LET REVIEW NOTES IN BUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS SOCIAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINE

Prepared by: Ms. Jerlyn Mae S. Quiliope

SOCIOLOGY- is the scientific study of human social life, groups and societies.
- It has been derived two terms: socius-group or partners and logus-which means science
- Study of society and social interactions taking place
- As a science, it studies a variety of current issues and problems in the community.
Most important forerunners are:
1. Henri Saint Simon – between 1760 to 1865 he wrote his ideas on science of society based on the assumption on the
law of human behaviour could be determined in the same manner of law of nature. He discussed his ideas to his student
and secretary, August Comte.
2. Auguste Comte-he was from Southern France, son of a government worker, he coined the term “sociology” in 1831 he
believed that science could be used to study social world. He introduced the concept “positivism”-the use of empirical
investigation to understand social phenomena. He believed that sociology was means by which a more rational and just
society could be achieved. Known as the father of “sociology”.
3. Karl Marx- a native from Germany, a former rabbi—according to him class conflict were at core of the society. He was
not really a sociologists but he wrote widely about history, philosophy, economics and political science. With Friedrich
Engels, a friend, he wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1847 because of his insights into the relationship between the
social classes, he is claimed to be an early sociologists. He introduced one of the major perspectives in sociology the
conflict perspective.
4. Herbert Spencer- he was an Englishman and is sometimes called second founder of sociology. He too believed that
society operates under some fixed laws. He was evolutionary and considered that societies evolve from lower to higher
forms. He applied the ideas of Darwin to the development of human society, and hence this approach may be called as
Social Darwinism. By following the basic principle of Social Darwinism Spencer advocate that “let the fittest survive”. He
believed that there should be no reform it will help in the survival of lower order individuals. He was a social philosopher
rather than social researcher.
5. Emile Durkheim- He was French; his primary goal was getting a sociology recognized as a separate academic
discipline. He became a writer ad a critic among his book are The Division of Labor in Society, The Rules of Sociological
Method, and Suicide. His systematic study comparing Suicide rates among several countries revealed an underlying
social factor: People were more likely to commit suicide if their ties to others in their communities were weak. He believed
that individuals are more products rather than the creator of the society.
6. Max Weber- he was a German. He use cross-cultural and historical materials in order to determine how extensively
social groups affect people’s orientations to life. He wrote significant books, best known among which are the Protestant
Ethic and Spirit of Nationalism, The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism, Theory of Social and Economic Organization,
and Methodology of Social Sciences.

Importance of Sociology
Sociology is important because t looks at the structure of society and how its components and institutions fit together. It
helps us to understand how institutions can help socialize individuals in society and therefore provides a good insight why we
have different cultures.

AREAS OF SOCIOLOGY
1. Social Organization—brings order and meaning into human social life. It refers to institutions, social groups, religious
groups and bureaucracy.
2. Social Psychology—refers to human nature and its focus on social processes as they affect individual.
3. Social Change—this studies the change in culture and social relations and problems such as mass communication,
modernization, and impact of natural disaster.
4. Population—studies size, growth, demographic characteristics as well as economic, political and social systems.
5. Sociological theory and research—this is a set of statement that seeks to explain problems, actions and behaviour; or
discovery and development of research that tests validity, applicability and usefulness of the results of the investigation.
6. Applied Sociology—this concerns with resolving social problems through sociological research.

MAJOR THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

1. Functionalist Perspective—emphasized the way in which parts of a society are structures to maintain its stability.
- Society is composed of many interrelated parts and each part serves as particular societies of functions.
2. Conflict Perspective—assumes that social behaviour is best understood in terms of tension between gaps over power
3. Interactionist Perspective—also referred to as symbolic interactionism that is a sociological framework in which human
beings are viewed as living in a world of meaningful objects.
FUNTIONALIST CONFLICT INTERACTIONIST
View of Society Stable, well integrated Characterized by tension Active in influencing and
and struggle between affecting everyday social
groups interaction
View of Individual People are socialized to People are shaped by People are manipulate
perform societal functions power, coercion, and symbols and create their
authority social worlds through
interaction

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 View of Social Change
View of Social Order
Proponents
STRUCTURE AND AGENCY
Predictable, reinforcing
Maintained through
cooperation and consensus
Emile Durkheim, Talcott
Parsons, Robert Merton
Changes takes place all the Reflected in people’s social
time and may have positive positions and their
consequences communication with others
Maintained trough force Maintained by
and coercion understanding of everyday
behaviour
Karl Mar, W.E.B. Du Bois, George Herbert Mead,
Ida Welts-Barnett Charles Horton Cololey, and
Ervin Goffman

