging. Not all countries measure GDP in
the same way. In recent years some European Union countries have started
experimenting with counting underground markets, like the prostitution trade and drug
trade, as part of the total. In fact, GDP is not even that old of an idea. According to
Froyen (2009), during the Great Depression economic decisions were made “on the
basis of such sketchy data as stock price indices, freight car loadings, and an
incomplete index of industrial production. The fact was that comprehensive measures
of national income and output did not exist at the time. The depression, and with it the
growing role of government in the economy, emphasized the need for such measures
and led to the development of a comprehensive set of national income accounts.” GDP
was only invented to account for national income borne out of the necessity to visualize
the economic landscape. It may not necessarily provide a complete picture of a
country's economy, but for the moment, this is what we have. That is economic growth,
or at least, one way to look at economic growth.

The next big concern for economists,

unemployment. The primary goal of
unemployment policy is to limit unemployment
and is measured by the unemployment rate.
In Greece, unemployment is over 25%. The
unemployment rate is calculated by taking the
number of people that are unemployed and
Photo: Formula for calculating unemployment rate
(WallstreetMojo.com, 2020)
117 | P a g e
 dividing by the number of people in labor force times 100. This percentage represents
the number of people that are actively looking for a job, but just can't find them.

First, the labor force only includes people that have legal working age and working or actively
looking for work. Children do not count and neither do people who are unable to work or those
who just choose not to work. What about someone who has been job hunting but just quits?
They are no longer part of the labor force and they are no longer considered unemployed.
They are called discouraged workers. The unemployment rate also does not take into account
people that are underemployed.
A Jollibee cashier with a 6-hour per week part
time job is considered fully employed, even if
they are looking for better job. In both of these
cases, the official unemployment rate
underestimates the problems in the labor market.
A common misconception is that the goal is to
have zero percent unemployment. But there
are types of unemployment that will exist even
when the economy is going strong. Economists
point out that there are three types of
unemployment or three reasons why people
would be unemployed. The first is frictional
unemployment. This happens when people are
temporarily unemployed or between jobs. So, if Photo: Underemployment cartoon (Cartoonistgroup, 2020)
you quit your job and look for a new one, or if
you just graduated and is
just entering the labor force, then
you are frictionally unemployed.
The second is called structural
employment. Workers are out of
work because there is no demand
for that specific type of labor, just
be like a Betamax repair person.
But it also includes technological
unemployment, or workers that
are replaced by machines. Both
frictional and structural
Photo: Betamax video players were a popular video player system from unemployment will always exist,
1975 to the late 1990’s. Betamax was replaced by better quality, the goal is not to have zero
more compact video players and very few people need the help of
a Betamax repair man (CNN.com, 2015) percent unemployment. That is
an impossible feat. We will always have people who are looking for jobs, or people
terminated because machines do it
better. The goal is to have no
cyclical unemployment. This means
we do not want unemployment due
to a recession. It is when people
stop buying goods, which leads to
businesses laying-off their workers.
And since workers have lower
incomes, they stop buying things,
which means more people lose their
jobs. An economy is considered to Figure 2.: Graph of US showing the inverse relationship of GDP and
unemployment. (Brainly, 2017)
be at full employment when there is

118 | P a g e
 only frictional and structural unemployment. This is called the natural rate of
unemployment. This natural rate differs slightly between countries. In the Philippines,
it is usually between 5% to 6% unemployment rate. But because of the pandemic, as
of April 2020, the unemployment
rate is at almost 18% (Philippine
Statistics Authority, 2020).

As you might expect, the

GDP growth rate and the
unemployment rate are inversely
related(Figure 2). This means that
when GDP is rising,
unemployment rate is falling. And
when GDP is falling, the
unemployment rate is rising. That
is what happened in the United
States during the Great
Depression in the 1930‟s.
Droughts, bank failures, and
counterproductive policies
caused GDP to fall and Figure 3. The business cycle of booms and busts. (Tough Nickel,
unemployment rose to 25% 2018)
(Friedman & Schwartz, 1963).

The third economic goal is maintaining stable prices. While we might like
theidea of the things you buy getting inexpensive, falling prices are not really good.
The average prices in Greece have fallen about 2% recently. During the 1930‟s the
inflation rate in the US was -10%. Why are cheaper commodities bad for the economy?
The goal is to keep prices stable primarily to avoid rampant inflation or rising prices.
We also want to avoid excessive deflation, which is falling prices. Inflation is
measured by tracking the prices of a set amount of commonly purchased items.
This is what economists call a Market Basket. The inflation rate is the percent change
in the price of that basket overtime. Too much inflation is bad because it decreases
the purchasing power of money. This means people can buy less commodities for the
same amount of money, which has many negative effects in the economy: business
cost increases, as workers demand higher wages, and interest rate increases. In this
scenario, it would be very difficult to get a loan, which causes people to buy less
commodities like cars, houses, and other goods. Deflation, on the other hand, seems
like it would be a good thing. But most economists see falling prices a bad thing. Falling
prices actually discourage people from spending, since they might expect prices to fall
more in the future. Less spending in the economy means GDP is going to decrease
and unemployment is going to increase. Severe recessions are often accompanied by
deflation because the demand for goods and services falls. Remember your Grade 9
lesson on the law of demand? If the price of a commodity decreases, demand
decreases, ceteris paribus. But when the economy starts to improve, we usually see
an increase in prices.

