DISCIPLINES IN SOCIAL SCIENCES

ANTHROPOLOGY
– Study of human being
- study of the relationship between biological traits and socially acquired characteristics (HUNT 2002)
2 BROAD FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
1. Physical Anthropology (Biological Anthropology)
– mainly concerns about how human emerged and evolved through time. (Human Paleontology)
-it also concern on how human beings differ biologically. (Human variation)
2. Cultural Anthropology
-concerns on the difference of cultures from time to time
3 MAIN BRANCHES OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
1. Archeology – studies past cultures of the humans in the pre-historic times
2. Linguistics / Anthropological Linguistics – anthropological study of languages. They explain the difference of
languages by culture and how it is constructed.
3. Ethnology – study of the recent or present cultures.
METHODS OF INQUIRY
- Qualitative approach
Such as: observational method (participant and non-participant)
In-depth interviews
Focus group discussion
Life history, reflexibility method
Case study, ethnography, and action research
ECONOMICS
-A study that aims to explain social interactions which satisfy economic wants.
The social science that deals with the optimum allocation of scarce resources among its alternatives to satisfy
the unlimited wants and needs of the people.
2 MAJOR FIELDS OF ECONOMICS
1. Microeconomics – focuses on individual and small organizations in the system of allocating resources.
2. Macroeconomics – focuses on the broader sense of economics. studies and analyzes the whole economy.
Supply and Demand Curve
- It determines the economic equilibrium for price and quality based on supply and demand.
4 Principles in Supply and Demand
1. If demand increases, (demand curve shifts to the right) and supply remains unchanged, a shortage occurs,
leading to a higher equilibrium price.
2. If demand decreases (demand curve shifts to the left) and supply remains unchanged, a surplus occurs, leading
to a lower equilibrium price.
3. If demand remains unchanged and supply increases (Supply curve shifts to the right), a surplus occurs, leading to
a lower equilibrium price.
4. If demand remains unchanged and supply decreases (supply curve shifts to the left), a shortage occurs, leading
to a higher equilibrium price.
METHODS OF INQUIRY
- Usually Quantitative in approach
- Such as: survey
use of economic data or economic statistics.
-may refer to data describing an actual economy , past or present
- in some cases Mixed Method is applied
GEOGRAPHY
- Means the description of the earth
- From the Greek word geo which means earth, and graphein which means to write.
- This discipline concerns the spatial characteristics of the earth
 - (Getis, 2004) defined GEOGRAPHY as the study of spatial variation, of how and why things differ from place
to place on the surface of the earth
DOCTRINES BEING STUDIED IN GEOGRAPHY
Geographers believed that:
1. All places on earth have a specific location, direction and distance with respect to other.
3 BASIC ASSESSMENT OF THE SPACE ON EARTH
1. Location - is the very starting points when studying geography.
2. Direction - it can be identified by cardinal points like NORTH, EAST, WEST, SOUTH.
3. Distance - it can be identified by how much miles or kilometer separates two points.
2. All places on earth have a specific size.
3. All places of earth have both physical structure- ( refers to earth’s natural aspects like soil, climate, water,
minerals, and terrain features).
4. All places on earth have attributes that change and develop over time.
5. All places on earth interrelate with other places.
6. All places on earth can be generalized into regions of similarities and differences.

METHODS OF INQUIRY
- Usually use Mixed Method (quantitative and qualitative methods)
HISTORY
- the study of the past and its record about past events.
- Derived from the greek word historia which means to inquire knowledge through investigation.
- a social science in the sense that, it is a systematic attempt to learn about and verify past events and to
relate them to one another and to the present.
HERODOTUS- a popular greek historian was considered to be the” father of history”.
• His first book is called as the record of ancient traditions and culture of Greece, Asia and Africa.
METHODS OF INQUIRY
- usually rely on qualitative approach with the use of secondary data.

LINGUISTICS
  - Basically the study of language.
  - LANGUAGE is the principal means used by human beings to communicate with one another.
COMPOSITION OF LANGUAGE
1. PHONETICS which concerns the sound being used in language.
  Example: b d h l

2. PHONOLOGY which concerns with the way sounds are used in individual languages.
Example: bad dad hat love
  3. MORPHOLOGY which concerns with the structure of words.
  Example: reSTART , deLOAD
3.MORPHOLOGY which concerns with the structure of words.
Example: reSTART , deLOAD
4. SYNTAX which concerns the structure of phrases and sentences.
Example: Mathematics is my favorite subject next to English.
My favorite subject next to English is Mathematics.
5. SEMANTICS which concerns in giving and studying the meaning.
Example: reload, a loud , very simple
5 SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS OF LANGUGE
  1. It makes possible our great flexibility in the use of words for both communication and information
processing in general.
   2. It enables us to acquire information by providing labels for the objects and events in our
environment.
  3. It helps us encode information into memory by providing many of the linkages in the associate
network of memory.
  4. It helps us find meanings, relationships and similarities and thus, build concepts on top of concepts.
  5. It helps us think and solve problems.
ACCORDING TO HISTORY OF LINGUISTICS
  OLD BABYLONIAN was the first who created linguistic texts or what they called SUMERIAN.
 

  Time pass, the HINDUS also started to create text or Vedas- these were religious texts.
 

  Just like HISTORY,LINGUISTICS heavily depend on qualitative approach with the use of secondary data
to examine old writings or scripture.

POLITICAL SCIENCE
• It is an academic discipline that deals with the study of government and political processes, institutions
and behaviors.
• It is the study of the complex behavior of various political actors such as the government
administration, opposition and subjects.
• It is a systematic study of political and government institutions and processes.
• According to Aristotle, the founder of POLITICAL SCIENCE- is the “ master science”.
• Everything that happen in the society is based on politics.
• POLITICS is defined as the “ study of power”.
• POWER is defined as a source of influence.
• According to HUNT (2002) , POLITICS is define as “ the study of social arrangements to maintain peace
and order within a given society”.