1. Social Structure—is the organized pattern of social relationships and social institutions that together composed society.
2. Agency—refers to the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices.
3. Social Institutions—are established or standardized patterns of rule-governed behaviour. A social institution is an important
human organization in a culture group that helps a society to survive.
-An anthropologists have identified government, religion, education, economy, and family are the five basic social
institutions that are necessary for a society to survive.
1. Family—a socially defined set of relationships between at least two people related by birth, marriage, adoption.
 The purpose of government is to keep order and make group decisions
 Most important social institutions
2. Education—a formal process in which knowledge, skills and values are systematically transmitted from one individual or
group to another.
 The purpose of government is to keep order and make group decisions
3. Religion—a unified system of beliefs and practices pertaining to the supernatural to norms about the right way to live that is
shared by group of believers.
 Religion binds us into society
4. Economic Institutions—sociologists understand the economy as the set of arrangement by which a society produces,
distributes, and consume goods, services, and other resources.
 The purpose of government is to keep order and make group decisions
5. Political Institutions—pertains to the governance of society, its formal distribution of authority, it use force and its
relationships to their societies and political units.
 Is the political organization of a society
 The purpose of government is to keep order and make group decisions

STATUSES AND ROLES

1. Status—describes the position a person occupies in a particular setting.

2. Role—is the set of norm, values, behaviours, and personality characteristics attached to a status.
 Status is our relative social position with a group, while a role is the part our society expects us to play in a
given status.
3. Race—is a classification system used to categorize human into large an instinct populations or groups by anatomical,
cultural, ethnic, historical, geographical, linguistic, religious, and or social affiliation.

ANTHROPOLOGY-comes from the Greek word “anthropos”(human being) and logos (study)
- A science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, social characteristics, social customs, and
beliefs of mankind
- Science of man and their work
- Study of human being and their ways of life
GOAL: To develop a broad and comprehensive understanding of what it is to be human.
Anthropologists—seeks answers to an enormous variety of questions about human
- Are generally thought of as individuals who travel to the world to study various people or who dig deep into the earth to
uncover fossils remains or the tools and pots of people of all periods.
BRANCHES OF ANTHROPOLOGY

1. Physical Anthropology—deals with the origin and evolutionary process of man

- Seeks to answer questions like when and how man first emerged
- Also concerned with the body structure and other biological attributes analyzes human mobility, mode of living and
population
- Palaeontologists (a branch of physical anthropology)—who searched and study the buried, hardened remains or
impressions known as fossils of human and related animals.
2. Cultural Anthropology—a deal with the study of mans behaviour and how he carries out and adapts to the various activities
of everyday life.
- It also studies and analyses different tribes, cultural communities, and other indigenous groups.
Cultural Anthropologists—study how people live throughout the world, focusing on their culture.

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 - They learn about a culture by immersing themselves in it.

Branches of Cultural Anthropology

1. Archaeology—deals with the study of and analysis of ancient culture pertaining to pre-historic people, their dwelling,
artifacts, and movements.
- Archaeologists—are anthologists who focus on ancient human societies by digging up and examining the remains of
extinct societies, they help shed light on the human cultural past.
2. Ethnology--- studies the culture of modern societies and analyzes cultures, especially in regards to their historical
development and the similarities and dissimilarities between them.
- Ethnologists—individuals who specializes in this field
3. Anthropological Linguistics—it deals with the study of language—its history and structure, its evolution (changes that
have taken place in the language’s structure as well as its meaning), and the variation it assumes across cultures in
comp temporary times.

HISTORY OF ANTHROPOLOGY
 The term anthropology was coined in 16th century Germany by university professors.
 Michel de Montaigne, Jean Bodin, Blaise Pascal and Rene Descartes—tried to differentiate anthropology as a different branch
of study
 The most revolutionizing works in anthropology were written by Charles Darwin he wrote “The Voyages of the Beagle” that
was published in 1845 AD, and “On the Origin of Species” that was appeared in 1859 AD
 A French naturalist Georges Buffon wrote “Histoire Naturalle” is an encyclopedia in which 2 of the 44 volumes have been
dedicated to anthropology. It was published during 1749-1804
 Johann F. Blumenbach—played a highly instrumental role in the development of the branch known as physical
anthropology.
 In modern day anthropology has been highly influenced by the works of American, Margaret Mead, during the middle of the
20th century
 Immanuel Kant and Baruch Spinoza—known as Fathers of Anthropology

ARCHAEOLOGY—is the study of human activity in the past, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture
and environment data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts(alo known as eco-facts) and
cultural landscapes(the archaeological record)
- Considered to be both science and a humanity
- In US it is thought of as a branch of anthropology , although in Europe it is viewed as a separate discipline
- William Finders Petrie—legitimately be called the Father of Archaeology was the first to scientifically investigate the
Great Pyramid in Egypt during the 1880’s.
METHODS
1. Remote Sensing— Remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about objects or areas from a distance,
typically from aircraft or satellites
2. Field survey
- Done to find out as much as possible about it and the surrounding area
- Survey data are commonly assembled into maps, which may show surface features and/or artifact distribution
KINDS OF SURVEY
1. Surface Survey- the simplest survey technique is which involves combing an area, usually on foot but sometimes with
the use of mechanized transport, to search for features or artifacts visible on the surface.
2. Regional survey—is the attempt to systematically locate previously unknown sites in a region. Underwater Regional
survey uses geographical or remote sensing devices such as marine magnetometer, side-scan sonar, or sub-bottom
sonar.
3. Site survey—is the attempt to systematically locate features of interest, such as houses and middens, within a site.
4. Aerial survey—is conducted using cameras attached to airplanes, balloons, or kites.
5. Geographical survey—the most effective way to see beneath the ground which uses magnetometer to detect minute
deviations in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by iron artifacts, kilns and some types of stone structures.