119 | P a g e
 Throughout history,
economies have expanded and
contracted. It is called the business
cycle (or also called the economic
cycle). Imagine the economy as a
vehicle (we will use jeepney) and
that GDP, employment, and inflation
are the gauges (Schumann, 1954). A
jeepney can cruise at 80 kph without
overheating. Safe cruising speed is
like full employment. Unemployment
is low, prices are stable, and people
are happy. But if
Figure 4. Comparison of Philippine GDP components between 2016
we drive the jeepney too fast for too and 2017. (Rappler, 2017)
long, it will overheat. In the economy,
significant spending increases GDP, which causes an expansion(Figure 3).
Unemployment falls and factories start producing at full capacity to keep up with
demand. And since the number of products that can be produced is limited, people
begin to outspend each other resulting in inflation. Eventually production costs
increase as workers demand higher salaries, the economy starts to slow down and
businesses layoff workers.

The workers who were laid off will limit their spending, which will cause
businesses that produce the goods that they would otherwise be buying to lay off more
workers. This is a contraction. The economy is going too slow. However, slowly but
surely, the economy will stabilize. Production costs will decrease as resources are idle
and unused. The economy starts its expansion again. This process of booms and busts
is called the business cycle. Why do these fluctuations occur? Going deeper into the
jeepney analogy, take a look at its engine. Imagine it as a four- cylinder engine that
powers the jeepney of economic of growth. An economy has four components that
make up GDP. Each cylinder represents different groups that can purchase things in
the economy. There is consumer spending (household consumption), business
spending(capital formation or investment), government spending, and net exports,
which means other countries spending money for our commodities. If any one of these
components lose its power, the economy will slow down. But not all of spending are
created equal. Most economies rely heavily on consumer spending. For example, in
Figure 4, Philippine exports account for about 18.6% of GDP in first quarter. But other
countries might rely more on consumer spending. Changes in these four components,
change the speed of the economy. Maybe you are asking, if the economy is like a
jeep, why can we control the speed as a jeepney driver would? Many economists think
that the government should play a role in speeding up or slowing down the economy.
For instance, when there is a recession, the government can increase its spending
(like Duterte‟s Build, Build, Build) or lower taxes. This would result to consumers
having more money to spend. Followers of this policy argue that it would get the
economy back to full employment. However, it has a downside, incurring debt. Some
economists dislike debts, while others argue that it is not a disadvantage.

120 | P a g e
 Abstraction

Macroeconomics deals with the large mechanisms of a country’s economy. It

primarily deals with the problem of economic growth. Economists have three goals,
with three specific measures for economic health and growth. First, is consistent
national income, which is measured by gross national product. Then, the limitation of
unemployment, which is measured by unemployment rate. Lastly, the maintenance of
stable prices of goods and services, which is measured through inflation rate. The
interplay of each component is the process of business cycle that produces results
that may make an economy boom, which is called expansion, or bust, which is called
contraction. Prolonged lower performance in any of these components may lead to an
economic recession. Severe recessions may lead to economic depression. Many
economists propose government intervention as a necessity when such depression
occurs.

Application

At this point, you are required to make note of ten (10) causal relationships you have
encountered in this lesson. On a separate sheet of paper, tabulate the different cause
and effect relationships. Use the template below. (30 pts.)

Table of Causal Relationships in Macroeconomics

Cause Effect

121 | P a g e
 Reflections and Insights

There is really so much to learn about economic policy. We cannot do it in very

simplistic explanations. But this course hopes that we can get to talk about how to fix
the economy. For today, it is essential for you to have an overall view of how the
economy works and how it is measured. Remember, wherever you are quarantined
right now and whatever television series you binge-watched, your future largely
depends upon the decision-makers in our economy. We have only looked into three
of the major indicators of economic health. Since, this is just a review of what you have
studied in Grade 9 and in your sophomore year, be mindful that the reality of
macroeconomics is much more nuanced than what you have read. If you were the one
interviewed in the activity you have done, what would be your answer?

Post Assessment!

Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. (15 points)

1. How is economic growth measured?
2. What factors affect the price of commodities?
3. What is the most important factor of production? Why?

Final Requirement
Define the concepts found in the Key Words Bank. Write Your answers on a
separate sheet of paper.

Key Words
Economics
Microeconomis
Macroeconoms
Gross Domestic
Product Inflation rate
Deflation
Unemployment
Labor force
Contraction
Expansion

References

Froyen R. T., (2009). Macroeconomics: Theories and Policies, 9th Edition. University of
North Carolina at ChapelHill
Schumann, C.G.W. (1954), Three Analogies In Business Cycle Theory. South African
Journal Of Economics, 22: 65-72.
Friedman, M., & Schwartz, A. (1963). A Monetary History of the United States. National
Bureau of Economic Research. Princeton University Press
Samuelson, P. A., & Nordhaus, W. D., (1998). Economics. Boston, Mass: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

122 | P a g e
 UNIT 8 (B) : Economic Foundation
of SocialSciences

Lesson 1 - Core Concepts in Macroeconomics

Duration: 3 Hours, Week 15

Introduction

s a continuation of your review of economics, it is essential that you rekindle

A our acquaintance with the giants of economic ideas. As you move along
towards an understanding of economic planning, these people and their ideas
will shed light on the various reasons different economies behave like they
do. Should the government intervene in economic affairs? Where should its
intervention end? These are questions can be answered by these different, and
sometimes, contradicting ideas.
Figuring the best way towards economic growth is a conversation that economic
theorists began and is still on-going. New economic ideas are born for every
generation that passes. Economics, like other social sciences, does not deal in
absolutes because human behavior is highly variable. It is a “dismal science.” Hence,
the most common resignation of some economists is that there is no ideal economic
theory.
The absence of a be-all, end-all idea does not mean that economies move in a
vacuum. They all have theoretical bases for such behavior. Although this lesson is
brief, it is hoped that the pertinent ideas and concepts of economic thought is captured
and pave the way for a better understanding of macroeconomics and economic
planning in general.

