THE DISCIPLINES

OF SOCIAL
SCIENCES
ANTHROPOLOGY
ANTHROPOLOGY
Is the study of humans; the social science that seeks to
understand human origins and adaptation, and the
diversity of cultures and worldviews.
The term anthropology comes from the Greek words
anthropos (human) and logos (study).
This etymology relates to the scope of anthropology
as a discipline, which includes everything about
humans – from their biological and evolutionary past,
to ways of life and traditions that they uphold.
 IMPORTANT
PERSONALITIES IN
ANTHROPOLOGY
1.EDWARD BURNETT TYLOR
(1832–1917)

is regarded as the Father of Cultural Anthropology.

He defined anthropology as the “science of culture,”
which was the first time that culture had been declared
as an object of study.
He argued that just like any topic of science, culture
could be objectively studied with proper methodology
and theoretical framework.
2.LEWIS HENRY MORGAN(1818–
1881)
was a lawyer by training and profession
fascinated with the land disputes between the United
States government and the American Indian people as
the Iroquois.
What defined Morgan’s career as an anthropologist
was his success in documenting the kinship system of
the Iroquois.
3. Franz Boas (1858–1942)
◦was one of the key figures who did not use
science to justify racism.
◦In his evolutionary stance on societal
development, he argued that culture is not a by-
product of a human group’s physical
characteristics, but of social learning affected by
the various factors like environment and history.
ECONOMICS
ECONOMICS
is a social science discipline that deals with the
optimum allocation of scarce resources among its
alternatives to satisfy the unlimited human wants
and needs of the people.
Economics was first conceived as the study of
the allocation of resources within the household
level.
Its origin could be traced back to two
ancient Greek words: oikos (house) and
nomos (custom or law), referring to the
rules implemented in the household to
ensure its efficient management.
 ◦FIELDS OF
ECONOMICS
1. MICROECONOMICS
 focuses on small-scale market
interactions that transpire between
individuals consisting of business
firms and households.
2. MACROECONOMICS
focuses on analyzing the determinants
of national income. This approach
allows for the aggregation of individual
responses and behavior within market
systems.
3. MAINSTREAM
ECONOMICS
focuses on understanding the
interconnections between the concepts
of rationality, individualism, and
equilibrium.
4. HETERODOX ECONOMICS

It focuses on the interconnection of

concepts like institutions, history, and
social structure.
4. ECONOMIC THEORY
an umbrella term that refers to the
explanation and understanding of the
processes and interactions related to the
production and consumption of goods
within a market system.
5. APPLIED ECONOMICS
utilizes economic theories and
formulas to real-world scenarios with
the goal of predicting possible events
that would affect the individuals within
the economic system.
6. POSITIVE ECONOMICS
viewed as the descriptive form of
economics wherein its chief aim is to
describe and explain economic
phenomena and behavior.
6. NORMATIVE ECONOMICS

Is often associated with welfare

economics, as it is focused on
providing explanations and arguments
on how economic policies should be.
GEOGRAPHY
is the study of the earth’s surface; a specialized
investigation of the physical structure of the
earth, including its terrain and its climates, and
the nature and character of its contrasting
inhabited portions.
The word geography comes from the Greek
word “geo” (earth, land or ground) and
“graphia” (to write, an art, or a study).
we can say that geography is an
interdisciplinary study that explores the
relation between Earth, its human
inhabitants, and the changes and
interplay that occurred overtime.
 Important
Personalities in
Geography
1. Anaximander (610–546 BCE)

a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher,

biologist and astronomer. He is
also considered as one of the first,
if not the first, geographer.
Strabo (64–20 BCE)
a Greek geographer who coined the
term Geographia, which was also the
title of his 17-volume series on
geographical studies.
Eratosthenes (276–194 BCE)

using geometry, he became the

first to have calculated accurately
the circumference of Earth.
Ptolemy (100–178 CE)
compiled and summarized in Geographike
Hyphegesis (Guide to Geography) all known
information of geography of his time.
One of his most important contribution to
geography was the formulation of map
coordinates by utilizing and developing the
concepts of latitude and longitude.
Edrisi
an Arab geographer and
descendant of Prophet
Mohammed, who collected all
known geographical information
of his time.
Ibn Battuta (1304-1368 CE)
was a Moroccan explorer who published
his 30-year journey in his book Rihla
(Journey).
He travelled farther and longer than Marco
Polo by visiting all the places in the known
Muslim world, as well as non-Muslim lands.
 Fields of
Geography
1.Physical geography
- is a discipline which studies the
changes in the natural patterns and
processes of Earth’s surface over
time.
2. Human geography
-is a discipline which studies the
relationship of people, communities and
cultures across space and place.
3.Integrated geography
-is a discipline which studies how human
activities impact the environment through the
analysis of the shifts in landforms and cycles
of natural resources.
4. Geomatics
-is a discipline which focuses on the
scientific management of geographic
data. It involves the methodology by
which data are gathered, processed,
stored, and delivered to users using the
aid of the latest computer software and
hardware.
5. Regional Geography
-is a discipline which focuses on a
particular region on the surface of the
earth.
 The field of geography was developed as a
response to the growing curiosity of human groups
to understand the variation in their environment
and those people that inhabit them. The
interdisciplinary nature of geography allowed it to
collaborate with other disciplines in the social
sciences through shared methods and topics. In
time when environmental crises are prevalent and
the earth’s surface is experiencing drastic changes
due to natural and man-made causes, Geography
all the more finds its relevance as a field of inquiry
in the social sciences.
HISTORY
HISTORY
-is the study of the past; it describes /narrates
and analyses human activities in the past and the
changes that they had undergone.
-The word history came from the Greek word
historia which means “finding out,” “inquiry,”
and “narrative.”
Important Personalities in History
1. Herodotus (484–425 BCE)
- Greek historian, known to be the Father of
History.
-He compiled and systematically, arranged
his collection of works in the Histories (440
BCE).
2. Thucydides (460–400 BCE)
-a Greek Philosopher, historian and general.
-He is known as the Father of Scientific
History as his History of the Peloponnesian
War (431 BCE) recounted events, based on
evidence and analysis.
Ban Gu (32–92 CE)

