INTRODUCING THE

DIFFERENT
DISCIPLINES WITHIN
THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES
Anthropology
Economics
Geography
History
Linguistics
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology & Demography
SOCIAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES
WHICH ARE MOST
ASSOCIATED WITH
HUMANITIES:
 Anthropology (including archaeology)
 History
 Linguistics

*** Humanities is the idea of examining & celebrating the human side of our social existence, on the
other hand, an imaginative, creative, and “humanist” side of social analyst.
The human race; human beings collectively.
ANTHROPOLOGY “ANTHROPOS” (HUMAN). “LOGOS”

(STUDY OF)

 The study of what makes us human. (americanthro.org)

 The study of humans and human behavior and societies in the past and present.
(Wikipedia.com)
 Deals with the nature of human beings, both from biological and cultural point of
view.
 For anthropologists, culture is a key factor that shapes human nature and that this
culture is conditioned by both natural & social environments.

Anthropologists need to know who people are – male or female, natives or foreigners, young or old, etc.
SUBFIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
(HTTPS://WWW.AMERICANANTHRO.ORG/ADVANCEYOURCAREER/CONTENT.ASPX?
ITEMNUMBER=2150)

 Archaeology - studies human culture by analyzing the objects people have made.
 Biological Anthropology - seeks to understand how humans adapt to different
environments, what causes disease and early death, and how humans evolved from
other animals.
 Cultural Anthropology - explores how people in different places live and understand
the world around them. (sociocultural)
 Linguistic Anthropology - studies the many ways people communicate across the
globe.
HISTORY “HISTOIRE” (RECORDED & DOCUMENTED EVENTS)

 Interprets that the past is part and parcel of the present as events that
happened in the past shape the way people make decisions in the present
LINGUISTICS “LINGUA” (TONGUE, LANGUAGE)

 The scientific study of language and its structure.

 A product of human race’s biological & cultural heritage which was
invented by people and yet they themselves are shaped by it.
SOCIAL SCIENCE THAT ARE MOST
ASSOCIATED WITH EMPIRICAL RESEARCH &
AIMS:
 Economics
 Sociology
 Psychology
 Political Science
 Demography
ECONOMICS “ECONOMY” (HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT)

 The social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of
goods and services.
 Focuses on markets, wealth, & resources that people construct & make use of in
order to live.
 Thought at times separated from the social sciences due to its emphasis on
quantitative & mathematical equations as representations of social behaviour.

Economists study how resources are allocated among the people & how they affect
the material condition of the society.
SOCIOLOGY “SOCIUS” (PEOPLE TOGATHER, ASSOCIATE), “LOGOS”
(HE STUDY OF)

 Deals with how people behave & interact with one another as a member
of a particular social group.
 Focuses on the structure that underlie society itself.
 Theorizes about the process in which people are socialized in the world
in which they live.
 Closely relative to anthropology.

Sociologists need to know who people are – male or female, natives or foreigners, young or old, etc.
PSYCHOLOGY “PSYCHE” (MIND). “LOGOS” (THE STUDY OF)

 The scientific study of the mind and behavior.

 Asserts that what is going on within the individual mind or the psyche –
one’s feelings, joys, fears, worries, triumphs, and struggles – does shape
the a person views society and thus impacts on his relationship with
people and the environment.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 The branch of knowledge that deals with systems of government.
 The analysis of political activity and behavior.
 Believes that it s politics, or the political realm that captures human life.
DEMOGRAPHY “DEMOS” (PEOPLE), “GRAPHEIN”
(DESCRIPTION)

 The study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of

disease, which illustrate the changing structure of human populations.
 the composition of a particular human population.
 Deals with population as a unit of analysis.
 Demographic processes are investigated because they impact how society
changes across a period of time.
1. Birth Migration
2. Aging
Social Science cannot be wholly categorized as exclusive to
empirical study or humanistic concerns because they can be both.
They can never be isolated as belonging to a standard intellectual
framework & methodology because we will not be able to see a line
that divides “Arts” from the “Science” , nor the “Social” from
“Sciences.”