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DISCIPLINES & IDEAS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (notes) -Sociology and other social sciences came into
being
Lesson 1
The Social Sciences focus on the study of the
The course introduces students to basic concepts,
following phenomenon.
subjects, and methods of inquiry in the disciplines that
comprise the Social Sciences. -Changes in human relationship and
reinterpretation between the present and past events
It then discusses influential thinkers and ideas
in these disciplines, and relates these ideas to the - Human activities, distributions, and interaction
Philippine setting and current global trends of culture, biological and physical elements

-Basic social systems, institutions and niches

SOCIAL SCIENCES - Relationships between individual and

institutions, and among political, economic and social
-Scientific study of social, cultural, psychological,
institutions
economic, political forces
- Nature of societies and thinkers, and the
-Relatively new
interactions of people with each other and also their
-Knowledge about nature, growth, functioning of social and physical environment
human societies
Things to Ponder…
-Essential for learning about human condition and
-The Social Sciences ask critical questions and
improving it
suggest evidence-based answers.
-Encompass diverse concerns of society and include
-Social Sciences are the systematic pursuit involving
a wide range of content
the recognition and formulation of a problem, the
-Cover major majority of academic disciplines that collection of data through observation and experiment,
concerned with society and the relationships among and the formulation and testing of hypothesis.
individuals within society
-Social Science is a scientific study of human society
-Encompass diverse concerns of society and include and social relationships.
a wide range of content
SOCIAL SCIENCE, NATURAL SCIENCE, HUMANITIES
-Cover major majority of academic disciplines that
Lesson 2
concerned with society and the relationships among
individuals within society SOCIAL SCIENCE

According to Harry Elmer Barnes… -A body of knowledge characterized by an

objective to understand what society is and what does it
-Social Sciences were created by the Industrial
do to people living inside it
Revolution
-The word “social” situates the whole discipline
-Described as the greatest transformation in the
in people and their social contexts. Whenever there are
history of humanity
people and matters or issues that affect them, social
-evolution that broke down the foundations of science comes to the fore.
the previous social system
Social science deals with people, with the idea of being
-As aid in solving the newly created social “human.”
problems to reconstruct the disintegrating social order
-Traditionally, social science disciplines most
associated with humanities are the following: history,
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anthropology (including archaeology), and linguistics what happened in the past by looking at what is
because they all deal with the human past and touch on happening in the present
the meaning of being human, which makes the whole
-Natural Sciences have developed sophisticated
exercise border abstraction and subjectivity.
ways on how to investigate nature – how to learn more
-Social science subject areas that are most about it, discover its secrets, and identify underlying
associated with empirical research and aims are the universal laws.
following: economics, sociology, psychology, political
Society
science, and demography.
-Society is a contrast to the preceding imagery of
SOCIAL SCIENCE
nature. It is organized, deliberately structured and
-In its primary interest lies in predicting and formalized, and bound by rules drafted and
explaining human behavior implemented by the people who themselves constitute
society.
- Involving the study of the social lives of people,
groups, and societies Fundamental Concepts of Social Science Theories

NATURAL SCIENCE

-Understanding of science through evidence,

meaningful experiments, weighing of possibilities,
testing hypothesis, and establishing theories, to get to
conclusion

-Branch of science that seeks to educate the

rules govern the natural world by using the empirical
and scientific method (physics, chemistry, biology, earth
science and astronomy)

HUMANITIES

-Came from the Latin word ‘Humanus’, as the

study of how humans have expressed themselves
through the arts throughout the history. -Social science disciplines pose different
questions, but they actually observe a common social
-Human Science as the study and interpretation phenomenon – everyday life events and activities that
of the experiences, activities, constructs and artifacts involve people and affect people living together in a
associated with human beings. particular society.
-It attempts to expand and enlighten the human 2 Elements of Social Science
being’s knowledge of his or her existence.
-SOCIETY (social)
How is society different from nature?
-EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS (science)
Nature
Aim of Social Science – to characterize
-Nature conjures an image of random and the nature of being human
unstructured forces that shape a given area.

-These forces and events usually follow patter, law,

or process, ever since the world existed.

