DISS Discipline and Ideas in Social Sciences

July 02, 2019 8 comments

Defining Social Sciences as the study of society

 Introducing the disciplines within the Social Sciences
1. Anthropology
2. Economics
3. Geography
4. History
5. Linguistics
6. Political Science
7. Psychology
8. Sociology and Demography

The historical context of the emergence of each

discipline
DOMINANT APPROACHES AND IDEAS 
1. Structural-Functionalism
2. Marxism
3. Symbolic Interactionism
4. Psychoanalysis
5. Rational Choice
6. Institutionalism
7. Feminist Theory
8. Hermeneutical Phenomenology
9. Human-Environment Systems

SOCIAL SCIENCES IN THE REAL WORLD

1. Professions
2. Applications and intersections of the

approaches in addressing social problems

Introduction to Social Science

The social sciences are the fields of scholarship that study society."Social science" is
commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural
sciences.These include: anthropology, archaeology, business administration,
communication, criminology, economics, education, government, linguistics,
international relations, political science, sociology and, in some contexts, geography,
history, law, and psychology
Social Problems and Social Science 
the connection between social science and social problems should be a high priority for all of us --
social scientists and citizens alike. Example: Poverty and Social Science (Economics)

the connection between social science and social problems should be a high priority for all of us --
social scientists and citizens alike. Example: Poverty and Social Science (Economics)

Meaning of Social Science, Natural Science, and

Humanities
1. Social Science: The field of human knowledge that deals with all aspects of the group life of
human beings. So it is subject to change with the changes the human behavior. Behavioral sciences
2. Natural Science: a branch of science that seeks to elucidate the rules that govern the natural
world by using the Empirical and Scientific method.
Subject areas:
Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth science, Astronomy

3. Humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are
primarily analytical, critical, or speculative. ancient and modern Languages,
Visual and Performing Arts such as music Theatre Arts. literature, history, philosophy, religion
History of Social Science

The history of the social sciences begins in the roots of ancient philosophy.

In Ancient history, there was no difference between mathematics and the

study of history, poetry or politics.

The term "social science" may refer either to the specific sciences of society
established by thinkers such as Comte, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber or more
generally to all disciplines outside of noble science and arts.
Various Social Science Disciplines
Anthropology, Business studies, Economics,  Education, Geography, History, Industrial relations,
Law, Philosophy, Political science, Psychology, Public Administration,  Sociology, International
Studies, Library Science

Anthropology is the holistic "science of man," - a science of the totality of human

existence. Physical Anthropology Cultural Anthropology
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and
phenomena of Earth. As "the bridge between the human and physical sciences

Physical Geography: environment and how space is created, viewed and

managed by humans as well as the influence humans have on the space they occupy. 

Human Geography examines the natural environment and how the climate, vegetation
& life, soil, water, and landforms are produced and interact
History Is the study of the past of human in the world
Political Science Is the study of social arrangement to maintain peace and
order within a society. State, Politics, power, Law, and ideology are components of
Political science 

Psychology is the study of the human soul/ mind/ behavior/ personality and how
these are affected by individuals environment

Sociology is the study of human social relationships or social systems or human

group behavior. Sociology is the systematic study of society and human social action.

Theories
Society has TWO FACES: CONSENSUS and CONFLICT.
 Karl Marx - The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles
 Emile Durkheim - modern society is held together by a division of labor that makes
individuals dependent upon one another because they specialize in different types of work
 Max Weber - an action that a person does not think about cannot be a social action.

CONFLICT THEORY
 the role of COERCION and POWER in producing social order. This perspective is derived
from the works of Karl Marx, who saw society as fragmented into groups that compete for social and
economic resources.
 inequality exists because those in control of a disproportionate share of society's resources
actively defend their advantages.

CONSENSUS THEORY
 states that social change should occur in institutions that are provided by a political or
economic system
 states that the absence of conflict within society is the state of equilibrium ( a state of rest or
balance due to the equal action of opposing forces, an equal balance between any powers, influences,
etc.; equality of effect.)
 social order in society should be maintained, based upon the accepted norms, values, roles
or regulations that are accepted by the society in general.

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
STATES THAT SOCIETY IS MADE UP OF VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS THAT WORK TOGETHER IN
COOPERATION.

Major steps in Scientific Inquiry

Observation: All scientific knowledge relates to the natural environment and all
knowledge begins with facts gathered through careful observation.
 Formulation of the problem:
 Collection and classification of more facts:
 Generalization:
 Formulation of the hypothesis:
 Testing the hypothesis:
 Retesting and reformulating the theory:

Approaches in Social Sciences

 Define the problem
 Review the literature review
 Develop a theoretical framework and formulate a hypothesis
 Choose the research design
 Collect the necessary data
 Analyze the results
 Draw a conclusion.