3.
Excavation—is the most expensive phase and destructive process an ethical concerns
- Sampling is even more important in excavation than in survey
4. Analysis
- Post Excavation Analysis—a technique which study artifacts to gain as much data as possible
- The artifacts found are cleaned, catalogued and compared to published collections, to classify them typologically and to
identify other sites with similar artifact assemblages.
5. Virtual Archaeology—done by collecting normal photographs and using computer graphics to build virtual 3D model
around 1995 archaeologists started using computer graphics.
- Build virtual 3D models of sites such as the throne room of an ancient Assyrian palace or ancient Rome.
6. Drones –to speed up survey work and protect sites from squatters, builders and miners.

SUB-DISCIPLINES
1. Historical archaeology—is the study of culture with some form of writing
2. Ethno archaeology—is the use of ethnography to increase and improve analogs, which are then used as analogies to
interpret the archaeological record
3. Experimental archaeology—represents the application of the experimental method t develop more highly controlled
observations of processes that create and impact the archaeological record

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 4. Archaeometry—is the field of study that aims to systematize archaeological measurement. It emphasizes the application
of analytical techniques from physics, chemistry and engineering.
5. Cultural resources management—goals of this are the identification, preservation, and maintenance, of cultural sites
on public and private lands, and the removal of culturally valuable materials from areas where they would otherwise be
destroyed by human activity, such as proposed construction.

ECONOMICS—from Greek roots “oikos” (household), “nomus” (system of management)

- Is a science that deals with the management of scarce resources. It is also described as a scientific study on how
individuals and the society generally make choices (Fajardo 1997)
- Economics is simply scarcity and choice (Slavin 2005)
- Economics has two major branches of study: one is concerned with individual decision making (microeconomics); and the
other is involved in understanding the behaviour of the society as a whole (macroeconomics)
 Adam Smith from Scotland (regarded as “Father of Economics”) he was responsible for the recognition of economics
as a separate body of knowledge. His book, The Wealth of Nations published in 1776 became known as the bible in
economics for hundred years. His major contribution was his analysis of the relationship between consumers and
producers through demand and supply, which ultimately explained how the market works through the invisible hand.
 John Stuart Mill—was another important classical economist who developed the basic analysis of the political economy
or the importance of the state’s role in the national economy.
 Karl Marx—he was influenced by the conditions brought about about the industrial revolution upon the working classes.
His major work, Das Kapital, is the centrepiece from which major socialist thought was to emerge.
 Leon Walras—who introduced the general economic system and developed the analysis of equilibrium in several
markets; and
 Alfred Marshall—who became the most influential economists during that time because of his book “Principles of
Economics”. He developed the analysis of equilibrium of a particular market and concept of “marginalism”.
 Economics is considered the “queen” of all social sciences because it covers almost every activity of an in relation to
society. Because of its multifarious applications, various sciences are closely related to the study of economics.
INTERACTION ECONOMICS
 Business Management—basically provides employment opportunities to members of the society, and is an important
vehicle in balance of economic activity. Its relation to the study of economics s evident in analyzing micro and
macroeconomic behaviour.
 History—the history of economic ideas information regarding theories that can be revisited to evaluate present and
future economic issues.
 Finance—is defined as the management of money, credit, banking and investments. Money and Finance are important
in the study of economics
 Physics—innovations and outputs brought by physics greatly affect the study of economics. A country’s activity speeds
up through inventions and technological advancements.
 Sociology—is the study of the behaviour of societies. In relation to sociology, economics essentially deals with behaviour
of economic subjects.
 Psychology—is the study of behaviour of man. Psychology is primarily useful in the study of microeconomics, which
scrutinizes and focuses on the smallest units of the economy. Microeconomics also seeks to understand the decision
making of individuals.

HISTORY—from Greek historia meaning (inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation) is an umbrella term that relates to past
events as well as discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about these events.
- Can also refer to the academic discipline which uses a narrative to examine and analyze a sequence of past events, and
objectively determine the patters of cause and effect that determine them.
- Herodotus—the Father of History.
- History can be generally defined as the past, and how past relates to the human lives. The main difference between
history and prehistory is the existence of records; history is the recorded events of the past whereas Prehistory is the
time before writing was introduced.
- Historiography is the study of the methodology of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by
extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject.
- Pseudo history covers a variety of theories that do not agree with the view of history that is commonly accepted by
mainstream historians, which are often not properly researched, peer-reviewed, or supported by the usual
historiographical methods.