-These patterns and laws follow an amazing

uniformity, which enables a researcher to trace back
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-Auguste Comte (1798-1853) – invented the term

sociology; first to systematize and a complete analysis
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
of scientific principles of the positive character of social
Lesson 3 science

Ancient Greece -Montesquieu & Voltaire – new path for politics and
history
- Great classical philosophers Plato, Socrates
and Aristotle -European countries – lead by social science in firm
and respectable position
-No distinction between social and natural
science Late 19th century

-Greece and Rome as powerful in the history of - Social sciences in five fields – law, education,
health, economy, and trade and art

20th century

-Generalizing social science

-Karl Marx’s first general theory of social science

-The natural scientist and social scientist.

Today, social science has become institutionalized to

social thought high degree; become subject of research.
 Renaissance Lawrence A. Kempton
 Age of Reason – 17th and 18th -Article, Social Sciences Today
centuries
-Social Science as science is very young and there is
 John Dewey and Charles Darwin confusion with regard to its limits and boundaries
20th Century -History moves on to the humanities; economics
becomes mathematics; anthropology and psychology
-Popularized the modern application of scientific
ally themselves with biology and geography is at home
method to human thoughts and relationships
with physical science.
-Science as specialized and complex, and required
-Social Science has become a subject of research on
experts in individual fields
the part of academic specialists.
Middle of 18th century
-Thinkers who established social science –
-Revival of interest in social science Comte, Durkheim, Marx and Weber

-Capitalism as dominant socioeconomic system in ANTHROPOLOGY

Western and Northern Europe
Lesson 4
Second half of 18th century
is the study of humans – their origins, their biological
-Urbanization and population growth characteristics and cultural development, social
relationships and more – based on scientific research
The Other half of 18th century
-study of ancient societies and their cultural
-Multiplication of works with scientific characters
traditions
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-Greek word, ANTHROPOS, means human kind, and

LOGOS, means study

-discipline of infinite curiosity about human beings

PRIMATOLOGY
-deals with scientific study of man – works, body,
- study of primates or hominids of the genus Homo,
behavior and values in time and space
especially Homo Sapiens
-study of the origin, evolution and contemporary
NEUROANTHROPOLOGY- study of the evolution of
diversity of human beings as both biological and cultural
the human brain, and of culture as neurological
organisms.
adaptation of the species to its environment
Anthropologist
2. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
-in studying culture, anthropologist investigates -deals with the study of the cultural
people’s language, their values, technologies and even features of societies
how they group themselves
-long term and intensive studies
-studies the way the cultural traditions of different
-deals with the investigation of the culture and
groups of people have changed over the years
social organization of a particular people
FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY
-political and economic organization, law and
1. PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY conflict resolution, patterns of consumption and
exchange, kinship and family structure, gender
-also called Biological Anthropology
relations, childrearing and socialization, religion,
-studies the biological evolution of man mythology, symbolism, language, family and social
systems, magic, arts, secret societies, and all other
-relates to biology and culture forms of cultural behavior
- deals with the study of man’s CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGIST
biological foundations, race, evolution, genetic
inheritance, racial classifications, human -also called ethnologist or ethnographers
adaptability and variation, the fossil records
-describes, analyzes and investigates the custom,
of human evolution as well as forensic studies
folkways, mores, and forms of social life of social beings
-provides explanations on the reason behind (primitive way of life)
the biological variations among contemporary
SUBBRANCHES of CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
population
1. ARCHAEOLOGY
Under PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
- seeks to reconstruct the past life of ancient
RACIAL HISTORY
societies trace the cultural changes that took place and
- study of the human races the reason behind the changes

PALEONTOLOGY 2. ANTHROPOLOGICAL LINGUISTICS

- deals with the origin of man through the study - study of language in societies or communities
of fossil evidence for human evolution where language may or may not be written

HUMAN GENETICS - concerns with the emergence of languages,

the divergence of languages, and the changes
- study of various ways of inheritance in the languages across time
that takes place in man
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3. ETHNOLOGY -useful for understanding social and economic

problems and identifying potential solutions
- study of the dynamics of culture
(development and changes) -births, deaths and migration
(big three of demography)
- uses data gathered through observations and
interviews with living people -census and other vital statistics
are the main sources of data
ETHNOLOGIST
DEMOGRAPHER
- uses data collection through observation
and interviewing of living people -engages in social planning, market research,
insurance forecasting, labor market analysis,
- studies marriage customs, kinship patterns,
economic development, etc.
economic systems, and religious rites of
cultural groups, and compare it -works in public agencies and private firms at
with the way of life of contemporary societies local, national, and international levels