Objectives/
Competencies

At the end of this lesson, you must be able to:

a. identify the different schools of thought in macroeconomics

b. define the distinctions between each economic theory

c. explain how the theories were developed

d. discuss which theory is suited for the country

123 | P a g e
 Question and Answer!
Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What is the main idea of classical economics?
2. How should governments intervene in Keynesian economics?
3. How does trickle-down economics deal with publicly owned corporations?
4. Describe the success of communism.
5. What were the flaws of a free market economy according to Marx?

Analysis
Scenario: After a global cataclysm, you are now the leader of a small island with the
size and geography of Luzon and a population of one million. As their leader, answer
the following questions. Explain your answers. Write them on a separate sheet of
paper.
1. What are your economic goals?
2. What will you produce?
3. Which goods and services will be available to all people?
4. Which economic system will you employ?

Discussion

In the late 18th century, a British economic

theorist named Thomas Malthus argued that
rapid growth of the population will outpace the
supply of food, which would eventually lead
humans to starvation as food supply dwindles
(Sachs, 2008). Being the
„dismal‟ science economics is, and fortunately,
Malthus was wrong. During his time, the world
population was around 1 billion and is now at
more than 7 billion. Yet the famines the world has
experienced so far were man-made disasters, Photo: Thomas Malthus 1766-1834 (Britannica,
1998)
which has nothing to do with the
ability of humans to produce food. He proposed this at the advent of the industrial
revolution. He failed to consider the advancements in technology, agricultural
production, and transportation during this time. Without these technological
breakthroughs, he might have been correct.
Economic theories are consistently being proven, disproven, and revised, as a
proper scientific field of study would. The issue is when these theories are incorrect,
millions of people can be badly affected. Look at Malthus, some theorists combined
his ideas with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and somehow arrived at the
conclusion that providing help to poor people through social welfare programs is evil.
They called it Social Darwinism and we know that they are completely wrong.
Although economics is the only social science that has a Nobel Prize, it is not
an exact science, as physics. Its goal is to draw explanations about human behavior,
but outside laboratory experiments and without control groups. All economic theories
are a reflection of the different approaches about human nature, which can change
anytime.
124 | P a g e
 The father of modern economics was a
Scottish thinker named Adam Smith. His book The
Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, was a
comprehensive treatise about markets, production,
and economic theory. His work was extremely
influential. Smith introduced the idea that, if a person
followed their own self-interests, they would be
serving the common good. He was also an advocate
of free trade. Many countries, during his time, had
high tariffs, which protected their domestic
producers at the cost of trade with other countries.
His philosophy is a guide to one of the most
important problem of our generation, which is how to
build capitalist economies to be humane. His ideas
spurned economies that produced exceptional
amounts of wealth. One complaint, however, was
that workers felt their jobs were meaningless
(Braverman, 1976). This phenomenon is a result of
Smith’s theory of specialization, which means that
business tasks done by a person
Photo: Adam Smith (1723-1790) on the cover in a single day could be divided into many smaller
of his book (Amazon)
tasks done by multiple persons.

The number of managers’ a single firm has in today’s standards is proof of this fact. In small
businesses, the processes involved are contained to a small number of people and this keeps
communication and personal attachment in order. The problem arises in industries with
200,000 employees spread across four continents. An employee might feel like he/she is just
another tiny component in a grand machine. Have you heard of someone say something
about a „team-building activity‟ in their workplace? A part of Smith’s ideas is to constantly
remind the workers of their sense of purpose, their role, and their dignity as a member of a
large firm. Smith was also responsible for the development of consumer capitalism. Since
larger chunks of the population began moving up into the middle class, manufacturers began
producing luxury goods for them. Even with many intellectuals of his day opposing his views,
he defended them saying poor people are benefited more in this kind of system than any
other idea would. Is it not a question of many people today? How do we make the rich people
kind to poor people? A religious person uses guilt to make the rich help the poor. A radical
leftist will force the rich to give it to the poor, through taxation. But Smith simply argued that
neither guilt nor taxation is the answer. Capitalists like to be liked. They value prestige,
respect, and honor. Therefore, he said, the way to make them humane is to educate the
consumers to put high premium on the quality of their demands. If consumers would demand
and only choose high quality hospitals, the capitalists, in order to feed their attention-seeking
egos, will produce high quality hospitals. Smith trusts consumers to make the right decisions.
And maybe, his ideas might create a society that is both profitable and humane.

125 | P a g e

Photo: David Ricardo 1772-1823 (Britannica)
Decades later, another British economist,
David Ricardo expanded on Smith's idea by
introducing the theory of comparative advantage,
the notion that two countries can both benefit from
trade, even if one of them can produce more of
everything else. When both countries concentrate
on producing what they are best at and then trade,
everyone benefits. To better understand the theory,
we must look again at the idea of opportunity cost.
It is any benefit that you lose after choosing a
specific option. Like when you buy a smartphone,
you lose the benefit of paying for your grandiose
birthday party. And every choice you make has an
opportunity cost. In comparative advantage, both
countries have opportunity costs. But the country
who has a lower opportunity cost has the
comparative advantage. This theory has been the
foundation of modern international trade.