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POLITICAL SCIENCE-- is the systematic study of politics, or the process by which governmental decisions are made. As a
famous definition puts it, politics is determining who gets what, where, when, and how. The political scientist is an objective
observer who asks questions about and studies the effects and structures of different systems of governments.

Political scientists rely on several important concepts:

 Power: The ability to get others to do what you want. Power can take many forms, from brute force to articulate persuasion.
 Government: The organization of power within a society, specifically how power is divided and used.
Example: The government of the United States is a democracy established by the Constitution.
 Regime: Any particular government.
 Legitimacy: Occurs when citizens accept the political decisions made by the governing body. A government is considered
legitimate if its citizens think it right, lawful, and proper that the government should hold power. A threat to legitimacy
seriously undermines the power of the government.
 Authority: The ability of the government to exercise power without resorting to violence. A government with a high level of
legitimacy tends to have a high level of authority. Its citizens usually obey the law because they think it is the right thing to do,
not because they are afraid of punishment.
Example: When asked by a police officer to clear the street, most Americans will do so because they respect the right of the
officer to use power.
 Sovereignty: The right to exercise political power over a group of people or a geographical area. A government is considered
sovereign if it has the final word on political decisions within its boundaries. When citizens can appeal to a higher body, the
government is not sovereign.
Example: State governments in the United States have a great deal of power, but ultimately they are not sovereign because the
federal government can overrule them.
REGIMES AND NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH POWER
Type of Regime Number of People Who Hold Power Example
Monarchy One Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Brunei, medieval England
Dictatorship One Libya, Cuba, North Korea, Nazi Germany
Aristocracy A few (usually a small ruling class) Ancient Sparta
Oligarchy A few (usually a small group of wealthy individuals) Renaissance Venice
Democracy Many or all United States, ancient Athens
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 A wide variety of regime types exist. For example, the United Kingdom has a constitutional monarchy, in which Queen
Elizabeth holds a limited amount of power. Theoretically, the queen is the English head of state, but over time the English
monarchy has become largely ceremonial. Real governmental power now rests with the Parliament, the legislative, lawmaking
body. In contrast, the Third Reich of World War II was a totalitarian dictatorship. Adolf Hitler controlled the government and the
citizens of Nazi Germany.
Regimes and Amount of Government Power
Type of
Amount of Governmental Power Example
Regime
Soviet Union, North Korea,
Totalitarian Absolute power; controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives
Nazi Germany
Less powerful than a totalitarian regime but still controls most aspects of its Iraq before the 2003 American
Autocratic
citizens’ lives; often associated with a single ruler; often arbitrary invasion
Less power than totalitarian regime but still controls most aspects of its citizens’
Authoritarian China, Egypt
lives; often outlasts its rulers
Limited by specific rules, such as the citizens’ right to free speech or freedom of United States, United
Constitutional
religion Kingdom, Germany, Japan
Anarchist No power, or simply no government; can occur when a government loses its power Somalia
 Democracies
 The word democracy comes from the Greek words demos, which means “the people,” and cracy, which means “rule by.”
Today, we call a regime a democracy when many or all of its people share political power. There are two types of
democracies:
 Direct democracy: Citizens make all the decisions. They gather frequently to vote on laws, regulations, and appointments.
There are no elected representatives. Direct democracy was common in ancient Greece; today, it exists at a local level in
town hall meetings held throughout the United States.
 Representative democracy: Citizens elect officials to act on their behalf. If the officeholders disappoint or anger them, the
citizens can choose new officials at the next election. A regime that runs by representative democracy is known as
a republic. In a republic, citizens hold the power. There are two major types of representative democracies:
 Parliamentary democracy: Citizens elect officials to act as legislators. The legislature then elects the executive (frequently
called the prime minister) from its members
Example: Many European democracies use a parliamentary system. One advantage of this type of democracy is its ability to
quickly respond to public opinion. If the prime minister loses the confidence of voters, new elections can be held immediately. But
parliamentary governments can be unstable. Perhaps the classic example is Italy, which changed governments about once a year
for fifty years following World War II.
 Presidential democracy: Citizens elect the legislators and executive separately. No one can be both a legislator and the
executive at the same time.
Example: The United States is a presidential democracy. Although a presidential system can be slow to respond to changes in
public opinion, it is likely to be more stable than a parliamentary system.
History of Political Science
1. Plato ( c.427-c 347 bce)—one of the greatest western philosophers, Plato wrote several dialogues about political matters,
including the Republic (360 bce)
2. Aristotle (384-322 bce)—a student of Plato’s, Aristotle applied empirical methods to the study of politics. (Father of Political
Science)
3. St. Augustine (354-430 ce): Augustine’s City of God(419) argued for he centrality of salvation of life, even wit regards to
politics
4. St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274): Aquinas helped reintroduce Aristotle to Europe and melded Aristotelian thought with
Christianity
5. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). Machiavelli’s book “The Prince” (written 1513, published in 1532) portrayed politics as a
struggle for power, and in it he urged rulers to lie, cheat, and kill to get ahead.
6. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)—attempted to use the methods of geometry to arrive at an irrefutable science of politics.
Hobbes argued for absolute monarchy.
7. John Locke (1632-1704)—Locke argued for a democratic government that respected individual and property rights. Hs
writings greatly influence Thomas Jefferson, as refaced in the Declaration of Independence.
8. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)—Rousseau’s iconoclastic attack on tradition contributed to the French Revolution. His
book The Social Contract (1762) states, “Man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains”, an important sentiment during the
American and French revolutions.
9. Karl Marx (1818-1883)—a philosopher and social scientist who saw the economy as the key institution in the society. He
argued that employers in a capitalist society exploit their workers and that capitalist classes pass laws to benefit themselves.
His books The Communist Manifesto and Capital spurred the Russian Revolution of 1917.
10. John William Burgess (1844-1931)—A professor who created a political science department at Columbia University that
sought to train students for life of public service. This was the first such department in the US, and it helped institutionalize and
legitimize political science as an academic discipline.
11. Herbert Baxter Adams (1850-1901)—a professor who introduced seminar-style learning into College in the US. According to
legend, Adams was the first westerner to use the term political science (Aristotle was the first person to use the term itself).
12. Max Weber (1864-1920)—an economist and sociologist who argued that religion, not economics, is the central force in social
change. According to Weber, Protestants seeking an outward affirmation of their godliness brought about the birth of
capitalism.

