Types of Social Sciences

"Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals." ~ Oscar Wilde

Man is a social animal and hence studying the areas, which are of social importance, is of utmost importance. There exists a separate branch of science that deals with subjects, which deal with the inter-society and intra-society associations of human civilizations and the surrounding elements.

What are social sciences?

Before we get to the history of social sciences, or the various branches of social sciences, it is very important to know what social sciences exactly are. Social sciences are described as a discipline of science that deals with subjects that concern the study of social life of human groups and individuals. Social sciences often include subjects like anthropology, communication studies, criminology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, social studies and sociology.

History of Social Sciences

Several civilizations have contributed to the development of this branch of science. In ancient Greece the philosophers and scientists had little difference between the various scientific disciplines, but worked in areas that could fall under social science subjects like history, poetry or politics. The next reference in the history of social sciences can be that of Augustine of Hippo’s work titles City of God in the fifth century AD, which can be called a comprehensive account of late Roman culture. The Muslim scientists of the Islamic civilization also made some significant contributions in the history of social sciences. Among the noted ones were the Al-Biruni, who is known as the first anthropologist and Ibn Khaldun who is considered as the father of historiography, demography, philosophy of history and sociology. Then came the era of the European Age of Enlightment, which saw significant contributions from several philosophers, scientists and researchers like Thomas Hobbes and Isaac Newton, Blaise Pascal, Gottfried Leibniz and Johannes Kepler.

However, the term ‘social science’ was coined by William Thompson in the 1824 in the book An Inquiry into the Principles of the Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to Human Happiness; applied to the Newly Proposed System of Voluntary Equality of Wealth. The nineteenth century saw philosophers and scientists like Charles Darwin who proposed the Theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel who is considered as the father of genetics. With the arrival of twentieth century, scientists were already applying mathematical and statistical methods to collect data and draw inferences in fields like sociology, biology and economics. This was the time that witnessed the brilliance of the Austrian scientists Sigmund Freud, who is known for his psychoanalytic theories, research methods and his work in psychotherapy. Some other notable scientists that made significant contributions in the field of social sciences were William James, John Dewey, Charles Sanders Peirce and Theodore Porter.

Types of Social Sciences

There are several branches of social sciences which are discussed below in detail.

Anthropology

Anthropology is a social science, which includes several different aspects of social sciences like archeology, physical or biological anthropology, archaeology, ethnography, anthropological linguistics and also ethnography. Fundamentally, anthropology is based on four fundamental branches or pillar of anthropology, which are physical anthropology, socio-cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology. Physical anthropology, also known as biological anthropology involves the study of human evolution and adaptability, population genetics, primatology and also subjects like paleoanthropology, anthropometrics, forensic anthropology, osteology and nutritional anthropology. Physical anthropology basically aims to study the physical aspects of human beings. Socio-cultural anthropology deals with understanding the social and cultural organization of people and deals with sub-fields like psychological anthropology, anthropology of religion, cultural studies, anthropology of media and cyberspace, ethnic studies. Linguistic anthropology is a branch that deals with understanding the process of human communication. Archaeology is a branch of anthropology that deals with study of human cultures and civilizations by recovery, documentation, analysis and interpretation of ancient material remains as well as environmental data.

Economics

Economics is a branch of social sciences that aims to study the production, distribution and consumption of wealth. Economics is further categorized into two broad divisions, which are microeconomics and macroeconomics. The branch of microeconomics deals with how individuals, households and firms take decisions to allocate limited resources and thus it covers the gist of economics activities dealing with issues like inflation, growth, unemployment, and taxation levels. On the other hand Macroeconomics understands and studies the economy as a whole. Macroeconomics considers the factors affecting long term levels and growth of national income like capital accumulation, labor force and technological developments. Read more about Principles of Economics

History

History is a discipline of science, which deals with the study of past of human race, with regard to scientific discoveries, important events, which have been documented, and the archaeological evidences. Specific areas in the field of history deal with the study of events and developments in particular time periods or geographical or regional historical studies. In addition to these, there are also sub-fields like social history, diplomatic history, gender history and even history of people. The methods and tools used in historical studies include contemporaneous corroboration, prospography and historical revisionism. Nowadays portrayal of history on film is also considered as a documented record of history. In addition documented logs and observations regarding social changes are some of the commonly used methods for historical studies.