While the aforementioned people were

preaching ideas like private property and free-
trade and free-market, along comes the
Communist Manifesto in 1848. Rather than
investigating individual behavior, German
thinkers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
observed economic classes and argued that
history can be explained by the struggle
between workers and property owners
(bourgeoisie-proletariat). This process would
inevitably lead workers to overthrow their
masters, leading to a stateless and classless
society called communism. Marx doubled
down with his Das Kapital. Political Photo: (L) Karl Marx 1818-1883 and (R) Friedrich
movements that were generated by Marxist Engels 1820-1895 (socialistworker.org)
economics, challenged Adam Smith's view
that individual self-interest serves the greater good. The result was a clash of two main
idea: free market capitalism - supporting private property; and communism -
advocating collective ownership of the means of production. One of Marx’s criticism
was that of the theory of specialization. He argued that specialization “alienated‟ work.
He said that “workers need to see themselves in the objects they have created” (De
Botton, 2014). Many people use the Soviet Union and Maoist China as models for
Marx’s ideas. Although, the Soviet Union is a failure, China is an example of a
“communist‟ successstory (Lerebours,2017).More of this in future modules.
In spite of Marx’s criticisms, market-based theory dominated economic thinking
until the end of 19th century, with influences from American, British, and French
economists. This body of thought is called classical economics, and it was
exemplified in the book Principles of Economics, which was published in 1890 by
English economist Alfred Marshall. He organized and defined concepts we still use
today like supply, demand, and marginal utility. And as capitalism was expanding
around, the Marxist movements were expanding, too. By the 20th century, this
competition of ideologies and followers, together with socio-political upheaval in
Europe, led to the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in1922.

126 | P a g e

Photo: John Maynard Keynes 1883-1946
(isreview.org)
Communism was operating in the USSR when the
Great Depression struck the economies of the
richest countries of the world. Classical economics
took a disastrous setback. The theories of Smith
and Marshall did not predict this event, nor did it
have any way to fix the problem.
It was a British economist named John
Maynard Keynes who proposed new answers. In
his A General Theory of Money Interest and
Employment, published in 1936, he practically
founded a new field in economics:
macroeconomics. With the help of John Hicks,
Keynes argued that market economies do not
correct itself fast enough because prices and wages
take time to adapt. They proposed that

during economic busts, the government must be involved and intervened through monetary
and fiscal policies. This is to increase production and decrease unemployment (Hansson,
1985). It may look like Keynes was advocating for communism because his views are in direct
contradiction with classical economics who think that government intervention is harmful to
the economy. At any rate, Keynesian economics became an integral part of the mainstream
economic thinking. Once again, it is true that economic theory can changes any time. One
devastating worldwide depression was enough for Keynes to take Marx’s idea and the march
towards more government intervention in the economy began its stride.

With the ill-effects of the Great

Depression lingering, many countries have
pushed for an ideology called socialism,
despite it being thrown around since the
middle of 19th century. Some socialist
economies allow markets and private
properties. They also allow their
governments to own industries through strict
regulation and massive social programs like
universal education. Many people,
specifically the left-leaning, use the
Scandinavian countries like Norway and
Sweden as models for this ideology. They
coined the term democratic socialism, to
label this type of system. Sanandaji, (2016)
a Swedish, no less, debunks this “myth‟ that
Photo: (L) Ludwig Von Mises 1881-1973 and (R) Friedrich
Hayek 1899-1992 on the cover of their book (Amazon) the Nordic countries are socialists.
Instead, he proposed to use the terms
social democracy or welfare state. Because although these countries provide
generously for their citizens through universal healthcare and social safety nets, they
do so through heavy taxation, operating in a capitalist framework. While the Philippines
is in no means a socialist economy, our government is pushing for some social
democracy practices like universal education and healthcare. But still many of our
economists who are in the government, support Keynesian economic policies when
the economy is in suffering.
127 | P a g e
 As socialism and Keynesian economics drove
some economies, other economists persisted to push
for private property and free market. The most
outspoken group was the Austrian School of
Economics. The Austrians, Friedrich Hayek and
Ludwig von Mises, argued that heavy reliance on
state intervention has never produced the results it
sought to accomplish, and that government
interference and strict regulations create more
problems than solutions. They rejected nearly every
idea of monetary and fiscal policy. For the Austrian
School, the economy is too complex to warrant
government manipulation. But since the government
intervenes in the economy, booms and busts occur
(Von Mises, Rothbard, Hayek & Ebeling, 2014).

This criticism against government intervention

was shipped and continued on in the United States
by the Nobel laureate Milton Friedman. As with
Hayek and Von Mises, Friedman promoted the
Photo: Milton Friedman 1912-2006
privatization of many roles that the government has (insidehighered.com)
assumed and taken control. He was notable in
proposing the deregulation of the economy.
He established that the failure of the response to the Great Depression was
because of Keynesian economics. Being from the University of Chicago, followers of
Friedman were named the Chicago School of Economics. In the 1970‟s, his ideas
became more widespread when the US experienced very high inflation rate and low
production, a stagflation. This is something that Keynesian economics never really
addressed. Stagflation became the very thing that the Chicago School claimed to
have debunked Keynesian economics. Friedman also built another idea from
economic theory. It is called monetarism. It is focused on the stability of prices and
recommended the slow and controlled increase of money supply to permit for
consistent economic growth (Mankiw,2014).

