INTRODUCTION:

Social Science:
A branch of science that deals with the institutions and
functioning of human society and with the interpersonal
relationships of individuals as members of society.
A scholarly or scientific discipline that deals with such
study, generally regarded as the umbrella including
sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, political
science, and history.
MAJOR AREAS in SOCIAL SCIENCE:
POLITICAL SCIENCE
A social science discipline concerned with the study of the
state, government, and politics.
Deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics,
and the analysis of political systems and political behavior.
Political scientists "see themselves engaged in revealing
the relationships underlying political events and
conditions, and from these revelations they attempt to
construct general principles about the way the world of
politics works.
study matters 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. They
measure the success of governance and specific policies
by examining many factors, including stability, justice,
material wealth, and peace.
Significance of Political Science:
- The study of Political Science is very useful and valuable.
The knowledge is essential and useful to both the ruler and
the constituents.

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To have a knowledge of the State.

Knowledge of government and administration
Knowledge about international relations.
The values of system of governance
Citizenship
International comity

ECONOMICS

The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek

(oikonomia, " management of a household,
administration")
from

(oikos,"house")(nomos,"custom"or"law"),
hence
"rules of the house(hold)".
the social science that analyzes the production,
distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Concern of the study and practice of economics is the
provision of goods and services for the satisfaction of
worldly needs called human needs. The satisfaction of
these wants makes real the existence of a person
as a social creature. The human wants of people
distinguish them from animals.
The basic human wants in present day society is more
than those in the less developed society of many years
ago. These needs now include food, clothing, home,
health care, education, and entertainment. In earlier
times human needs were generally of material nature.
They were food, clothing, and shelter.
PSYCHOLOGY
The scientific study of the human mind and its functions,
especially those affecting behavior in a given context.
The body of approaches, and methods applied in
examining and explaining the behavior and mental
processes of the individual and the group.

 It must deal with the variables of human behavior under

various conditions and be able to tell how the person will
behave on the basis of the generalization that had been
set in past studies.
HISTORY
(From Greek - historia, meaning "inquiry,
knowledge acquired by investigation) an umbrella term
that relates to significant past events as well as the
discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of
information about these events.
The term includes cosmic, geologic, and organic history,
but is often generically implied to mean human history.
Written or recorded past events.
ANTHROPOLOGY
From a Greek word of anthropos meaning man and logia
meaning discourse or study of cultures.
It is a discipline of infinite curiosity about human beings.
The study of what it means to be human, ranging from the
study of culture and social relations, to human biology and
evolution, to languages, to music, art and architecture,
and to the vestiges of human habitation.
Interest of an Anthropologist:
Discovering when, where and why humans appeared on
the earth, how and why they have changed since then,
and how and why modern human populations vary in
certain physical features.
Interested in how and why societies in the past and
present have varied in their customary ideas and
practices.

 To put anthropological methods, information, and results

to use, in efforts to solve practical problems.
Approaches in Anthropology:
- Holistic
- Dynamic
- Emic Perspectives
- Avoids ethnocentricism
- Long term study
- Inter and Intra disciplinary
Four Main-Subfields of Anthropology:
1. Cultural Anthropology
- Study of global patterns of belief and behavior found in
human cultures both past and present.
- Study of cross cultural studies. Includes economic and
political organizations, status, conflict and law resolution,
consumptions and exchange, gender, socialization, and
religion.
2. Linguistic Anthropology
- The study of human speech and language, including the
origins of language in general as well as specific languages.
- The linguists have been able to trace historical ties between
languages and groups of languages, thus facilitating the
identification of language families and perhaps past
relationships between human populations.
3. Archeology
- The study of earlier cultures and life ways by anthropologist
who specialize in the scientific recovery, analysis, and
interpretation of the material remains of past societies.

