Social Sciences
Have you ever wondered why school subjects like history, geography, civics, government, and economics are all referred to as social studies? The term social studies comes from the more scientific term social sciences.
The social sciences are the fields of study that explore the social aspects of humanity from a scientific point of view. Social science is commonly used as an all encompassing term to refer to the fields outside of the natural sciences. The most common fields within the social sciences are:
- Anthropology/Archaeology
- Economics
- Geography
- History
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Sociology
Some scholars also include Communications, International Relations, Social Work, Law and Criminal Justice in the field of social sciences. These subjects are concerned primarily with the application of concepts that are learned through the social sciences.
The term, Social Sciences is used in a variety of contexts. For example, you may see this term one day when you’re deciding what classes you need to take for your major in college. Most colleges and universities require you to take several hours of social science, which could include any of the fields listed on the previous slides, no matter what your major is.
For the purpose of this course, we will start by looking at the term in its historical context.
The term is originally associated with the science of society established in 19th century, which eventually became known as sociology.
Each of the individual social science fields focus on one aspect of society or humanity. However, when used together, the social sciences attempt to explain all things in our social world.
Roll over the social sciences below to learn details about each subject.
- AnthropologyStudy of humans and their society, descriptively, culturally, historically, and physically; it differs from the other social sciences in that its emphasis is on data from non-literate peoples and archaeological exploration.
- EconomicsStudy of how human beings allocate scarce resources to produce various commodities and how those commodoties are distributed for consumption among a society.
- GeographyStudy of the physical and geopolitical aspects of the surface of Earth.
- HistoryStudy and recording of humanity's past.
- Political ScienceStudy of government and political processes, institutions, and behaviors.
- PsychologyStudy of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interaction with the environment.
- SociologySystematic study of the social world around us, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior.
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