Trickle-down economics entered economic thinking while the Chicago School

was gaining traction. Sometimes called supply-side economics, they promoted
deregulation and tax-cuts, like corporate income taxes. They believe that relieving tax
obligations of the wealthy „trickles down‟ benefits to everyone. But do they? Today,
modern economic theory stands on the shoulders of classical economics, Friedman’s
monetarism and Keynesian economics. This integrated theory is often called the new
neoclassical synthesis. And even with a unified theory the debate on when, or how
to use these policies will continue to grow. Remember, these economic policies affect
many people. The various economic reactions to the worldwide recession of 2008 is a
prime example of this on-going debate. There are those who suggested to use
Keynesian economics like deficit spending, while other economists proposed the
classical method of controlling excessive expenditure to reduce budget deficits, which
they called austerity measures. Keynes was right when he said that “ideas shape the
course of history.”

128 | P a g e
 Abstraction
Historically, economic ideas went through many changes, depending on the
circumstances and the prevailing behavior of people. Adam Smith, father of modern
economics, clung to people‟s self-interest as a prime motivator of production, paving
the way to a formal inquiry regarding capitalism. Karl Marx critiqued this view by
emphasizing on the welfare of workers as opposed to the interest of the wealthy
capitalist. The Great Depression of the 1930‟s altered the course of development
economic ideas when Keynes proposed a more government-controlled monetary and
fiscal policy. When the slow progress from this slumped was observed, Hayek, Von
Misses, and Friedman, disregarded Keynesian economics for a less government
interfered economy advocating for deregulation, free market and privatization.
Differences in the response of countries in the 2008 recession highlight the ever-
changing economic ideas. A dismal science, economic theories change as the needs
of people change.

Application

Recently, it was reported that Japan and South Korea are now in a recession due to
the pandemic. Our own government, also, acknowledged that our country will have its
own recession. When it comes, which economic idea or ideas will you use? Why?
Write your response on a separate sheet of paper. Responses will be rated using the
rubrics in Part X (Final Requirement).

Reflections and Insights

Countries that were once strictly communists, like China, have shifted toward
capitalism. Only North Korea remains under a communist system. This does not mean
that Marxism is no more. People in capitalist countries push to adopt „socialist- like‟
policies. And like Aristotle, economies search for the middle ground, the golden mean.
World economy is a complex affair that predicting the future is very difficult. Malthus
himself was a victim of such catastrophic prediction. People change, circumstances
change, and so must our means of surviving. We should expect that and because of
the present pandemic, many of these theories will resurface, and many will build new
ones. It is a good thing that Malthus was wrong, which means we get to see what the
future holds for humanity.

129 | P a g e
 Post Assessment!

Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. (25 points)

1. What is the main idea of classical economics?
2. How should governments intervene in Keynesian economics?
3. How does trickle-down economics deal with publicly owned corporations?
4. Describe the success of communism.
5. What were the flaws of a free market economy according to Marx?

Final Requirement
Based on the earlier activity in Part VII, which economic theory best describe
your responses? Explain each item. Write your responses on a separate sheet of
paper. Responses will be rated using the following rubrics:

10 pts. 7 pts. 5 pts. 3 pts.

Responses are Responses are Responses are No response was
complete, relevant, incomplete, relevant incomplete, made.
and written legibly. and written legibly. irrelevant and
written poorly.

Glossary

Classical Economics - refers to a body of work on market theories and

economic growth which emerged during the 18th and 19thcenturies.
Communism - can refer to specific political parties, at its core, communism is an
ideology of economic equality through the elimination of private property.
Socialism - a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates
that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated
by the community as a whole.
The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith‟s book published in 1776, was a comprehensive
treatise about markets, production, and economic theory
Theory of comparative advantage – introduces opportunity cost as a factor for
analysis in choosing between different options for production.

130 | P a g e
 SUGGESTED READINGS
Hansson, B. (1985). Keynes's Notion of Equilibrium in the "General Theory". Journal of Post-
Keynesian Economics Vol. 7, No. 3. Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Mankiw, N. G. (2014). Macroeconomics. Andover Gran Breta a: Cengage Learning.

References

Braverman, H. (1976). Labor and monopoly capital: The degradation of work in the twentieth
century. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Friedman, M., & Schwartz, A. (1963). A Monetary History of the United States. National
Bureau of Economic Research. Princeton University Press.

Hansson, B. (1985). Keynes's Notion of Equilibrium in the "General Theory". Journal of Post-
Keynesian Economics Vol. 7, No. 3. Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Lerebours, J. (2017). Communism Debunked. The Emory Political Review. Atlanta, Georgia

Mankiw, N. G. (2014). Macroeconomics. Andover Gran Breta a: Cengage Learning.

Sachs, J.D. (2008) Are Malthus's Predicted 1798 Food Shortages Coming True? Scientific
American. New York: Scientific American Inc.

Smith, A. (2013). An inquiry into the nature and causes of wealth of nations. Wordsworth
Editions. Hertfordshire, England.