- The study is concerned with culture, but instead of

interviewing living people, they collect information from
artifacts and structures left behind by earlier societies.
Aims of Archeology:
- Reconstructing the lifeways of the people responsible for the
archeological remains: how people lived, how they exploited
their environment.
- Explain why people lived the way they did, why they had
those patterns of behavior, and how their lifeways and
material culture came to take the form they did
4. Physical and Biological Anthropology
- The study of human biology within the framework of
evolution and with an emphasis on the interaction biology
and culture.
- The scientific discipline concerned with the biological and
behavioral characteristics of human beings; our closest
relatives, the nonhuman primates and their ancestors.
- It reflects the shift in emphasis to more biologically oriented
topics, such as genetics, evolutionary biology, nutrition,
physiological adaptation and growth and development.
Paleoanthropology: the interdisciplinary approach to
identify the various early human and humanlike species,
establish a chronological sequence of relationships among
them, and gain insights into their adaptation and behavior.
SOCIOLOGY
The systematic study of human society which includes
social life, social change, and the social causes and
consequences of human behavior.

 It is a science that requires the development of theories

that can be tested by research.
The study focus on social structure of groups,
organizations, and societies, and how people interact
within these contexts.
The subject matter of Sociology ranges from the intimate
family to the hostile mob; from organized crime to
religious cults; from the divisions of race, gender, age and
social class.
- At the heart of sociology is a special point of view called
sociological perspective.
- Sociological Perspective as seeing the general in the
particular. It understands human behavior by placing it
within its broader social context. An awareness of the
relationship between an individual and the wider society.
The ability to view ones society as an outsider would, rather
than only from the perspective of personal experiences and
cultural biases.
o Seeing the General in the Particular
Sociologist looks for general patterns in the
behavior of particular people.
It allows us to look beyond a limited understanding
of human behavior to see the world and its people
in a new way and through a broader lens than we
might otherwise use.
Although every individual is unique, a society
shapes the lives of people in various categories
very differently.

o Seeing the Strange in the Familiar

The awareness allows all of us to comprehend the
links between our immediate, personal social
settings and the remote, impersonal social world
that surrounds us and helps to shape us.
This reveals the initially strange idea that society
shapes what we think and do.
Emile Durkheim
Social Integration: categories of people with strong social
ties had low suicide rates, and more individualistic
categories of people had high rates.
Sociologist are not particularly interested in why any one
individual commits suicide; they are more concerned with
identifying the social forces that systematically cause some
people to take their own lives.
Importance of Global Perspective
Global Perspective is the study of the larger world and our
societys place in it.
Global awareness is a logical extension of the sociological
perspective. Sociology shows us that our place in society
shapes our life experiences.
Benefits of Using Sociology
The sociological perspective helps us assess the truth
of common sense.
A sociological approach encourages us to ask whether
such common beliefs are actually true and to the extent
that they are not.
Sociologists do not accept something as a fact because
everyone knows it. Instead, each piece of information

must be tested and recorded, then analyzed in

relationship to other data. Sociologist relies on
scientific studies in order to describe and understand a
social environment.
The sociological perspective helps us see the
opportunities and constraints in our lives.
Sociological thinking leads us to see that in the game of
life, we have a say in how to play our cards, but it is
society that deals us the hand.
Sociology helps us learn more about the world so that
we can pursue our goals more effectively.
The sociological perspective empowers us to be active
participants in our society.
The sociological perspective that turns a personal
problem (such as being out of work) into a public issue
(a lack of good jobs).
As we come to see how society affects us, we may
support society as it is, or we may set out with others to
change it.
The sociological perspective helps us live in a diverse
world.
Encourages us to think critically about the relative
strengths and weaknesses of all ways of life, including
our own.
Three Events of Change:
1. Industrial Revolution
2. Growth of Cities and Population
3. Political Change (French Revolution)

UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF CULTURE

AND SOCIETY

What is society?
- a group of people related to each other through persistent
relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same
geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political
authority and dominant cultural expectations.
- a group of people occupying a territory who are dependent
on each other for survival. The relationships that hold a
society together are known so social structure or social
organization.
Basic features of a society
Society is the mutual interaction of individuals. It is
invisible.
A social system
Active cooperation is the back bone of the society.
Liberty is regulated through the mutual agreement of
individuals.
Society is universal having no boundary or limits.
Likeness of members is the essential pre-requisite for
society
Origin of society
o Social contract theory.
o Society is based on some original contracts
between the individuals.
o Society was formed to protect man against its sun
bridled nature.
o Society was evolved to maintain a state of peace
and justice in nature
o Organic theory.
o Society is a biological system.