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13. Gabriel Almond (1910-2002)—a Professor who not only developed concept of political culture but also revolutionized the
subfield of comparative politics. The politics of the Developing Areas (1960), which he co-authored, opened the doors for
American political scientists to begin studying political processes at work in non-Western countries.
14. David Easton (1917)—the professor who developed the behavioural model of political science in the 1950’s. The political
System: An inquiry into the State of Political Science (1953) is probably his famous work.
15. John Rawls (1921-2002)—a professor who was widely considered to be the most important political philosopher of the 20th
century. His book A Theory of Justice (1971) argued that we should strive to develop a society based on equality.
16. Robert O. Keohane (1941)—A professor who helps developed the neoliberal theory of international relations. A 2005 poll in
the journal Foreign Policy named him the most influential scholar of international relations.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
International relations is the study of the interactions between nations, international organizations, and multinational
corporations. There are two traditional approaches used by international-relations scholars—realism and liberalism. Realism
emphasizes the danger of the international system, where war is always a possibility and the only source of order is the balance of
power.
Liberalism is more idealistic and hopeful, emphasizing the problem-solving abilities of international institutions such as
the United Nations, NATO, and the World Trade Organization. According to many scholars, after the Soviet Union dissolved and
the Cold War ended in 1991, the balance of opinion briefly shifted in favour of liberalism, but realists were quick to point to the
potential for future international conflicts.