Communication

If it hadn’t been for communication, human civilizations wouldn’t have evolved. The study of communication is also included under the umbrella of social sciences. There are a number of aspects about communication, which are being studied in addition to the exploration of new ideas and avenues. Communication is thus a very important aspect of our everyday lives, be it something as simple as an informal chat with your friend, a phone call or even a business meeting. Read more about the History of Communication, and the Types of Communication.

Education

One of the basic needs of man after food shelter and clothing remains the education. Education is a very reason for evolution of human species, the reason why we developed from the archaic ages and have reached an era of computers and high-technology gadgets and gizmos. The importance of education cannot be stressed enough, since it forms the basis of the developing human civilizations. It is one of the core branches of knowledge that is essential for the process of passing on the wisdom from one generation to another. The field of education includes teaching and learning specific skills, but more important is that it involves mastering the art of disseminating knowledge, balanced judgment and creating responsible citizens through the process of all-round education. The field of education is not only limited to the art of pedagogy but it also makes uses of other sciences like psychology, philosophy, computers science, neuroscience, linguistics, anthropology as well as sociology. Read more about Purpose of Education and Early Childhood Education.

Psychology

The branch that deals with the study of the human mind – psychology is a very important social science which is also useful in several other branches of science. Read more information about History of Psychology, Psychology and Research methods in psychology, Children Psychology or Forensic Psychology.

Political Science

Political science has been one of the major subjects under the branch of social sciences. Political science is the discipline that studies the theories and practice of politics. It also involves in-depth analysis of political systems and patterns in political behavior. Political science includes subjects like international relations, political theory, public policies, national politics, public administration as well as comparative politics. There are distinct philosophies that are used in the studies of political sciences. Some of the popular philosophies used in political science are classical political philosophy, interpretivism, structuralism, behaviorism, pluralism, realism and institutionalism. Read more information about Government and Politics.

Geography

Geography is classified into two different disciplines – human geography and physical geography. Human geography deals with how space is created, viewed and managed by human beings. While physical geography focuses on the natural environment which includes climate, vegetation, life, soil, water and even landforms. There also exists a third field called environmental geography, which combines the two branches and studies the interaction between human beings and environment. Human geography involves understanding the processes that shape human interaction with the environment. Broadly defined, human geography is a branch of science, which deals with the causes, and consequences of spatial distribution of human activity on the earth. The various sub-fields that are included under human geography are cultural geography, development geography, economic geography, health geography, historical geography, political geography, population geography, urban geography and tourism geography. On the other hand physical geography is the branch that deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment. Physical geography thus has sub branches, which deal with the various elements in the environment. Geomorphology, hydrology, glaciology, biogeography, climatology, pedology, palaeogeography, coastal geography, oceanography, quaternary science, landscape ecology, geomatics and environmental geography are the sub-fields that fall under physical geography.

Law

Law is one of the important branches of social sciences. The study of law deals with study of the law structure and the implied legal policies. It also incorporates case studies in the past and social patterns for possibilities of formulation of new laws. The study of law basically deals with legal subjects, legal systems, legal theories and legal institutions. Legal subjects include subjects like international law, constitution and administrative law, criminal law, contract law, tort law, property law, equity and trusts. This studies of legal systems include civil law, common law and equity, religious law and various jurisdictions. Legal theories include study of history of law, philosophy of law, economic analysis of law as well as the sociology of law. Law studies also include study of various legal institutions and branches like judicial law, legislative law, executive law, military laws and ethics of the legal profession. Read more information about Lawyers.

Linguistics

Linguistics is a branch of social sciences that deals with cognitive and social aspects of human languages. Conventionally linguistics is divided into four major areas, which are syntax, semantics, phonetics and phonology. Syntax is the study of rules that governs sentence structure. Semantics is the study of meaning of words, phonetics is the study of speech sounds and phonology is the study of abstract sound system of a particular language. New areas in this field include subjects like evolutionary linguistics, which involves study of origin and evolution of languages and psycholinguistics, which deals with psychological factors in the human languages. Read more about Linguistic Intelligence

Social Work: Social work is also considered as a branch of social sciences. Read more about Social Work.

Sociology

Sociology can be defined as the study of societies and human social behavior. Sociology generally includes social rules and processes and in-dept analysis of social interactions. It often involves study of social lives of people, groups and societies. Sociological studies make use of various research and data collection methods. Some of the commonly used methods include case studies, historical research, participant observation, interviewing, surveys, social network analysis and even model building. There are a vast number of sub-fields that can be included under sociology. Some examples of these sub-fields are clinical sociology, business sociology, childhood sociology, art sociology, economic sociology, political sociology, rural sociology and urban sociology.