o Industrial and agricultural systems are the nutritional

systems of the society.
o Individual persons are the cells of the society.
o Communication and transport are the heart, veins and
arteries of the society.
o Group mind theory
o Society is an embodiment of an absolute mind.
Idealism by Weber: that society was ideas shape by
human
Societies can be classified into 5 groups:
1. Hunting gathering and tribal societies
They live in primary groups.
They require large territories to support themselves.
They work less as compared to other societies
People survived by foraging for vegetable foods and small
games, fishing, hunting large wild animals, and collecting
shellfish.
2. Pastoral societies
Started 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. Started deliberately
planting seeds with the idea of having a source of food in
the future.
3. Horticultural societies
This type of society relies on herding and the
domestication of animals for food and clothing to satisfy
the bulk of the groups needs.
4. Agricultural societies
These societies are characterized by the use of plow in
food production.
5. Industrial societies

 These societies rose in connection with the Industrial

Revolution. Domination of management and division of
labor in factories
Post- industrial societies.
o It depends on specialized knowledge to bring about
continuing progress in technology.
o Refers to technology that supports an information
based economy.
More and more jobs demand
information-based skills using computers, satellites,
facsimile machines, and other forms of communication.
o Utilizes less and less of its labor force for industrial
production.

What is culture?
Culture is the way of life.
According to Sir Edward Burnett Taylor: a complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom
and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society.
As to Robert Redfield: Culture is an organized body of
conventional understanding manifest in art and an artifact,
which persisting through tradition, characterizes a human
group.
It is not actual observable behavior of a group of people, but
an abstraction derived from it.
It is a set of rules or standards which, when acted upon by
the members of a society, produces behavior that falls within

a range of variance the members consider proper and

acceptable.
Culture is manifested in music, literature, lifestyle, painting and
sculpture, theater and film and similar things.

Types of Culture
1. Material Culture
The tangible products of human society. It includes physical
objects or artifacts- things that human being create by
altering the natural environment.
Examples of these are dwelling units, tools, weapons
and implements, clothing, stone axes, wooden chair,
book, jet airplanes, and other concrete elements of
culture.
2. Non-Material Culture
The intangible creations of human society. This consists of
words people use, the habits they follow, the ideas,
customs, behavior, of any society profess and to which
they strive to conform.
Examples are laws, techniques, lifestyle, and knowledge
Characteristics of Culture:
1. Culture is always a product of human behavior
2. Gratifies human needs
3. Culture is learned
Culture is learned, not biologically inherited.
This is mans social heredity.
ENCULTURATION: the
process whereby culture is
transmitted from one generation to the next. Through
this, one learns the socially appropriate way of satisfying
ones instinctual needs.
4. Culture is symbolic
All human behavior originates in the use of symbols.

 the most important symbolic aspect of culture is

LANGUAGE this is the foundation upon which human
cultures are built.
5. Culture is not the same as nature
6. Culture is shared
Development of Culture
Language is the critical element of culture that sets human
apart from other species. Members of a society generally share a
common language, which facilitates day to day exchanges with
others. This is the foundation of every culture.
Cultural Universals
all societies have developed certain common practices
and beliefs.
Culture may be universal, but the manner in which they
are expressed varies from one culture to another.
Innovation is the process of introducing a new idea or object to a
culture.
Two types of innovation:
1. Discovery
2. Invention
Diffusion refers to the process by which a cultural item spread
from group to group or society to society. It can be achieved in a
variety of means, exploration, military conquest, missionary work,
mass media and tourism.
Non-verbal communicationsrefers to gestures and hand
signals.
Norms are the established standards of behavior maintained by a
society. The ways of encouraging and enforcing what they view

as appropriate behavior while discouraging and punishing what

they consider to be improper behavior.
2 Types of Norms
1. Formal norms these are the norms which are usually
written and any violation of the norms would have a penalty.
2. Informal norms - these norms may or may have not a
penalty.
Mores are norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a
society, often because they embody the most cherished principles
of the people.
Folkways - are norms of everyday behavior. The important role
in shaping the daily behavior of members of a culture.
Attitudes toward cultures:
1. Ethnocentrism practice of judging another culture based
on the standards of ones culture.
2. Cultural Relativism the practice of judging a culture by
its own standards.
3. Culture Shock- anyone who feels disoriented, uncertain,
out of place, even fearful, when immersed with unfamiliar
culture.