GEOGRAPHY--is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of Earth.
The first person to use the word "γεωγραφία" was Eratosthenes (276–194 BC).Four historical traditions in geographical research
are spatial analysis of the natural and the human phenomena (geography as the study of distribution), area studies (places and
regions), study of the human-land relationship, and research in the Earth sciences
 Physical geography is one of the two primary branches of geography. Listed here are sub-branches or sub-fields of physical
geography. These sub-fields of physical geography study processes and patterns in the natural environment.
BRANCHES OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
 Biogeography-- Animals and plants on earth are usually distributed in specific patterns and biogeography is the discipline
that is involved in this study.
 Water Resources Geography--This is a branch of geography that normally deals with the study of how water resources are
generally managed in a particular region. Geographers who are involved in this discipline normally look at the manner in which
water is collected, distributed and lastly used in various places across the planet. In addition to this, systems developed by
humans that are meant to aid the entire process are also studied so that they can consequently be enhanced for maximum
efficiency.
 Climate Geography--Geographers in this branch of geography are usually concerned in the investigation of the weather
patterns of the earth and the way in which they affect the climate as a result. Moreover, activities that are taking place within
the atmosphere of the earth are also studied in this discipline.
 Geomorphology --The land forms on earth usually develop in interesting ways and there are numerous processes that
normally lead to their eventual vanishing. Geographers who are involved in this field usually study the entire process from start
to finish and erosion has been discovered to be a major factor that influences the vanishing of the land forms.
 Lithology--Deals with the characteristics of rocks.
 Oceanography--The study of ocean currents waves and tides.
 Orology--Study of mountains.
 Potamology--Study of rivers.
 Pedology --is the study of soils in their natural environment. It is one of two main branches of soil science, the other
being edaphology. Pedology deals with pedogenesis, soil morphology, and soil classification, while edaphology studies the
way soils influence plants, fungi, and other living things.
 Quaternary science is an inter-disciplinary field of study focusing on the Quaternary period, which encompasses the last 2.6
million years. The field studies the lastice age and the recent interstitial, the Holocene, and uses proxy evidence to reconstruct
the past environments during this period to infer the climatic and environmental changes that have occurred.
 Palaeogeography (or paleogeography) is the study of historical geography, generally physical landscapes.
Palaeogeography can also include the study of human or cultural environments. When the focus is specifically on the study
of landforms, the term paleogeomorphology is sometimes used instead
 Oceanography--also known as ocean logy is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean.
 Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including
the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability.
 Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving relationships between ecological processes in the environment
and particular ecosystems. This is done within a variety of landscape scales, development spatial patterns, and organizational
levels of research and policy.
 Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere works were formed across broad regions. Prior
attempts at prediction of weather depended on historical data.
 Glaciology—study of glaciers and ice sheets of the world
 Geomantic—is the discipline that involves collecting, storing, and analyzing all kinds of geographic information.
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY--The domain of human geography pertains to the spatial analysis of the world as an organic whole. The
major components of human geography are people. It aims to study different cultures and communities on a spatial basis. Contrary
to physical geography that has a more quantitative approach; human geography is more responsive to qualitative methods. It is
more theoretical in nature. Following are the sub-branches of human geography:
1. Historical geography is the study of the interactions of people with their environment, and is based on the parameters of time
and space. The branch attempts to study every possible geography of the past, even fictional one. The main aim is to ascertain
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how, due to human influences, a particular place, region or a geographical feature undergoes a change through time, and how a
cultural landscape is created.
2. Cultural geography is the study of how culture varies from one geographical region to the other. It is also a spatial analysis of
how distant cultures influence each other. Moreover, it also studies how and under what circumstances, one culture becomes
dominant over the other, and ends up either assimilating it or uprooting it completely. In a nutshell, cultural geography is a study of
the horizontal movement of cultures and the various phenomena affecting them in the process. The parameters of cultural
geography include language, religion, beliefs, economy, etc.
3. Political geography is an interesting discipline that deals with how similar processes in different geographical regions may lead
to completely different outcomes. It also deals with the way the geography of a particular region influences its political structure. It
pertains not only to the state or the country, but also to the various processes and strategies with respect to military, which are
largely influenced by geographical features.
4. Economic geography is the study of the influence of a region's geography on its economic activities and vice versa. It attempts
to do a spatial analysis of why a certain economic activity is concentrated in a particular geographical setting.
5. Development geography deals with the influence of the geography of the Earth on the standard of living and overall quality of
life of its people. It attempts to make a spatial study as to why the inhabitants of a particular region are poorer than those of
another region.
6. Settlement geography is a spatial study of all those parts of the Earth where humans have settled down. It deals with studying
urban and rural areas with respect to its settlement patterns and the impact of geographical factors on them.
7. Population geography is related to settlement geography, in that it attempts to study human settlements across various
geographic locations with respect to their population trends
8. Health geography is a relatively new discipline, primarily based on the redefinition of health from prevention and treatment of
illness, to promoting well-being. As a branch of human geography, health encompasses illness, cure and health care with respect
to specific geographic regions.
9. Environmental geography is a branch that deals with the interaction and impact of humans on the physical world and vice
versa. This discipline is actually a connecting line between human geography and physical geography, and thus needs an in-depth
knowledge of the aspects of both.
10. Regional geography is a very subjective branch that studies the various geographical regions across the Earth, in an attempt
to understand the uniqueness of each one. This 'uniqueness' can be related to any aspect, physical or human.

LAW— is, generally, a system of rules which are enforced through social institutions to govern behaviour.
- Laws can be made by legislatures through legislation (resulting in statutes), the executive through decrees and
regulations, or judges through binding precedents (normally in common law jurisdictions).

There are four different types of law, criminal, civil, common and statute. In this first task I will explain briefly each one:
Criminal Law:
This is the kind of law that the police enforce. Murder, assault, robbery and rape are all included within the boundaries of criminal
law. A good way in which to summarise which offences come under criminal law is 'an offence which is seen as being against
everybody, even though it is not'. For example if a car is stolen, then the theft is against the individual, but it threatens all car
owners because they might have their car stolen. Because the view is taken that everybody is threatened by the crime, criminal
law is dealt with by the public services and not by private layers or investigators.
Civil Law:
Civil law has many different areas enclosed in it. Examples that come under this law are legal rights, such as a right to an
education or to a trade union membership and divorce problems, such as how the furniture is split between the couple and who
receives custody of the children. The best way to describe it is that it looks at actions that are not crimes.
In civil law it is up to the individuals to sort out their own problems by going to court themselves, or with a lawyer. Where in criminal
law the state makes sure that justice is done weather the defendant wants to go to court or not.
Common Law and Precedent:
Common law is based on felling about right and wrong, which we all have. It is common law that tells us that people are more
important than things. So a crime committed against a person is looked upon far worse that a crime committed against property.
Precedent means 'what has gone before'. So if a judge is trying a murder case, he or she will try to look up similar cases that have
gone before, to see how they were dealt with and what sentence was given. It is very important when carrying out common law.
Statute law:
A statute law is a law that is made by the government. In England all laws are mainly made by parliament. These laws are written
down from start to finish, and therefore different to common laws which are

