Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Science

NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL

SCIENCES DISCIPLINES
 Social sciences consist of variety of disciplines,
subject are as, and methods, and there is no reason to
expect that these disciplines will eventually add up to a
single unified theory of society.
Political science, sociology, history, anthropology,
economics, geography, and area studies all provide their
own, largely independent, definitions of scope, research
agenda, and research methods. Furthermore, there is no
grand plan according to which the disciplinary definitions
jointly capture all that is of scientific interest about the
social.
Anthropology, Demography, Economics, Geography,
History, Linguistics, Political Science, Psychology, and
Sociology are the nine social science disciplines.
Etymologies of Social Science Disciplines and Definitions
*Social Science Disciplines *Etymologies *Definition
1. Anthropology- “anthopos”(human),“logos”(study of) –
Scientific study of man or human being and their societies in
the past and present.
2. Demography- “demos”(people),“graphein”(description) –
Study of human population and dynamics.
3. Economics- “oikanomia”(house hold management) – Study of
what constitutes rational human behavior in the endeavor to
fulfill needs and wants.
4. Geography- “geo”(Earth),“graphein”(description) – Deals with
the study of the relationship between the earth and people.
5. Linguistics- “lingua”(tongue, language) – Study of languages
and focuses on the three aspects of language.
6. History- “histoire”(recorded and documented
events) – The study of the past and its records
about events.
7. Political Science- “politika,” “polis”(affairs of
the cities) – Deals with the system of governance.
8. Psychology- “psyche”(mind), “logos”(study of)-
Scientific study of the mind and behavior.
9. Sociology- “socius”(people together,
associate),“logos”(study of) – Study of groups-
how they are formed, how they change, and how
the group impacts individual behavior.
 Function of Social Science
Disciplines
Disciplines Functions
1. Anthropology – Essentially to understand as many aspects
of human life as can possibly be studied, to record its
findings, and contribute to both historical understanding as
well as to ascertain current states of the human condition in
an attempt to better understand and/ or act upon those
findings. (Fethe,2017).
Anthropology is the study of the origin and development
of human societies and cultures. Culture is the learned
behavior of people, including their languages, belief systems,
social structures, institutions, and material goods.
2.Geography – To understand basic physical systems
that affect everyday life (e.g. earth- sun relationships,
water cycles, wind and ocean currents). To learn the
location of places and the physical and cultural
characteristics of those places in order to function
more effectively in our increasingly interdependent
world.(Bonnett,2008).
Geography is the study of places and the
relationships between people and their environments.
Geographers explore both the physical properties of
Earth's surface and the human societies spread across
it.
3.History – A useful for work. Its study helps create
good business people, professionals, and political
leaders. Then umber of explicit professional jobs for
historians is considerable, but most people who
study history do not become professional
historians.(Evans,2001).
History is the study of change over time, and it
covers all aspects of human society. Political,
social, economic, scientific, technological, medical,
cultural, intellectual, religious and military
developments are all part of history.
4.Sociology – Can study society with a wide variety of
focuses. From studying the power elite, to the
interaction of the economy, society and the
environment, to the examination of various rights
movements, Sociology examines the way different
aspects of society behave and function. (SanJuan,2011).
Sociology is the study of social life, social change,
and the social causes and consequences of human
behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of
groups, organizations, and societies, and how people
interact within these contexts.
5.Political Science – A social study concerning the
allocation and transfer of power in decision making, the
roles and systems of governance including governments
and international organizations, political behavior and
public policies. (Morteletal.2003)
Political science is the study of politics and power
from domestic, international, and comparative
perspectives. It entails understanding political ideas,
ideologies, institutions, policies, processes, and
behavior, as well as groups, classes, government,
diplomacy, law, strategy, and war.
6.Economics – The three most important functions of
economics are as follows: Just as feeding, digestion
and growth are the vital processes of living beings;
similarly production, consumption and growth are the
essentials of economies. (Leaňo,2012)
Economics is the study of scarcity and its
implications for the use of resources, production of
goods and services, growth of production and welfare
over time, and a great variety of other complex
issues of vital concern to society.
7.Linguistics – Refer to the general social uses of
language, such as requesting objects and activities,
initiating social interactions, expressing personal
feelings, describing aspects of the world, requesting
information, and pretending. (Bernardez,2013)
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, and its
focus is the systematic investigation of the properties
of particular languages as well as the characteristics
of language in general.
8.Demography – To know the population of a particular
area; To ascertain as to which factors are influencing
the population of that particular area; To explain the
factors relating to changes in population; and To study
the population trends on the basis of the above three
factors.
Demography is the statistical study of human
populations. Demography examines the size, structure,
and movements of populations over space and time. It
uses methods from history, economics, anthropology,
sociology, and other fields.
9.Psychology – According to earlier psychologists, the
function of psychology was to study the nature,
origin and destiny of the human soul. But soul is
something metaphysical. It cannot be seen, observed
and touched and we cannot make scientific
experiments in soul.(Kendra,2020)
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and
behavior. Psychologists are actively involved in
studying and understanding mental processes, brain
functions, and behavior.
 According to Gans, 2020 the School of Psychology
School of Psychology Proponents
1. Structuralism – Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener
Description:
• Considered to be the first school of thought in Psychology.
• This out look focused on breaking down mental processes into the most
basic components.
• The focus was on reducing mental processes down into their most basic
elements.
• The structuralists used techniques such as introspection to analyze the
inner processes of the human mind.
• a method of interpretation and analysis of aspects of human cognition,
behavior, culture, and experience that focuses on relationships of
contrast between elements in a conceptual system that reflect patterns
School of Psychology Proponents
2. Functionalism –John Dewy, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey
Carr. Founder: William James
Description:
• A general psychological philosophy that considers mental life
and behavior in terms of active adaptation to the person’s
environment.
• A theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy, developed
largely as an alternative to both the identity theory of mind and
behaviorism.
• Functionalism is a theory about the nature of mental states.
According to functionalists, mental states are identified by what
they do rather than by what they are made of.
School of Psychology Proponents
3. Psychoanalytic – Sigmund Freud
Descriptions:
• Studies the unconscious mind.
• This school of thought emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind
on behavior.
• Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements:
the id, ego, and superego.
School of Psychology Proponents
4. Behaviorism – John Watson and B.F. Skinner

Descriptions:
• Focuses on observable behavior.
• Suggests that all behavior can be explained by environmental
causes rather than by internal forces.
• Theories of learning including classical conditioning and
operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of research.
• An approach to psychology that combines elements of
philosophy, methodology, and theory.
• Psychology should concern itself with the observable behavior
of people and animals, not with unobservable events that take
place in their minds.
School of Psychology Proponents
5. Cognitivism – Jean Piaget
Descriptions:
• The school of psychology that studies mental
processes including how people think, perceive,
remember and learn.
• As part of the larger field of cognitive science,
this branch of psychology is related to other
disciplines including neuro science, philosophy,
and linguistics.
School of Psychology Proponents
6. Gestalt Psychology – Max Wertheimer,
Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka
Descriptions:
• Studies the mind and behavior as a whole
• A school of psychology based upon the idea that
we experience things as unified wholes.
• Means “form” or “configuration”
• The whole is other than the sum of its part.