ETHNOGRAPHY FERTILITY

- Greek word, ethnos, means people, and - incidence of child bearing

graphein, means writing in a country’s population

- pure description of the culture of people or - measured using crude birth rate or the
ethnic group number of live births for every 1000 people
in a population
METHODS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
POPULATION
 Ethnography
- affected by mortality or incidence of death
 Participant Observation
in country’s population
 Interview
MORTALITY
 Focused Group Discussion
- measured using crude death rate or number of
 Life History Method deaths for every 1000 in a population

 Ocular Inspection MIGRATION

DEMOGRAPHY - movement of the people into and out of

a particular territory
Lesson 4.2
POPULATION GROWTH RATE
-study of human populations their size,
composition and distribution across place and the - the difference between the crude of birth rate
process through which populations change and the crude of death rate

- Greek word, demos, means the people, DEMOGRAPHY’S COVERS (Thompson)

and graphos, means charting or mapping
1. demographic change and the family
-central component of societal contexts
2. integrated process of migrant populations
and social change
3. health inequalities at older ages
-studies how the people move
from place to place 4. population and the welfare state
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5. parenting and child care NEEDS

6. reproductive health and abortion -basic needs

- essential needs for descent and comfortable

living

- needs for luxury goods

7. ageing and the economy

8. religion and demographic behavior

9. population, development and environment

10. population projections of small areas and

special groups

11. value changes and family formation

METHODS OF DEMOGRAPHY

 Head count

 Census

PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION

- done by an individual using the methods: WANTS

 Observation -public wants

 Interviews -private wants

 Questionnaires

 Diaries

SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION

 Census

 National Survey

 Registration of vital events

 Demographic studies

 Records

ECONOMICS

Lesson 4.3

-Greek words, oikos, means home, and  ALBERT MARSHALL defines economics as the
nomos, means management study of man-kind in the ordinary business
of life.
- study of the proper allocation and efficient use
of scarce resources to produce commodities for the  ADAM SMITH defines economics as the science
maximum satisfaction of unlimited human needs and of wealth.
wants
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 FAJARDO defines economics as the proper  concerns with what should be (value judgment
allocation and efficient use of available with specific actions to address the issue)
resources for the maximum
 economic statement that makes
satisfaction of human wants.
recommendations to economic policy
 SAMUELSON states that economics is the study
how societies use scares resources to produce
valuable commodities and distribute them
among different people.

 NORDHAUS states that economics is the science

of choice.

 SICAT defines economics as a scientific study

which deals with how individuals and society
in general make choices.

 CASTILLO views economics as the study

how man could best allocate and utilize the
scares resources of society to satisfy POSITIVE and NORMATIVE ECONOMICS are
his unlimited want. intertwined in practice.
 WEBSTER defines economics as the branch FACTORS OF PRODUCTION
of knowledge that deals with the production,
distribution and consumption of goods  economic resources that can be used to
and services. produce goods and services

ECONOMIST FOUR CATEGORIES

- examines how prices are determined or what 1. LAND – anything that comes from nature and
effects taxes will have which gives life and support to all living creatures

POSITIVE ECONOMICS 2. LABOR – refers to any human effort exerted

during the production process
 economic analysis that explains what happens
in the economy and why (without making any 3. CAPITAL – refers to anything that can be used to
recommendations to economic policy) create or manufacture goods and services

 deals how the economy works 4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP – ability to organize all the
other factors of production in order to carry out
NORMATIVE ECONOMICS effectively the production process

TWO FIELDS OF ECONOMICS

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1. MICROECONOMICS

-deals with the behavior of individual

components

-study of the choices made by economic actors

as households, companies and individual markets

-studies the choices of individuals as consumers

and as workers

- studies firms that produce the goods and

services, and the industries from which the firms
operate

2. MACROECONOMICS

-deals with the behavior of economy

as a whole with the view of understanding the
interaction between economic aggregates

-examines the behavior of entire economies

- tackles the aggregates or total values

that describe the whole economy (GDP)

 Gross Domestic Product measures

the total output of the market value of goods
and services the country produces in a year

 Other indicators – employment, economic

growth, interest rates, and inflation