EFFECTS OF APPLIED SOCIAL

SCIENCES
A. Increase Awareness and Knowledge
One of the effects of the applied social science process is the
increase of one’s awareness and knowledge. One common to the
three disciplines is that of education or educator.
In the context of today’s society—where access to information
has become an essential right and could lead to an individual, a
group, or a community’s progress and empowerment—the
importance of communication as an instrument and an area of
discipline cannot overemphasized. It is through communication. In
whatever form (verbal or non verbal) or medium (pamphlets,
newspapers, television, radio, or social media) that people are
informed and connected about what is happening in and around the
world. It is communication that help us disseminate knowledge and
raise our awareness about important issues in our society today.
 However, it is also important to remember that, despite how
it made our lives connected and more meaningful, there is a
need to exercise responsibility in terms of how we use these
communicative tools. For example, abuses in social media—
such as identity theft, cyber bullying, and online bashing and
harassment—have become quite common among youth.
Concerns about online security have forced governments to
enforce stricter measure., which lead other people to question
the effect of online surveillance and data storage on our right
to privacy. Further, there were already several studies on how
online environment brought about narcissistic tendencies.
Changes in the learning capabilities of the youth, and how it
propagates extreme political, cultural, and social ideologies.
This further shows that media and information literacy has
become an important component of our education.
B. Attitude and Value Change
Another effect of the applied social sciences process is
attitude and value change. But first, let us define attitude.
Recio (2010) defined attitude as a learned tendency to
evaluate classes of objects or people favorably or
unfavorably based on one’s beliefs and feelings. A learned
tendency leads to evaluating things in a certain way. This
can include evaluation of people, issues, objects, or events.
Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can
also be uncertain at times
Cherry (2015) said that in psychology, attitude refers to a
set of emotions, belief, and behaviors toward particular
object, person, thing, or event and are often the result or
experience or upbringing, both of which can have powerful
Cherry (2015) also suggest that there are several different
components that make up attitudes. These components of
attitudes are sometimes referred to as CAB or ABCs of attitude.
-Cognitive component—your thoughts and beliefs about the
subjects.
-Affective component—how the object, person, issue, or event
,makes you feel.
-Behavioral component—how the attitude influences your
behavior.
Attitude can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitude are
those that we are consciously aware of and that clearly influence
our behaviors and beliefs. Implicit attitudes, on the other hand,
are unconscious but still have an effect on our beliefs and
behaviors.
 Government and non-government institutions use various
communication campaigns to promote changes in values,
attitudes, and behavior. For example, we can educate the
community against the abuse of women and children using
movies , posters, or advertisements (through public service
announcements). Political ads can also swing sympathy to
public figures and sometimes influence the voters to consider
electing a particular candidate. Perhaps one of the best
examples of attitude change influenced by media is the
campaign for marriage equality by the LGBT community in the
United States. While there are still areas for improvement in
terms of how they are represented in contemporary mass
media. It cannot be denied that media’s portrayal of the LGBT
has also evolved to show more positive representations.
 Another where we can see how social sciences can bring about
changes in attitudes, values, and behavior is in Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management (DRRM) and Climate Change and
Adaption (CCA).
Our country is very much prone to all types of disasters, such
as typhoons, earthquake, and volcanic eruptions because of its
geographic location. It lies along the western segment of the
Pacific Ring of Fire, the most active part of the earth characterized
by an ocean-encircling belt of active volcanoes and earthquake
generators. It has 220 volcanoes, 22 are known to be currently
active. It also lies at the junction of two large converging tectonic
plates: the Pacific plate and Eurasian plate. Lastly, the Pacific Ring
of Fire lies in the path of turbulent typhoons. The archipelagic
nature of the Philippines coastal areas increases it susceptibility to
storm, surges, tsunamis, and sea level changes.
 The typhoons that we experience as time goes by has
gone stronger and stronger. Your parents and relatively older
siblings probably still remember typhoon Ondoy, which
submerged almost the entire Manila in 2009, and typhoon
Yolanda, which brought havoc in the Visayas in 2013.
a process of disaster risk management in which at rick
communities are actively engaged in the identification,
analysis, treatment, monitoring and evaluation of disaster
risks in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance their
capacities. This means that people are the heart of decision
making and implementation of the most vulnerable is
paramcunt and the support of the least vulnerable is
necessary. In CBDRM, local and national government are
involved and supportive.
 Again, in these aspects, communication will be very crucial. In order to solicit
the participation of the people in the community. It is imperative that they
understand the basic concepts of hazard risk, and vulnerability in relation to
disaster and the different phases of disaster risk reduction and management,
namely: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
As previously noted, communication as an instrument and a field of discipline
takes care on informing the people and rising awareness on certain issues.
This is especially true in times of crisis and disaster. In the aftermath of
typhoon Ondoy, aside from television and radio reports, rescue operations
were also aided by social media users who reported about flooded areas,
ordinary people who needed to be rescued, and even what kind of health is
needed. A well-planned and executed communication awareness campaign
also contributed a great a deal to the successful participation of people in the
annual earthquake drill being conducted be Metro Manila Development
Authority. To this end, with climate change being given attention by various
government, non-government, and even private institution, communication will
figure prominently in creating awareness and understanding about this issue.