SOCIAL SCIENCE:

Nature and
Development
Lesson 1
INTRODUCE YOURSELF
• Hello, my name is ________________
• The object that best represents me is
a/an ________________________
because __________ .
DEFINING
SOCIAL SCIENCES
AS THE STUDY OF SOCIETY
WHAT IS SOCIAL SCIENCE?
SOCIAL SCIENCE
• A systematic way of discovering and
explaining the patterns of behavior of
people.
• The study of society
• Focuses on the social life of people which
includes the nature, functions and growth
of human societies.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY?
• “Students of social sciences become
aware that they need not to accept
the world as it is but can act to
change it and social sciences can
provide them the instruments of
change.” (Perry, 2012)
SOCIAL SCIENCES, NATURAL SCIENCES
AND HUMANITIES

HOW DO THEY DIFFER?

Natural Science
• Primary concern is the natural world, the natural environment
where man exists.
• Main focus are the living and non-living things.
• It is an Inquiry of :
a. positions of the planets in the solar system
b. the habitat of the living things
c. the patterns of the environmental phenomena
• PRIMARY INTERESTS – the prediction and explanation of all
natural phenomena using the experimentally controlled
variables or material entities. (Jerome Kagan)
APPROACHES AND METHODS IN THE
SOCIAL SCIENCES.
1. FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
• Deals on the interrelatedness of the social entities in the
social world.
• a normative approach to describing and predicting group
performance that focuses on the functions of inputs and/or
processes.
• The aim of theory and research from this perspective is to
understand why some groups are successful and others are
not.
2. Exchange Perspective
• Embodies the belief that ,“ for every action there is an equal
and opposite reaction.”
• According to this theory, developed by sociologist George
Homans, people weigh the potential benefits and risks of
social relationships. When the risks outweigh the rewards,
people will terminate or abandon that relationship.
3. Symbolic Interactionism
• Human beings attach to symbols and actions.
COMMON METHODS ON SOCIAL
SCIENCE RESEARCH
SAMPLE SURVEY
• A research design that has two separate features: the sample
and the survey.
• SAMPLE – refers to the representative of the total population
under investigation, since it is not feasible to study the entire
population.
• SURVEY – involves the use of questionnaires, interview and
statistical data. The researcher analyzes the data generated by
the survey/s done.
CASE STUDY
• Involves the in depth, detailed and thorough study of a
particular social unit like an individual, a group or a
community.
• Case study involves interview, focused discussion and
ethnographic observation.
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
• An approach in the social sciences in the realm of qualitative
research.
• Requires a research to immerse himself/herself into the
community being studied to study the culture of people or
groups of people.
• The researcher gets to feel the lifestyle and experiences of the
subjects.
• Sociological and anthropological researches utilize participant
observation.