PSYCHOLOGY-- is the study of behaviour and mind, embracing all aspects of conscious and unconscious experience as well as
thought. It is an academic discipline and an applied science which seeks to understand individuals and groups by establishing
general principles and researching specific cases.
- Derived from Greek words Psyche and logos, meaning soul and study
- To the Greeks, Psychology is simply a study of the soul
Feldman
- Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes
- Behavior includes everything that we do.
Kinds of Bahavior
1. Overt-behaviour that is observable by others and can be seen readily
2. Covert—behaviour that is internal, therefore not observable and cannot be seen
Sigmund Freud classified behaviour according to a person’s awareness of his behavior, to wit:
1. Conscious Behavior—any behaviour that a person is aware of.
2. Unconscious behaviour-- any behaviour that a person is not aware of.

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The following are just some of the major fields of psychology.
Abnormal Psychology: Abnormal psychology is a field of psychology that deals with psychopathology and abnormal behavior.
Clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, and counselors typically work in this field. Mental health professionals help assess,
diagnose, and treat a wide variety of mental disorders including anxiety and depression.
Biopsychology: This area of psychology is focused on how the brain, neurons, and nervous system influence thoughts, feelings,
and behaviors. This field draws on many different disciplines including basic psychology, experimental psychology, biology,
physiology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. People who work in this field often study how brain injuries and brain
diseases impact human behavior.
Clinical Psychology: Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental
illness, abnormal behavior, and psychiatric problems.
Cognitive Psychology: This area of psychology is centered on the science of how people think, learn, and remember.
Psychologists who work in this field often study things such as perception, language, learning, memory, attention, decision-making,
and problem-solving.
Comparative Psychology: This field of psychology is centered on the study of animal behavior. This area has its roots in the work
of researchers such as Charles Darwin and Georges Romanes and has grown into a highly multidisciplinary subject. Psychologists
often contribute to this field, as do biologists, anthropologists, ecologists, geneticists and many others.
Counseling Psychology: This field is one of the largest individual areas within psychology. It is centered on treating clients
experiencing mental distress and a wide variety of psychological symptoms. The Society of Counseling Psychology describes the
field as an area that can improve interpersonal functioning throughout life by improving social, and emotional health as well as
addressing concerns about health, work, family, marriage, and more.
Developmental Psychology: Psychologists who study development are interested in how people change and grow throughout
the entire lifespan. They often study things such as physical growth, intellectual development, emotional changes, social growth,
and perceptual changes that occur through life. Some developmental psychologists focus on a specific period of time during
development such as early childhood, adolescence, or late adult. This field covers a huge range of topics including everything
from prenatal development to Alzheimer's disease.
Educational Psychology: Psychologists who work in this field are focused on understanding how people learn. They might study
how different variables influence individual student outcomes. They also study topics such as learning disabilities, giftedness, the
instructional process, and individual differences.
Experimental Psychology: Experimental psychology is an area of psychology that utilizes scientific methods to research the mind
and behavior. Experimental psychologists work in a wide variety of settings including colleges, universities, research centers,
government and private businesses.
Forensic Psychology: Forensic psychology is defined as the intersection of psychology and the law, but forensic psychologists
can perform many roles so this definition can vary. In many cases, people working within forensic psychology are not necessarily
"forensic psychologists." These individuals might be clinical psychologists, school psychologists, neurologists or counselors who
lend their psychological expertise to provide testimony, analysis or recommendations in legal or criminal cases.
Health Psychology: Health psychologists are interested in improving health across a wide variety of domains. These
professionals not only promote healthy behaviors, they also work on the prevention and treatment of illness and disease. They
might research how people cope with illnesses and help patients look for new, more effective coping strategies. Some
professionals in this field help design prevention and public awareness programs, while others work within the government to
improve health care policies.
Human Factors Psychology: Some of the subjects of interest in this interdisciplinary field include human error, product design,
ergonomics, human capability, and human-computer interaction. People who work in human factors are focused on improving how
people interact with products and machines both in and out of the workplace. They might help design products intended to
minimize injury or create workplaces that promote greater accuracy and improved safety.
Industrial-Organizational Psychology: This field of psychology, often referred to as I/O psychology, works to improve
productivity and efficiency in the workplace while also maximizing the well-being of employees. I-O psychologists study topics such
as worker attitudes , employee behaviors, organizational processes, and leadership.
Personality Psychology: This field is focused on the study of the thought patterns, feelings, and behaviors that make each
individual unique. Classic theories of personality include Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality and Erikson's theory of
psychosocial development. Personality psychologists might study how different factors such as genetics, parenting, and social
experiences influence how personality develops and changes.
School Psychology: Professionals in this field that work in schools to help kids deal with academic, emotional, and social issues.
School psychologists also collaborate with teachers, students, and parents to help create a healthy learning environment.
Social Psychology: This field of psychology is focused on the study of topics such as group behavior, social perception,
leadership, nonverbal behavior, conformity, aggression and prejudice. Social influences on behavior are a major interest in social
psychology, but social psychologists are also focused on how people perceive and interact with others.
Sports Psychology: Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports, athletic performance, exercise and
physical activity. Some sports psychologists work with professional athletes and coaches to improve performance and increase
motivation. Other professionals utilize exercise and sports to enhance people’s lives and well-being throughout the entire lifespan.

