an introduction to social science

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AN INTRODUCTION TO

SOCIAL SCIENCE

INTRODUCTION

The scientific study of organized human groups is a relatively recent development, but a vast amount of information has been accumulated concerning the social life of human beings.

This information has been used in building a system of knowledge (called social sciences) about the nature, growth and functioning of human societies.

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Scientific knowledge is a knowledge that has been systematically gathered, classified, related and interpreted.

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Social science – is taught in diverse ways.

some courses take a global perspective

some an anthropological perspective

some a psychological perspectivesome a sociological perspective,

andsome a historical perspective

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Definition

Social Sciences are the fields of human knowledge that deal with all aspects of the group life of human beings.

They are closely related to humanities (deals with literature, music, art, and philosophy) because both deal with humans and their culture.

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However, Social Sciences are most concerned with those basic elements of culture that determine the general patterns of human behavior.

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Components of Social Sciences:

Anthropology – is the study of relationship between biological traits and socially acquired characteristics. Sometimes called the study of human.

1. Physical anthropology2. Cultural anthropology

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Sociology – is the systematic study of relationship among people. Sociologists assume that behavior is influenced by people’s social, political, occupational and intellectual groupings and by the particular settings in which they find themselves

atone time or another.

3 major choices are: 1. Functionalism2. Conflict3. Interactionalism

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Geography – is the study of the natural environment and how it influence social and cultural development.

Concerns of geography are:

1. Ecology2. Climate3. Resources4. Accessibility5. Demography

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History – is the study of past events. It is a social science in the sense that it is a systematic attempt to learn about and verify past events and relate them to one another and to the present.

The study of history involves: 1. Identifying 2. Classifying 3. Arranging

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Economics – is the study of the ways in which men and women make a living, the most pressing problem most human beings face.

Its subject matter is often summarized as:

1. Production 2. Distribution 3. Consumption

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Some of the topics includes are: 1. Supply and demand 2. Monetary and fiscal policy 3. Costs 4. Inflation 5. Unemployment

Economics seeks to explain, guide and predict social arrangements by which we satisfy economic wants.

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Political Science – is the study of social arrangments to maintain peace and order within a given society.

It deals with government, and its interest are:

1. Politics 2. Laws 3. Adminsitration 4.International Relations 5. Theory of the nature and functions of the

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Psychology – deals with the mind and personality of the individual. It is a social science because humans are social creatures. It focuses on the individual and physical processes such as:

1. Biological structure 2. Development and maturation

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To understand society is to learn not only the conditions that limit ourselves, but also the opportunities open to us for improving the human condition.

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The humanities deal special aspects of human culture and primarily concerned with our attempts to express spiritual and aesthetic values and discover the meaning of life.

Whereas the social sciences study issues in a systematic, scientific way, the focus of the humanities is more on the emotions and feeling themselves than on the system employed to sharpen that focus.

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Increasing our knowledge of human society is as important as learning more about mathematics, physics, chemistry or engineering, for unless we can develop societies in which human beings can live happy, meaningful and satisfying lives (incomparable to benefits from learning how make better automobiles etc).

Albert Einstein said that “Politics is more difficult than physics and the world is more likely to die from bad politics than from bad physics.

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Major steps in Scientific Inquiry Observation: All scientific knowledge

relates to the natural environment and all knowledge begins with facts gathered through careful observation.

Formulation of problem: Collection and classification of more facts: Generalization: Formulation of the hypothesis: Testing the hypothesis: Retesting and reformulating the theory:

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Approaches in Social Sciences Define the problem Review the literature review Develop a theoretical framework and

formulate hypothesis Choose the research design Collect the necessary data Analyze the results Draw conclusion.

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1.Define the Problem

this one is probably the most important. If you have carefully defined your terms, you can save an enormous amount of energy. Put simply, if you do not know what you are doing, no matter how well you do it then everything is useless.

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2. Literature Review

knowledge of the relevant literature is essential because it provides background, suggests approaches, indicates what has already been covered and what hasn’t, and saves you from redoing what has already been done. It is a way of using other people’s observation.

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3. Develop a Theoretical Framework

make a statement predicting your results and them clarify what each of the terms in the statement means within the framework of your research.

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4. Choose a research design

pick a means of gathering data, a survey, an experiment, an observational study, secondary materials or a combination. Weigh this choice carefully because your plan is the crux of your research process.

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5. Collecting the necessary data

Data are what one collects from careful observation. Your conclusion will be only as good as your data, so take great care in collecting and especially in recording your data. If you don’t document what you have done, youmight as well not have done it.