Von Mises, L., Rothbard, M. N., Hayek, F.A. & Ebeling, R. M. (2014). The Austrian Theory of
the Trade Cycle and Other Essays. Auburn, Alabama. Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Websites:

https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/the-great-philosophers-karl-

marx/https://www.britannica.com/story/thomas-malthuss-250th-

birthdayhttps://www.amazon.fr/Wealth-Nations-Illustrated-English-

ebook/dp/B082YBHW5Shttps://www.amazon.com/Austrian-Case-Free-Market-

Process/dp/B000H4VWHYhttps://www.amazon.fr/Wealth-Nations-Illustrated-

English-ebook/dp/B082YBHW5Shttps://socialistworker.org/2018/02/12/marxism-

and-the-meaning-of-materialism https://isreview.org/issue/63/return-keynes

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/08/17/milton-friedman-was-actually-financial-
aid-progressive-essay

131 | P a g e
 UNIT 9 : Issues and Challenges in
the Social Science

Lesson 1 - Replicability,
Lesson 2 - Political Correctness
Lesson 3 - Nature of Opinions in Social Sciences

Duration: 3 Hours, Week 16

Introduction

n Bulacan State University, the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s2. It is the same

I where you are sitting right now. The cure for bacterial infections in Norway is
antibiotics. In the Philippines, it is the same medicine. Japan’s political system is
constitutional monarchy and a unicameral legislature worked wonders in terms
of economic wealth (third only in the world) and the improvement of the lives of millions
of Japanese. Should not the poor countries convert to constitutional monarchies with
parliaments to improve their lives? A social scientist will tell you that the political
models they observe among countries are based on the culture its people has and
cannot be simply implemented to another country with a different set of culture.
Although, research on Japan’s politics contributes to the body of knowledge of political
science, it is difficult translate into public for another place. This is one of the limits of
social science as discussed in past lessons. The natural sciences offer a more direct
impact on public policy. Take the policy reforms that other countries implemented to
address global warming. Countries who took it seriously are now opting for more
renewable and sustainable sources of energy.
This lesson will provide you a peek into similar issues that persist in the social
sciences. They are challenges that need to be addressed because they can be
addressed. The history of the social sciences has shown that knowledge of human
behavior is elusive for its inherent unpredictability. Just like Neurath’s boat in the
middle of the sea. To build a boat in the middle of the sea, social scientists gather what
useful knowledge remains like floating wood planks that have are not rotten. They
stand on those planks to take other planks to build the boat. That is how science was
built.
The social sciences may not build universal theories for human behavior. But
what it lacks in universality, it makes up for the richness of researches on the lived
experiences of people in all walks of life.

Objectives/
Competencies
At the end of this lesson, you must be able to:

132 | P a g e
 a. define replicability in social science research

b. identify the different issues in social science teaching and learning

c. describe political correctness
d. differentiate statements of facts and statements of opinion
e. discuss the role of social sciences in policymaking and decision-making

Question and Answer!

Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Why are social experiments difficult to conduct?
2. What are the similarities and differences between the natural and social
sciences?
3. Why is replicability important in establishing social science theories?
4. How does political correctness affect social science researches?
5. What are the standards in distinguishing fact from opinion?
6. How are the social sciences moving forward in the face of censorship?
7. What are the criteria of the scientific method?

Preliminary Task!

Examine the cartoon below. What do you think is the message of the cartoon?

Discussion
As you have learned earlier, the
social sciences “hijacked” the
term science to emphasize that
it follows the research rigor that
can be found in the natural
sciences. It sought to follow the
scientific method. However, you
have also learned that in order
for something to be

133 | P a g e
 called science, or scientific, it has to follow the standards of the scientific method,
otherwise, it would simply be “pseudo-science.” The standards are replicability,
precision, falsifiability, and parsimony (Bhattacherjee, 2012). And herein lies the
problem with the social sciences. Since it deals with human behavior, which is highly
unpredictable, it suffers from replicability. In the natural sciences, replicability means
that other people can replicate the study independently and arrive at a similar
conclusion. Unfortunately, It rarely happens.

A review of Camerer et. al (2018) regarding twenty-one (21) social science research
studies found in the Nature and Science journal between the years 2011-2015 reveals
that all of these studies yielded different results when replicated. This means that
whatever social science research findings or conclusions you may read, even in
reputable scientific journals, must not be taken as the same truth that can be found in
the natural sciences. It was not just Charles Darwin who concluded that variations in
life can be explained by the theory of evolution by natural selection, but Alfred Russel
Wallace arrived at the same conclusion independently and at the same time. What
happened to Darwin and Wallace is not happening in the social sciences. What is
social scientifically true in the Philippines, may not be social scientifically true in India.
You may try it for yourself by replicating the famous “marshmallow test.” What seems
to be the problem here? Well, unlike the findings of the natural sciences, the findings
of the social sciences may yield truthful explanations to human behavior at a particular
time, but may lose its potency overtime. People change. Are you the same person ten
years ago? No. And if you were a participant in a social science research ten years
ago, will your responses be the same today? Maybe. Maybe not. And that is a problem.
You are not sure. Another issue is spatial differences. People live in different cultures,
with different languas, different environments, and different political climates. This is a
nightmare in social science research when fulfilling the standard of replicability. The
findings may apply to one specific group of people, but may not be applied to another
group. Bohannon(2015) that this is a particularly problematic
in psychological studies. A group of
270 researches tried to replicate 100
well-known studies and found only
39% replicability. And these include
researches in education, as
education is a social science. (This
one of the reasons why I personally
find Gardner‟s multiple intelligence
and learning styles unscientific bunk).
The issue of replicability will plague
the social sciences for years
Photo: Popular Science to come. Like the natural sciences,
the social sciences seek to build knowledge and to answer socially relevant questions.
This helps in policy formulation and decision-making, be it on the micro level or the
macro level. The problem is it sometimes it does not. It does not often help in
policymaking and decision-making. And unlike the natural sciences, it cannot simply
conduct social experiments to determine what a working social model looks like. In
2008, the world suffered one of the worst economic recessions ever since the Great
Depression of 1930‟s. The social science discipline tasked with providing solutions to
this debacle was economics. Unfortunately, economists never knew

