DISCIPLINES OR

BRANCHES IN
THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES
 ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology is the study of ancient societies and their
cultural traditions. Anthropology came from the Greek
word anthropos meaning “humankind” and logos
meaning the “study”. Anthropology is also related to the
other disciplines of the social sciences. An examination of
the cultural practices of different groups and
communities require knowledge of the history of the
area where the people lived. There is also a need for
familiarity with the physical environment, the group’s
settlement patterns, the organization of their family life,
their system of government, and so on and so forth. It
has two broad fields, physical and cultural. Physical
anthropology studies the biological evolution of man.
Cultural anthropology, on the other hand, investigates
and seeks to understand the cultural features of
societies.
 Economics
Economics is the study of the efficient allocation of
scarce resources in order to satisfy unlimited human
needs and wants. The word Economics came from two
Greek words, oikkos meaning “home” and nomos
meaning “management”. A family faces the challenge of
managing their limited income to satisfy the needs and
wants of its members. The same is true with society as a
whole. Economics resources that can be use to produce
goods and services are called factors of production. It is
classified into four categories: land, labor, capital, and
entrepreneurship. Land is anything that comes from
nature and which gives life and support to all living
creatures. Labor refers to any human effort exerted
during the production process which includes physical
exertion, application of skills or talent or exercise of
intellectual faculties. Capital refers to anything that can
be use to create or manufacture goods and services.
Entrepreneurship, which is not traditionally considered
to be a factor of production, is now thought to be an
indispensable aspects.
 GEOGRAPHY
Geography studies the interaction between the natural
environment and the people living in it. It acts as a bridge
between natural science and social science. Geography
comes from two greek words : geo meaning earth and
grapos meaning charting or mapping. Geography is
divided into two main branches: physical and human.
Physical geography studies the natural features of the
earth, like climate, water, vegetation, and soil. Human
geography studies human population and and the impact
of its activities on the planet. The ancient people have
been dabbling with geography even before the term was
invented. The Babylonians were able to draw a map that
clearly identifies their location in Mesopotamia. Homer’s
llliad and the odyssey also contain a lot of geographical
information even thought they are fictional works. The
interest is partly stimulated by the extensive travels of
alexander the great. The pioneer in the field is
Eratosthenes of cyrene, who is the head of the great
library at Alexandria and royal tutor to the king Ptolemy
IV.
 HISTORY
History is traditionally regarded as the study of the
recorder past. It come from the Greek noun lotopia or
historia, meaning “learning”. As used by the greek
philosopher Aristotle, history meant a systematic
account of a set of natural phenomena, whether or not
chronological ordering was a factor in the account. The
discipline attempts to reconstruct the past given the
available sources. There are two types of historical
sources: primary and secondary. A primary source is a
testimony of an eye witness or an account of someone
who has first hand information on the subject. It has to
be written or recounted by someone who is
contemporary. A primary source does not have to be an
original source it can be rewritten, recopied or translated
version. Even during the ancient times people have
always had a sense for a history. This is evidenced by the
need to record events that happen in their lives whether
said events are special or ordinary.
 LINGUISTICS
Linguistics came from the latin word lingua meaning
“language”. The discipline studies the nature of language
through an examination of the formal properties of
natural language, grammar, and the process of language
acquisition. Phonetics is the study of speech sounds. The
study of speech sound pattern is called phonology.
Morphology is the study of how words are categorized or
formed while syntax is the study of how words are
combined to form a sentence. Syntax also categorizes
types of phrases and types of sentences. Semantics is the
study of meaning-making. The short phrase, “oh, please,”
would have an entirely different meaning if it was done
in a felicitous manner or if it was said in a harsh tone. It is
led by the sophists of classical Greece who have given
young, wealthy greek men an education in the art of
public speaking, which in turn they can use to vie for
public position.
 POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political science is the study of politics, power, and
government. The word politics comes from the greek
word politea, or a person who participates in the polis.
Engagement in the polis means taking part in its decision-
making, which normally takes place in the agora, or the
market place, where new laws are passed or
disseminated under the scrutiny of the entire
community. Politics is the process of using power in the
government, while power is the means for the
government to rule the people. Government is the
authority or the bureaucracy that provides the system of
rule over its territory and for its people. Aristotle’s book
entitled Politics is considered a pioneer in the field of
political inquiry. The book makes the connection
between the happiness and virtue of the political
community to the people’s participation in politics. His
analysis on the causes of revolution and what prevents it
have been a source of inspiration to other political
thinkers like John Locke and John Stuart Mill.
 PSYCHOLOGY
It is in the interest of society to understand how its
people think and why they behave in a certain way. This
includes the physical state and the mental state and how
this all relates to the environment of the individual. It
comes from two Greek words, Psyche meaning “soul” or
“holy spirit”, and logos meaning “study”. Psychology is
divided into three major fields: clinical, development,
and experimental. Clinical psychology assesses and finds
treatment for people with psychological disorders.
Developmental psychology study the intellectual, social,
emotional and moral development across a lifespan.
Experimental psychology studies the most basic concepts
of psychology like cognition, perception, memory, and
learning but mostly conducted on animals.
 SOCIOLOGY
It is the systematic study of human society. It comes from
the latin word socius meaning “friend” or “companion”
and the greek word logos meaning “study”. Sociology
studies how people relate to each other ‘and how they
work as a whole in the larger society. “We begin to think
sociologically how the general categories into which we
fall shape our particular life experiences”. Sociology was
born as a result of powerful and complex economic and
social forces. Factory life pulled people away from their
homes, changed their work schedules, and weakened
their family.
 DEMOGRAPHY
Demography is the study of human population. It comes
from two ancient greek words, demos meaning “the
people” and graphos meaning “charting or mapping”.
The discipline also studies how people move from place
to place. Population also affected by mortality, or the
incidence of death in a country’s population, another
factor that affects population signs is migration.