Social Sciences are the study of human society at large in a variety of fields. These include anthropology, sociology, economics, history, geography, and psychology. The social sciences generally deal with how people live in their societies. They also emphasize social change and economic systems in order to explain why things are what they are.
The social sciences focus on the patterns which form the system of values, beliefs, and practices of a group or population.
The following topics fall under the social sciences:
Sociology - social structure, culture, and stratification.
- social structure, culture, and stratification. Anthropology – physical features, behaviors, interactions, customs, and beliefs.
- physical features, behaviors, interactions, customs, and beliefs. Economics – production, distribution, prices, wages, investments, savings, consumer demand and preferences, balance of payments, and taxes.
– production, distribution, prices, wages, investments, savings, consumer demand and preferences, balance of payments, and taxes. Politics - political organization, governments, elections, political parties, leadership, conflict resolution, state formation, political science.
- political organization, governments, elections, political parties, leadership, conflict resolution, state formation, political science. Psychology - personality, learning, memory, perception, thinking, emotion, motivation, cognition (thinking and behavior).
- personality, learning, memory, perception, thinking, emotion, motivation, cognition (thinking and behavior). Geography - landscape, climate, topography, terrain, plant life.
- landscape, climate, topography, terrain, plant life. Astronomy - space, galaxy, other solar system.
- space, galaxy, other solar system. Earth Science (Habitation/habitat) - physical features, ecology, living organisms, ecosystems, etc.
- physical features, ecology, living organisms, ecosystems, etc. Space Studies and Remote Sensing - objects, locations, processes, satellites, probes, earth observation.
- objects, locations, processes, satellites, probes, earth observation. Physical Geography - topography, geologic, land use, terrain, climatic conditions, weather, natural disasters, natural resources.
- topography, geologic, land use, terrain, climatic conditions, weather, natural disasters, natural resources. Biogeography - environmental processes, ecosystems, animals, habitats, ecosystems, communities, biomes.
- environmental processes, ecosystems, animals, habitats, ecosystems, communities, biomes. Astrophysics and Particle Physics - astronomy, particle physics; cosmology.
- astronomy, particle physics; cosmology. Human Evolution - evolution, biological evolution, genetics, physiology, adaptation, brain development, gender differences, family structures.
Social scientists work to understand and describe the interrelationships between individuals and groups in society. This knowledge is especially important in the current age of heightened diversity and multiculturalism. Understanding these relationships enables one to predict and control the future outcomes of policy decisions and programs. As such, social scientists provide vital information for public policy, government agencies, nonprofits, corporations, and educational institutions in general. The basic principles that guide this approach are as follows:
Theory – scientific method applied to real-world situations.
– scientific method applied to real-world situations. Methods – research, case studies, observations, interviews, etc.
– research, case studies, observations, interviews, etc. Results – conclusions.
– conclusions. Interpretation– interpretation and application of theory to new situations.
– interpretation and application of theory to new situations. Application – practical applications for policy or for making decisions by governmental, non-governmental organizations, firms, etc.
– practical applications for policy or for making decisions by governmental, non-governmental organizations, firms, etc. Critique – assessment of findings.
In recent years, researchers have started asking themselves “what happens when?” or “is it all just that?”. In the absence of an overarching framework, many questions arise in attempts to answer this question. Questions like: Does social justice really exist? Or does it just happen when we think about injustice? Does power and privilege translate into actual influence in our lives? Is inequality even possible? What if there are no inequalities? How do you actually know that society is fair when things are so random and complex? And more importantly—or perhaps I should say never actually, but I do think it’s relevant—is this kind of analysis useful in determining how best to improve the world? We tend to believe that there’s some sort of universal moral code which everyone must follow, that whatever we’re doing is somehow immoral if not intrinsically evil, or at least unjust if it somehow involves hurting anyone. But when we consider “what happens when?”, it becomes clear that there can truly be no ethical absolutist approach, because it simply cannot account for all of reality. There can be no perfect system, since perfection doesn’t exist in the first place. So while there may be some laws against unfairness, there likely won’t be any that prohibit every single person from being able to get up in the morning and make their own luck. Perhaps there are certain actions that are universally accepted as morally acceptable, yet individuals may disagree with them. It would be strange if the majority of mankind lived a life full of equality, and everyone was equal, regardless of sex, race, religion, age, status, location, ability, or social class. On the contrary, individuals may argue over whether someone has been denied access to education, healthcare, housing or employment, on the basis of how much money they have. When considering “what happens when?”, all of humanity is subjected to the same kinds of discrimination-based prejudice, and individuals from different social classes will feel differently because of that. For instance, women, minorities, immigrants, the poor, foreigners, the educated, the wealthy, children of parents with high levels of wealth, and individuals who experience homelessness will encounter very separate treatment than the others. All of humanity will have an effect on each other. If individuals see something as unfair, they will notice it in another person and experience some level of bias. An individual may find that their situation is unfair, regardless of how they view the situation, and may look to the fact of inequality for comfort. A biased individual will also look to the facts of unequal distribution of resources and opportunity, and may take advantage of an uneven playing field and seek to exploit those opportunities. Even though we’ve all had experiences of discrimination, most people are unwilling to admit it, despite knowing the true nature of it. That’s because there’s often a lot of internalized stigma associated with feeling socially vulnerable in a particular way, and because many of us are already conditioned to believe that our circumstances are beyond your control. Thus, our sense of fairness is tied to our own belief that we are part of a larger community and that no amount of external factors are going to affect us. Yet within that society there are certain characteristics of people who appear in higher ranks, and they are more likely to exhibit a pattern of fairness or injustice. This pattern of unfairness or justice can then become an idea that permeates society. Individuals may interpret unfairness or justice in any number of ways, and people will begin to believe that there can only be two solutions to a problem: “just” and “right”. However, once an attitude takes hold, the solution itself becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Moreover, once an issue takes off, it can spread like wildfire through an entire country. To stop an uprising from taking hold, we need a comprehensive understanding of its roots, and we need to learn how to break society down so that people aren’t pushed into accepting either side of a social issue because of personal desire to either side. A good starting point is to analyze the prevalence data on the problems that occur in various regions of the U.S., where we can identify the common causes that have become politicized “the right way” or “just the wrong way”. Once these underlying problems are identified, we can start to develop and advance specific policies (or even propose a whole range of social policy ideas) that address those key issues in some meaningful way that addresses the root causes of inequity and injustice. We simply can’t expect to solve each of these kinds of problems by fixing everything, or addressing every kind of societal imbalance at once. Instead, we need to create a systematic lens that focuses on a very specific, localized set of issues at a time, before moving on to tackle the many problems which come along with it. Only when we break down the big picture enough can we truly hope to achieve lasting positive results.