SUBFIELDS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE DESCRIPTION

1. Comparative Politics Is a subfields which studies the politics w/in other nations. It tries
to compare theories on a specific nation to other nation.
2. International Relations Is a subfield which studies politics among nations diplomatic
affairs Its conflict, diplomatic affairs, & international law.
3. Political Theory It aims to discover what theory suits the characteristics of good politics.
4. Public Administration Is a subfield which studies bureaucracies on how it is functional
and how to improve it by certain theories.
5. Constitutional Law Is a subfield which studies how laws are made and being applied on a
certain nation.. Its major aims is to study legal system.

Public Policy - it aims to create a plan to develop programs that would be sufficient and adequate to societies.

The foundations of political thinking were the great Greek PHILOSOPHERS: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

PLATO the author of the book THE REPUBLIC

ARISTOTLE who first used the term POLITICS- his book, the first systematic study of politics.

FAMOUS POLITICAL SCIENTIST

• Aristotle
• Niccolo Machiavelli
• Thomas Hobbes
• Robert Dahl
• Jeane Kirkpatrick
METHODS OF INQUIRY
Political Science uses diverse methodology. It uses quantitative and qualitative method and mixed method in a study
depending on kinds of inquiries sought.

PSYCHOLOGY
- The study of behavior and mental processes.
- The term comes from the Greek word PSYCHE which means “soul” and LOGOS which means “study”,
hence the definition “ study of the soul”.
- Accdng. to William James, a psychologists, he define it as, “ the science of mental life”, the science of
feelings, desires, cognition/thought, reasoning, decisions and the like.
- In psychology, specific schools of thoughts were created.
SCHOOL OF DESCRIPTION IMPORTANT
PSYCHOLOGY: CONTRIBUTOR
1.Structuralism Uses the method of introspection to identity the Wilhelm Wundt,
basic elements or “ structures” of psychological Edward B. Titchener
experience.

2.Functionalism Attempts to understand why animals and William James

humans have developed the particular
psychological aspects that they currently possess.
3.Psychodynamic - Focuses on the role of our unconscious Sigmund Freud, Carl
thoughts, feelings and memories and our early Jung, Alfred Adler, Erik
childhood experiences in determining behavior. Erickson
4.Behaviorism Based on the premise that it is not possible to John B. Watson, B.F.
objectively study the mind , and therefore that Skinner
psychologists should limit their attention to the
study of behavior itself.
5.Cognitive The study of mental processes, including Hermann Ebbinghaus,
perception, thinking, memory and judgments. Sir Frederic Batlett, Jean
Piaget
6.Social Cultural The study of how the social situations and the Fritz Heider, Leon
cultures in which people find themselves Festinger, Stanley
influence thinking and behavior. Schachter

MAJOR AREA OF PSYCHOLOGY

1. Biopsychology - Studies about the biological basis of behavior. It focuses how the brain and
nervous system are being operational.
2. Experimental - Psychology studies the process of sensing, perceiving, learning and thinking
about the world.
3. Developmental and Personality Psychology - Studies the individual differences in behavior. It studies
the growth of people throughout their life.
4. Health, clinical and counselling psychology - Studies physical and mental health of individuals.
5. Socio-industrial- organizational consumer and cross-cultural psychology - Studies the network of
relationships among people and societies.

SOCIOLOGY
- Is the study of relationships among people.
 - It is the study of the society and the behavior of people in the society.
- According to AUGUSTE COMTE, the word derive from the Greek word SOCIUS – being with other people;
LOGOS- study, hence the definition, “ the study of society”.
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
◦ From C. Wright Mills “ The Promise”. According to him, sociological imagination enables us to grasp the
connection between the history and biography. HISTORY means what is happening or the events in time. In
BIOGRAPHY, it means the personal experience of individuals. Both of which can influence one another.

3 APPROACHES IN SOCIOLOGY
1. Structural Functionalism - According to Mooney, Knox and Schacht (2012) “ society is a system of interconnected
parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and equilibrium for the whole.”
2. Conflict Theory - It is a perspective that states that, society is composed by groups competing with each other.
3. Symbolic interactionism - This perspective concerns the individual interpretation compared to the other two
perspectives which is more on the group or the system.

FUNCTIONALISM CONFLICT THEORY SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

Educ. socializes children & prepares Educ. produces & reproduces Focuses on interactions during
them for in life. societal inequality schooling & their outcomes.

Teaches knowledge & also values, Requiring certain credentials can be Subjective meanings peoples put on
ethics, beliefs and habits and a tool for discrimination. objects, events and behaviors.
norms.

Education provides occupational Education can confer status, “ People behave based on what they
training. upper class” culture, etc. believe, not just “ truth”.

DEMOGRAPHY
◦ The study of human population and dynamics which include components such as population count,
population composition, population growth and population distribution.

3 MAJOR PROCESSES TO MEASURE POPULATION GROWTH

1. Fertility - actual number of children born to a woman or number of women in a given place.
2. Mortality - actual number of deaths in a given place.
3. Migration - internal/external movement of group of people from one place to another.

 Formal demography limits its object of study to the measurement of population processes, while the
broader field of social demography or population studies also analyzes the relationship between economic,
social, cultural and biological processes influencing a population.

 John Graunt studies and analyze the weekly records of deaths. His most celebrated contribution was his
construction of the first mortality table; by studying birth rates and death rates he was able to estimate roughly
the number of men currently of military age, the number of women of childbearing age, the total number of
families, and even the population of London.