The Social sciences study societies , As well as the behavior of people and their influence in the world, in its broadest sense.
In other words, the social sciences are a group of disciplines that examine the interactions between people and how these interactions give rise to cultures. History, economics, and political science are social sciences.
From this definition, it can be understood that the social sciences study different aspects of a society, from events that occurred in the past to human behavior and relationships between individuals. From this it follows that the field of study of these sciences is very broad.
However, the social sciences are divided into disciplines that are responsible for studying a more specific object. Below is a list of these disciplines and their respective objects.
The social sciences belong to a field of study separate from the natural sciences. You may also be interested in The branches of science .
Disciplines that study the social sciences
1 - Demography
Demography is the statistical study of populations and their changes and trends. This discipline takes into account qualitative and quantitative aspects of populations, with qualitative aspects being sociological factors such as education, life expectancy, criminality and social classes present in the population.
On the other hand, the quantitative aspects are the composition, distribution, density, growth and movement of the population.
2- Human Geography
Human geography studies the different ways in which people, communities and cultures develop, as well as the way in which they act, taking into account the environment that surrounds them.
It differs from physical geography by focusing on the activities that human beings do and their impact on the environment in which they live.
Human geography can be divided into subdisciplines, which have an even more specific object of study.
For example, economic geography is responsible for the study of economic activities developed by a group of individuals. The urban geography studies the relations of these groups in metropolitan areas, whereas the regional geography has the same object at the state level.
3- Economy
The word economy comes from the Greek and means"administration of wealth". However, with the passage of time, the object of study of this science has expanded.
Today, economic sciences study how individuals interact within a social structure to solve situations related to the production and exchange of goods and services.
4- Education
Education is considered by some authors as one of the most important social sciences.
The education sciences constitute a field that studies and applies the processes of teaching and learning to contribute in the development of thinking citizens.
5- Linguistics
Language is human consists of a set of structured knowledge and skills that allow the speakers of a language to communicate with other users who share the same code.
Linguistics is the science that focuses on the study of language in all its aspects, beginning with how a language is structured.
In the same way, linguistics studies the acquisition of language, how it is used and how it evolves over time.
In turn, this science is responsible for answering other questions about languages and language, for example: what properties do the languages used by different communities around the world have in common?
6- Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humans, which involves describing them, explaining their origin and evolution, as well as the differences that exist between one individual and another.
In the same way, anthropologists are responsible for studying the customs, values and social patterns of different cultures, which may belong to the present or to the past.
The field of study of anthropology focuses on the understanding of the biological and cultural conditions that determine human beings.
Anthropology is based on the belief that individuals are conditioned by their physical structure (biological conditions) and by the satisfaction of needs (cultural conditions).
Anthropological sciences are subdivided into disciplines such as archeology, biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology and linguistic anthropology.
Archeology
This discipline is responsible for the study of remains left by humans found in archaeological excavations in order to understand the functioning of these ancient civilizations.
Biological Anthropology
Biological anthropology studies the origin and evolution of human beings while analyzing the influence of biology on the development of a culture and vice versa.
Sociocultural Anthropology
Sociocultural anthropology is responsible for studying the customs, traditions and cultures of certain groups within a given context (for example, studying the traditions of a rural society).
Linguistic Anthropology
This branch of anthropology studies the history of a language, as well as its importance and evolution within a culture.
7- Psychology
The word"psychology"comes from the Greek terms"psyche"and"lodge", which mean"soul"and"study"respectively.
In this sense, psychology studies the human mind and seeks to explain how people and groups perceive the world through emotions, ideas or states of consciousness.
This field of knowledge is responsible for the study of the behavior of human beings and how this behavior is related to different mental processes.
8- Sociology
Sociology is in charge of the study of groups of human beings and not of isolated individuals. It is the work of sociology to understand human relationships and how they allow the creation of societies and social groups.
Similarly, sociologists analyze the structure of these societies to determine how individuals interact within them.
9- History
The history Is a branch of knowledge that is responsible for studying, analyzing and interpreting the past. Like other sciences, history can be divided into more specialized subdisciplines.
For example, there are historians who are dedicated to the study of a single country, a region or a specific historical period.
References
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- Human Geography. Retrieved on March 9, from: dictionary.cambridge.org.
- What is Economics? - Why Study Economics? Retrieved on March 9, from: whystudyeconomics.ac.uk.
- What is Science Education? Retrieved on March 9, from: igi-global.com.
- What is Anthropology? Retrieved on March 9, from: txtstate.edu.
- What is Linguistics. Retrieved on March 9, from: linguistics.ucsc.edu.
- Nordqvist, Christian (2015). What is psychology? What are the branches of psychology? Retrieved on March 9, from: simplypsychology.org.
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