Define the Problem this one is probably the most important. If you

have carefully defined your terms, you can save an enormous amount of
energy. Put simply, if you do not know what you are doing, no matter how well
you do it then everything is useless

Literature Review knowledge of the relevant literature is essential because it provides

background, suggests approaches, indicate what has already been covered and what hasn’t, and
saves you from redoing what has already been done. It is a way of using other people’s observation.
Develop a Theoretical Framework make a statement predicting your
results and them clarify what each of the terms in the statement means within the framework of your
research.
Choose a research design pick a means of gathering
data, a survey, an experiment, an observational study, secondary materials or
a combination. Weigh this choice carefully because your plan is the crux of
your research process.

Collecting the necessary data Data are what one collects from

careful observation. Your conclusion will be only as good as your data, so
take great care in collecting and especially in recording your data. If you don’t
document what you have done, you might as well not have done it.

Drawing conclusions Now you can prepare a report, summarizing

the steps you have followed and discussed what you have found. Good
findings will relate your conclusions to the existing body of research, suggest
where current assumptions may be modified because of nee evidence and
possibly identify unanswered questions for further study

Analyzing the results when all data are in classify facts, identify

trends, recognize relationships and tabulate the information so that it can be
accurately analyzed and interpreted. 

Typical Method in Social Science

 The historical method relies heavily on a study of their (subjects)

historical background. It traces the principal past developments that seem to
have been directly significant in bringing a social situation.

 The case method involves making a more detailed examination and

analysis of a particular issue or problem situation. 

 The comparative and cross-cultural methods were
formerly often employed in the hope of discovering the evolutionary sequence
in the development of human institutions that is patterns of social
development or progress that would be universal.

Difference between Theories and Concepts

 Concepts a generalized idea about people, objects or processes
that are related to one another, an abstract way of classifying things that are
similar.

 They are ways of classifying things that are in the same categories 

Concepts are used to simplify the way people think and communicate. 

 are used by social scientists to generalize about some aspects of human interaction.
 They are guidelines that direct the interpretation and analysis of reality.
 Concepts are the technical vocabulary of the social sciences, and they have precise meanings
that may differ considerably from the generally understood versions.

Theories - a set of principles or concepts and generalizations so arranged that they explain
and predict possible relationships among phenomena.

 In social science, theories are the formulation of principles of behavior through which scientists try
to increase their knowledge of human interaction.

  Theories - founded on observation and analysis using the vocabulary of concepts -intent to
explain the connections between and among occurrences in human interaction.

without theories, the accumulation of knowledge would be impossible, just as the formulation of
theories would be impossible without concepts- Always open to change and even to total rejection if
new evidence is presented to challenge them.- In scientific terminology, a theory carries much more
weight because it is based on supporting evidence.

Theories of Social sciences

The theory of evolution assumes that the changes in any society are uniformly based on fixed
rules.
 The idea of Evolution is often associated with great personalities like Charles Darwin, Auguste
Comte, Herbert Spencer, and Karl Marx

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution – is based on 5 key observations and

inferences.
1. Species have great fertility. They make more offspring than they can grow
to adulthood.
2. Populations remain roughly the same size with modest fluctuations
3. Food resources are limited but are relatively constant most of the time.
4. In sexually reproducing species, generally, no two individuals are identical.
Variations is rampant.
5. Much of this variation is heritable

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

1. Variation – There is a variation in every population
2. Competition – Organisms compete for limited resources
3. Offspring – organisms produce more offspring than can survive
4. Genetics - Organisms pass Genetic traits on to their offspring
5. Natural Selection – Those organisms with the most beneficial traits are
more likely to survive and reproduce.

AUGUST COMTE (1798-1857) 

Suggested the idea that human thought is divided into 3 categories:

i. Theology - whereby the thoughts are influenced by religion and supernatural

beliefs.

ii. Metaphysic -thoughts that are influenced by an abstract idea that is

gathered from incident and physical phenomenon.

iii. Positivism - man think by using scientific methods to explore the incidents
and the physical phenomenon around them.

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

 Assumed of the existence of equal evolutionary process between biological
organisms and people
 His idea about the natural social evolution was influenced by Darwin’s idea
of “Survival of the Fittest”
 The fittest will survive in the process while the weak will be eliminated
naturally according to the law of nature
 Hence, his idea refuses the element of force in the human social system 

Lewis Henry Morgan (1818- 1881)

 popularized Cultural Evolution Theory
 Made assumptions that any society can be divided according to 3 levels of
survival 
 Savagery - society which lives as nomads and indulges in hunting and food
gathering
 Barbarism - society which lives in a particular place and plants for survival
 Civilization - society which lives in a particular place and starts to use
technology 

Karl Marx (1818-1883) &Frederick Engels (1820-1895)

 Influenced by Morgan’s ideas but more focused on material changes aspect

 Evolution happens in the contacts of resource production and mode of

production 

CONCLUSION
 Mankind needs to understand and observe the importance of social
sciences
 Knowledge-based society will be better equipped to socializing process
 A well-balanced knowledge about social sciences will ensure the human's
existence.