-was a Chinese historian and poet. -He

became famous in compiling the Book of
Han, which contained the history of the Han
Dynasty.
Leopold von Ranke (1818–1883)
-a German historian and founder of the
modern study of History.
-He was the first to have provided a
historical seminar where he elaborated on the
methods and techniques in studying history.
Leopold von Ranke (1818–1883)
-a German historian and founder of the
modern study of History.
-He was the first to have provided a
historical seminar where he elaborated on the
methods and techniques in studying history.
Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975)
-was a British Historian and Philosopher known
for his monumental 12-volume work titled A study
of History.
- In this book, Tonybee narrated the histories of 26
civilizations, describing how they overcame
challenges with the guidance and leadership of an
elite group of leaders.
 Fields of History
1.Cultural history
-focuses on the study of belief systems,
customs, social forms, political systems,
material traits, and economic activities of a
group or community usually for the purpose
of cross comparison with others.
2.Social history

-is concerned with the study of particular

kinds of phenomena such as family and
marriage, adolescence
3. Intellectual history
- looks into the history of ideas and theories.
Historiography is one of its primary subfields
wherein the development of schools and
approaches are documented.
LINGUISTICS
Linguistics
-is the study of language and its structure.
-Linguistics is interdisciplinary in nature,
intersecting with the Humanities and Social Sciences
as it inquires on the basic element that allows societies
to communicate ideas across space and time. -The
term linguistics was derived from the Latin word
“lingua”, which refers to language.
Linguistics, as a discipline, deals with three
principal components:
1.Sound - divided into Phonetics and Phonology.
a. Phonetics studies human speech sounds
b. Phonology studies the principles governing
sound systems of languages.
2. Structure-is divided into Morphology and
Syntax.
a. Morphology, studies language structure
from its morphic units or root words,
b. Syntax studies sentence structure such as
grammar.
3. meaning - is divided into Semantics and
Pragmatics.
a. Semantics studies the logic and meaning
of words and phrases,
b. Pragmatics - studies the use of language
and its effects on society.
 The Fields of Linguistics
1.Historical Linguistics, otherwise known as
diachronic linguistics, studies how a
particular language changed over time.
2.Sociolinguistics examines how language is
used in relation to people’s sociocultural
environment.
It considers the following:
(1) the social background of the addresser
and the addressee;
(2)the relationship of the addresser and the
addressee; and
(3) the context and manner through which the
communication transpired.
3.Developmental Linguistics
-analyzes the development of language
acquisition, language retention, and language
loss and bilingualism. It studies the development
of linguistic ability among children and the
stages by which they gradually come to use
language.
4. Neurolinguistics studies
- the physiological mechanisms by which the
brain processes information in relation to
language. It investigates how the human brain
functions when used in communication and how
it uses information to experiment and elaborate
on linguistic and psycholinguistic theories.
Political Science
POLITICAL SCIENCE
-is the systematic study of politics. It is the
study of political power relations, behavior,
and activities as well as systems of
government from a domestic, international,
and comparative perspective.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
-The term politics is derived from the Greek
word politikos which means “of, for, or
relating to citizens,” or in Aristotelian terms,
“affairs of the cities.”
 The Fields of Political Science
1. Comparative Politics
-studies the differences and similarities of the
political systems of the world in an empirical
manner. It is not focused on analyzing countries
but is more of a method of analysis.
2. Political Philosophy
-is the root from which Political Science
sprouted from. The most notable concepts in
Political Philosophy include justice, law, rights
and government.
-Political Philosophy as a field of study covers
theories from the ancient past to postmodern
thoughts on politics.
3. Public Law
-Is a field in Political Science which focuses
on the legal concerns between the state and
the people such as constitutional law and
administrative law.
PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology
-is the scientific study of human behavior
and mental process. Psychology is an
interdisciplinary study which involves
disciplines in the Social Sciences, Natural
Sciences, and even Humanities and
Philosophy.
 -The root word of PSYCHOLOGY comes
from the Greek word psyche which means
“soul”; hence, Psychology is the study of the
soul.
-Psychology seeks to answer why the
human mind works the way it does and how
it functions and operates.
 Fields of Psychology
1. Biological Psychology
-studies Psychology from a biological
perspective. It examines how thoughts,
feelings, and behavior physically affect
human beings or animals.
2. Behavioral Psychology
-or behaviorism determines psychological
processes through the use of observable data.
Behaviorism is essentially a learning theory as
it inquires the developmental aspect of
behavior and analyzes quantitatively the
changes that occurred overtime.
3. Cognitive Psychology
-analyzes how sensory data are interpreted and
are used by the mind to produce behavior. It is a
field focused on how information and knowledge
is gained, selected, stored in memory, retrieved,
and internally manipulated.