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7. Drawing conclusions

Now you can prepare a report, summarizing the steps you have followed and discussing what you have found. A good findings will relate your conclusions to the existing body of research, suggest where current assumptions may be modified because of nee evidence and possibly identify unanswered questions for further study.

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6. Analyzing the results

when all data are in classify facts, identify trends, recognize relationships and tabulate the information so that it can be accurately analyzed and interpreted.

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Typical Method in Social Science

The historical method relies heavily on a study of their (subjects) historical background. It traces the principal past developments that seem to have been directly significant in bringing a social situation about.

The case method involves making a more detailed examination and analysis of a particular issue or problem situation.

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The comparative and cross-cultural methods was formerly often employed in the hope of discovering evolutionary sequence in the development of human institutions that is patterns of social development or progress that would be universal.

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Difference between Theories and Concepts

Concepts

a generalized idea about people, objects or processes that are related to one another, an abstract ways of classifying things that are similar.

They are ways of classifying things that are in the same categories

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Concepts

are used to simply the way people think and communicate.

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Concepts are used by social scientists to generalize about some aspects of human interaction.

They are guidelines that direct the interpretation and analysis of reality.

Concepts are the technical vocabulary of the social sciences, and they have precise meanings that may differ considerably from the generally understood versions.

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Theories

- a set of principles or concepts and generalizations so arranged that they explain and predict possible relationships among phenomena.

In social science, theories are formulation of principles of behavior through which scientists try to increase their knowledge of human interaction.

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Theories

- founded on observation and analysis using the vocabulary of concepts

-intent to explain the connections between and among occurrences in

human interaction.

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- without theories the accumulation of knowledge would be impossible, just as the formulation of

theories would be impossible without concepts

- Always open to change and even to total rejection if new evidence is presented to challenge them.

- In scientific terminology, a theory carries much more weight because it is based on supporting evidence.

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Theories of Social sciences

The Theory of Evolution assumes that the changes in any society are uniform based on fixed rules.

Idea of Evolution is often associated with great personalities like Charles Darwin, Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer and Karl Marx

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Theory of Evolution

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution – is based on 5 key observation and inferences.

1.Species have great fertility. They make more offspring than can grow to adulthood.

2. Populations remain roughly the same size with modest fluctuations

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3.Food resources are limited but are relatively constant most of the time.

4. In sexually reproducing species, generally no two individuals are identical. Variations is rampant.

5. Much of this variation is heritable.

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From this it may be inferred. In a world of stable populations where each individual must struggle to survive, those with the best characteristics will be more likely to survive, and those desirable traits will be passed to their offspring.

These advantageous are inherited by following generations, becoming dominant among population through time. This is natural selection.

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Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

1. Variation – There is a variation in every population2. Competition – Organisms compete for limited resources3. Offspring – organisms produce more offspring than

can survive4. Genetics - Organisms pass Genetic traits on to their

offspring5. Natural Selection – Those organisms with the most

beneficial traits are more likely to survive and reproduce.

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AUGUST COMTE (1798-1857)

Suggested the idea that human thought are divided to 3 categories:

i. Theology - whereby the thoughts are influenced by religion and supernatural beliefs.

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ii. Metaphysic -thoughts that are influenced by abstract idea which is gathered from incident and physical phenomenon.

iii. Positivism - man think by using scientific methods to explore the incidents and physical phenomenon around them.

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Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

Assumed of the existence of equal evolutionary process between biological organisms and people

His idea about the natural social evolution was influenced by Darwin’s idea of “Survival of the Fittest”

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The fittest will survive in the process while the weak will be eliminated naturally according to the law of nature

Hence, his idea refuses the element of force in human social system

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Lewis Henry Morgan (1818- 1881)

popularized Cultural Evolution Theory

Made assumptions that any society can be divided according to 3 levels of survival

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Savagery - society which lives as nomads and indulge in hunting and food gathering

Barbarisme - society which lives on a particular place and plants for survival

Civilization - society which lives on a particular place and starts to use technology

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Karl Marx (1818-1883) & Frederick Engels (1820-1895)

Influenced by Morgan’s ideas but more focused on material changes aspect

Evolution happens in the contacts of resource production and mode of production

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CONCLUSION

Man kind need to understand and observe the importance of social sciences

Knowledge based society will be better equipped to socializing process

A well balanced knowledge about social sciences will ensure the humans existence.

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Have a nice day!

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