134 | P a g e
 what to do, nor they had explained why it happened. They have explanations and
answers, but every economist had a different explanation and answer. Until today,
they are still debating what caused the Great
Depression. There are many economic models that
exist today. Do you remember the circular flow
model? You begin with the household and the firm,
then you add the financial markets, then you add the
government, and so on. You understand that that is
how the market operates. You understand the
economic structures and the role they play in the
economy. But this is not enough to guide
policymakers and decision-makers. Most of the
time, the social sciences are focused on these
concepts, operations and structures, and neglect
That these are within the realm of human behavior. Photo: CartoonStock

Human beings are in these structures and is supposed to be the focus of social
science research. Unfortunately, social experiments are difficult. One such
experiment was done in Russia when they built the Soviet Union to test Marxist
socialism. The result was they went back to capitalism, but slaughtering millions of
people in the process. There was a book published in 1994 called The Bell Curve
written by a psychologist named Richard Hernstein and a political scientist named
Charles Murray. The book was based on a study they conducted in the United States
regarding human intelligence.

They found that genetics and some

environmental factors account
for personal success in aspects
such as socioeconomic status,
marriage, and criminality. They
also found that white Americans
have higher IQ than black
Americans. Now, this last
statement caused a massive stir
in America. The racists took
advantage of this saying that they
need to bring back racial
segregation in the US. This was
not good. Others sought to
repress the findings and ban the
book from the public. This was
also not good. Figure 1. Black and White IQ Distribution from The Bell Curve book
(Andrew Austin)

135 | P a g e
Some social scientists criticized the findings through further research. This was good. This
is another issue that the social sciences have to surpass. Doing social science research is
difficult enough but having your findings published or brought into the public is on another
difficulty level, especially when the findings might hurt the feelings of other people. Hernstein
and Murray were not racists, as they categorically denied it. But people thought them to be
racists. Their book is still controversial. The natural sciences have the same problem.
Conspiracy theorists accuse the scientific community of hiding aliens and faking the moon
landing. But they debunk these quack claims through science. When conspiracy theorists get
debunked, they just simply deny and continue on with their tin foil hats. But when the findings
of a social research touches on aspects of people’s lives that are valuable and people do not
like the results, they ban, they cancel, they protest (sometimes violently), they repress the
studies. Hence. the introduction of political correctness. This unfortunate policy was first
introduced to water-down the words people use in any kind of speech, particularly political
speeches. You cannot say “mongoloid,” or “abnormal,” you say “special.” You cannot say
“disabled,” you say “PWD.” If uttering such words would be for the purpose of insulting another
person, indeed censorship is necessary. But when The Bell Curve was published, the
phenomenon extended to the academe. Researches were now under the watchful eyes of
politically correct language.

There were many social aspects that can

be studied scientifically that one cannot
focus on now because the findings might
hurt a group of people. Delicate aspects
such as human sexuality, race relations,
intelligence, personality, and mental health
must now cower to political correctness.
This is problematic as it stifles the search
for knowledge and truth. Filtering the
results of scientific study to prevent hurting
the feelings of people builds
Photo: medium.co
Incomplete knowledge (Maranto, Redding,
& Hess,2009).

Photo: This, That and the Other

136 | P a g e
Imagine, if a study concluded that poor people are psychopaths, or that women are
incompatible with STEM jobs. Imagine the outcry of everyone for conducting such a
research. Virtue signaling people will take to their social media to denounce you and censor
your findings.

Look at J.K Rowling, she recently (this is2020) published a fictional novel depicting a
transgender as a serial killer. Twitter and Facebook exploded with anger. And that is fiction.
What more if a researcher exposes a hard truth? Social science research is now veering
away from generalizable, theoretical testing approach. It is moving towards qualitative
approaches. It is, in a way, continuing the forward march of social science research without
having to deal with political correctness and the cancel culture. But then again, it builds
incomplete knowledge of human behavior and social phenomenon.

One of the most challenging aspect in social science teaching and learning is appraising
opinions. You need to learn this skill in order to understand the meaning of what others say
and write. It is important to be able to distinguish facts from opinions. Also, if you develop
this skill, it will help you to analyze the accuracy of political claims, advertisements, and many
other types of statements that may be present to you. So, what is the difference between fact
and opinion? A fact can be checked for accuracy and proven. Facts are answers to specific
questions such as what happened, who did, when and where did it happen. While, opinions
are based on values and beliefs. The statements may begin with phrases such as “I believe,”
or “in my opinion.” It may include words such as “should,” “ought,” and judgment words such
as “best,” or “greatest.” When you are distinguishing between fact and opinion, you will need
to ask yourself, does the statement provide specific information about an event? Can you
check the accuracy of the statement? Does the statement express someone's feelings,
beliefs, or judgment? Being able to answer these self- check questions may save you hours
of debate or conversation. In the social sciences, people often conflate opinions with facts,
or vice-versa. For example, Boyet said, “I think the government is doing a good job of
responding to the pandemic.” Clearly, this is an opinion. You may ask, “But I can check the
accuracy of whether the government is doing a good job or not.” Yes, you may. You can look
up the government policies, government reports, action, economic data, reaction of the
people, effects on the people’s lives, and so on to check whether the government is doing a
good job. Therefore, it is a fact. Right? No. The phrase “I think” gave it away. What you need
to check is whether what Boyet said was in his thinking or not. There is no way to look inside
a person’s thinking. There is no way to check the accuracy. Hence, it is an opinion. It is an
opinion because it expressed judgment by using the word “good.” It is an opinion because it
did not provide you with specific information. Besides, in the first place, you have to define
the parameters of what is good and bad. This is one of the weakness of the social sciences.
It cannot put parameters or measurements of human behavior without clashing with
individual and cultural differences (see cultural relativism in sociology). Another example,
Boyet said, “The number of COVID-19 cases today is higher than yesterday’s numbers.”
Clearly, this one is a fact. Not only is this a fact based on the logic of mathematics and
cumulative counting, but because the statement is capable of being checked for accuracy. If
a fact is inaccurate, then it is false. And that is another difference between facts and opinions.
Facts are falsifiable, and opinions are not. Hence, the saying, “Walang maling opinion,” which
is true. But there are uninformed opinions. These are opinions that have no factual basis,
or are irrelevant to the question at hand. Boyet’s first statement can either be informed or
uninformed based on its factual foundation. Imagine being your future self, a teacher, and
you tell your class that you will give five points of credit if they just express their opinion
regarding same-sex marriage. Then one pupil responded saying, “I think President Duterte
is the best president in the entire interstellar universal intergalactic solar system.” That is an
opinion. But is it worth five points?