BRANCHES OF PSYCHOLOGY
1. Abnormal psychology is the area that looks at psychopathology and abnormal behavior.
2. Behavioral psychology, also known as behaviorism, is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are
acquired through conditioning. While this branch of psychology dominated the field during the first part of the twentieth
century, it became less prominent during the 1950s
3. The branch of psychology focused on the study of how the brain influences behavior is often known as biopsychology,
although it has also been called physiological psychology, behavioral neuroscience and psychobiology.
4. Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on internal states, such as motivation, problem solving,
decision-making, thinking and attention. This area of psychology has continued to grow since it emerged in the 1960s.

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5. Comparative psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal behavior. The study of animal
behavior can lead to a deeper and broader understanding of human psychology.
6. Cross-cultural psychology is a branch of psychology that looks at how cultural factors influence human behavior. The
International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) was established in 1972, and this branch of psychology has
continued to grow and develop since that time.
7. Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with schools, teaching psychology, educational issues and
student concerns. Educational psychologists often study how students learn or work directly with students, parents, teachers
and administrators to improve student outcomes.
8. Experimental psychology is the branch of psychology that utilizes scientific methods to research the brain and behavior.
9. Forensic psychology is a specialty area that deals with issues related to psychology and the law. Forensic psychologists
perform a wide variety of duties, including providing testimony in court cases, assessing children in suspected child abuse
cases, preparing children to give testimony and evaluating the mental competence of criminal suspects.
10. Health psychology is a specialty area that focuses on how biology, psychology, behavior and social factors influence health
and illness. Other terms including medical psychology and behavioral medicine are sometimes used interchangeably with the
term health psychology.
LINGUISTICS--is the science of language, including the sounds or signs, words, and grammar rules. Words in languages
are finite, but sentences are not. It is this creative aspect of human language that sets it apart from animal languages, which
are essentially responses to stimuli.
 Variation and universality
While some theories on linguistics focus on the different varieties that language produces, among different sections of society,
others focus on the universal properties that are common to all human languages. The theory of variation therefore would
elaborate on the different usages of popular languages like French and English across the globe, as well as its smaller dialects and
regional permutations within their national boundaries. The theory of variation looks at the cultural stages that a particular language
undergoes, and these include the following.
 Lexicon-- The lexicon is a catalogue of words and terms that are stored in a speaker's mind.
 Discourse--A discourse is a way of speaking that emerges within a certain social setting and is based on a certain subject
matter. A particular discourse becomes a language variety when it is used in this way for a particular purpose, and is referred
to as a register.
 Dialect--A dialect is a variety of language that is characteristic of a particular group among the language speakers. The group
of people who are the speakers of a dialect are usually bound to each other by social identity. This is what differentiates a
dialect from a register or a discourse, where in the latter case; cultural identity does not always play a role.
 Structures--Linguistic structures are pairings of meaning and form. Any particular pairing of meaning and form is
a Saussurean sign. For instance, the meaning "cat" is represented worldwide with a wide variety of different sound patterns (in
oral languages), movements of the hands and face (in sign languages), and written symbols (in written languages).
Sub-fields that focus on a structure-focused study of language:
 Phonetics, the study of the physical properties of speech sound production and perception
 Phonology, the study of sounds as abstract elements in the speaker's mind that distinguish meaning (phonemes)
 Morphology, the study of morphemes, or the internal structures of words and how they can be modified
 Syntax, the study of how words combine to form grammatical phrases and sentences
 Semantics, the study of the meaning of words (lexical semantics) and fixed word combinations (phraseology), and how these
combine to form the meanings of sentences
 Pragmatics, the study of how utterances are used in communicative acts, and the role played by context and non-linguistic
knowledge in the transmission of meaning
 Discourse analysis, the analysis of language use in texts (spoken, written, or signed)
 Stylistics, the study of linguistic factors (rhetoric, diction, stress) that place a discourse in context
 Semiotics, the study of signs and sign processes (semiosis), indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism,
signification, and communication.
 Relativity--As constructed popularly through the "Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis", relativists believe that the structure of a particular
language is capable of influencing the cognitive patterns through which a person shapes his or her world view.
 Style--Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts for aspects of their linguistic and tonal style. Stylistic analysis entails
the analysis of description of particular dialects and registers used by speech communities. Stylistic features include rhetoric,
diction, stress, satire, irony, dialogue, and other forms of phonetic variations. Stylistic analysis can also include the study of
language in canonical works of literature, popular fiction, news, advertisements, and other forms of communication in popular
culture as well. It is usually seen as a variation in communication that changes from speaker to speaker and community to
community. In short, Stylistics is the interpretation of text.

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