137 | P a g e
 Abstraction
The social sciences have been always criticized by the scientific community. As
a young and fledgling field, its plagued by challenges that puts into question the
knowledge it built. Although, following
the stringent rigor of the scientific
method, the social sciences is still
failing in the replicability of its findings.
Differences in time, space, and culture
account for its issues in replication.
Furthermore, the social sciences, being
an all-encompassing field, is subject to
controversy and censorship due to
nature of the public’s perspectives on
political correctness. Findings that may
appear hurtful to the comfort and
feelings of people
interferes in the freedom of social Photo: Joe Dator
science research to explore human
behavior. In the teaching and learning of social sciences, it is important to distinguish
facts and opinions. Both are important in the search for truth, but it is necessary for
teachers to instill in the pupil forming opinions that are informed. The social sciences
is moving forward despite these challenges and may,, in the long run, achieve better
tools in knowledge creation, theory-building, and social modelling.

Application
Below are two articles from The Philippine Star. Read the articles and determine which article
is composed of statements of fact and statements of opinion. Cite your reasons for your
determination. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper (10 pts.)

Article A

Article B

138 | P a g e
 Reflections and Insights

This module has introduced you to the foundation of social sciences. It was
established that this field deals with human behavior. It was also established that
human behavior, unlike natural phenomenon, cannot be measured or quantified.
Instead, social scientists create concepts that can be translated into quantifiable
variables like socio-economic status measured in annual income. Education, being a
social science, does the same thing. Teachers measure academic achievement
through test scores, rate of classroom participation, attendance, and submitted.
Although this is practical, social science knows this does not completely capture the
entire academic experience of students. Any student who gets high scores through
cheating without getting caught can hardly be called real academic achievement. And
that is how human behavior operates. It is unpredictable and changes constantly. The
hope that the present limitations of the social sciences will be transcended is a hope
that will require concerted efforts among the different fields within it.

Post Assessment!

Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. (35 points)

1. What are the similarities and differences between the natural and social
sciences?
2. Why are social experiments difficult to conduct?
3. Why is replicability important in establishing social science theories?
4. How does political correctness affect social science researches?
5. What are the standards in distinguishing fact from opinion?
6. How are the social sciences moving forward in the face of censorship?
7. What are the criteria of the scientific method?

Final Requirement
Frietag (2011) wrote an article regarding the myths about the social sciences. Here are
five of those myths. Your task is to respond to these myths by writing a 60-word paragraph for
each of them. Write your responses on a separate sheet of paper. (50 pts.)
1. Social science is not objective.
2. Social science data is anecdotal.
3. Social science is pseudo-science.
4. Social science cannot test hypotheses.
5. Social science has no scientific laws like the natural sciences.

Suggested Reading
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and
Practices. Open Textbook Library.
Bohanon, J. (2015). Many psychology papers fail replication test. ScienceMag Vol.
349, 6251
Camerer, C.F. et al. (2018). Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments
in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015. Nature: Human Behavior Vol. 2,
634.

139 | P a g e
 Glossary

Political correctness is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that

are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in
society.
Pseudo-science - a collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being
based on scientific method
Replicability - In the natural sciences, replicability means that other people can
replicate the study independently and arrive at a similar conclusion.
Social Experiment - social experiment is the random assignment of human subjects
to two groups to examine the effects of social policies

References

Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices.

Open Textbook Library.
Bohanon, J. (2015). Many psychology papers fail replication test. ScienceMag Vol. 349,
6251
Camerer, C.F. et al. (2018). Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in
Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015. Nature: Human Behavior Vol. 2, 634.
Freitag, A. (2011). 10 myths about social science. Southern Fried Science.
Maranto, R., Redding, R., & Hess, F. (2009). The Politically Correct University.
Potter, D. (1989). Society and the social sciences: An introduction. London: Routledge.

Websites
https://www.scientific-editing.info/importance-of-reproducibility-in-
science/https://www.popsci.com/what-is-replication-
crisis/https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/social_experiments.aspht
tps://andrewaustin.blog/2019/08/18/against-white-privilege-clarifying-the-
critique-of-a- problematic-term/
https://medium.com/@alexshelton/the-backfire-of-political-correctness-
d1d9a45c15cbhttps://fivedotoh.com/2018/03/07/im-entitled-to-my-opinion/

140 | P a g e