Chapter I: Course Introduction

The Applied Social Sciences

The social sciences investigate human society and the
different forces that operate within it. The different
disciplines of the social sciences look at human societies in
diverse perspectives and focus on a particular area of
expertise in analysis.
 Economics, political science, sociology, geography, anthropology,
psychology, demography, and history are the different branches of
the social sciences.
 These disciplines provide social scientists with the relevant
knowledge, tools, and skills that can help them to fully understand
social phenomena.
 The applied social sciences, on the other hand, focuses on the
practical application in real-life settings of the diverse theories,
frameworks, concepts, and methodologies learned from the social
sciences.
 Complete the data retrieval chart. Classify the following disciplines and categorize
them if they belong to the Pure Social Science or to the Applied Social Sciences.

Disciplines to be Categorized
Economics Political Science
Counseling History
Geography Social Work
Psychology Anthropology
Sociology Demography
Communication
 1 1

8 2 8 2

Pure
Applied
7 Social 3
7 Social 3 Sciences
Sciences

6 4
6 4
5
5
 Social Science is an important field of study that allows humans to study the
different aspects of society.
 The social sciences are vast fields of scientific studies that investigate
human societies and the different forces that work within them. These
diverse fields examine how people interact and develop culture.
 The social sciences is made up of several disciplines and theses include history,
political science, sociology, psychology, economics, geography, demography,
anthropology, and linguistics.
 As a body of scientific knowledge, the social sciences provide a diverse sets of lens that
help us understand and explain the different facets of human society. The varieties of
lens that social sciences study refer to the different fields of the social sciences that
investigate human society.
 Each field of the social sciences uses a unique set of lens compromised of a body of
concepts, theories, frameworks, and methodologies that help us understand and study
the multifarious forces that constitute and affect human society.
How does the photo explain the nature and significance of the social science
disciplines?
 Economics studies the allocation
of scarce resources and the
production and exchange of
goods and services in society.
 Economics endeavors to
understand and explain human
activities in relation to the
production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and
services.
 As a discipline of the social
sciences, economics analyzes the
supply and demand principles,
economic fluctuations, savings and
investments and costs and prices.
 Economics has different subfields.
 Environmental economics studies the
allocation of natural resources.
 Labor economics focuses on the study of
the decision-making and behaviors of
employees and the relationship between
employers and their employees.
 Business economics examines the
behavior of companies and firms by
studying the factors that result in profit
maximization, price setting, production
goals, and the role of incentives.
 Monetary economics on the other hand,
studies the nation’s production, inflation,
income, interest rates, and monetary
policies.
 Anthropology is the scientific study of
humans and their cultures in the past
and present time.
 To understand complexity of cultures
across all human history, anthropology
draws and builds upon knowledge drawn
from the social and biological sciences and
the humanities and physical sciences.
 Its studies are commonly associated with
the study of the culture or preliterate and
unindustrialized societies.
 A major concern of anthropology is
the application of knowledge to help
solve problems through the study of
culture.
 Anthropologists are trained in different
areas, namely, sociocultural anthropology,
biological or physical anthropology,
archaeology, and anthropological
linguistics.
 Cultural anthropology studies the
development of human cultures based on
ethnologic, linguistic, social, and
psychological data of analysis (Repko, p.
67).
 It explains how people in other societies
lives and the effects of their environments to
their respective lives.
 Physical anthropology studies human
biological nature, particularly its
beginning, evolution, and variation in
prehistory.
 Archaeology studies human life in the past
through the examination of things left
behind by the people.
 Anthropological linguistics studies
language and their relationship to the
cultures in which they are used.
 History is a systematic study of human
past events in order to understand the
meaning, dynamics, and relationship of
the cause and effects of events in the
development of societies.
 It is derived from the Greek word historia,
which means “inquiry” or “investigation”. As
a social science, history focuses on the
reconstruction and recreation of past events
as they actually happened through the use
of primary and secondary resources.
 Primary resources refer to the eyewitness
accounts and contemporaneous accounts
about event. They also use secondary
sources or evidences that are not eye-
witness accounts and are based from the
primary resources.
 History has several subfields.
 Political history studies the history of political
institutions.
 Economic history studies the development of
economic institutions and other economic factors.
 Social history studies the history of ordinary lives
of people like women, children, ethnic groups, and
the different sectors of society from a historical
point of view.
 Environmental history looks into the history of
the interaction of humans with the environment.
 History of medicines and public health examines
the history of public health and human medicine.
 Business history studies the history of the
development of businesses, companies, and
industries.
 Biographies, on the other hand, studies the history
of great person in history.
 Political science primarily studies
human behavior in relation to political
systems, governments, laws, and
international relations.
 It examines the relationship between
people and policy at all levels from the
individual to the national and
international levels.
 Has several fields of study.
 Domestic politics studies public opinion,
elections, national and local governments.
 Comparative politics studies politics within
countries and analyzes the similarities and
differences between and among countries.
 International relations focuses on
the study of political relationship
and interaction between and among
countries.
 Political theory studies classical
political philosophy and
contemporary theories.
 Public administrations studies
national and local and governance
and bureaucracy.
 Public law examines legal systems,
civil rights, and criminal justices.
 Psychology studies how the
human mind works in
consonance with the body to
produce thoughts that lead to
individual actions.
 Psychology analyzes how people
and groups experience the world
through various emotions, ideas and
in different conscious states.
 It has different subfields.
 Experimental psychology studies
the behavior of humans and animals
and examines how and why learning
takes place.
 Developmental psychology
studies the ways people change
and behave as they go through
their life.
 Personality psychology studies
human nature and differences
among people.
 Social psychology looks into the
behavior of people in groups.
 Environmental psychology
studies the effects of
surroundings on a person’s
attitude and behavior.
 Sociology is a systematic study of people’s
behavior in groups.
 Derived from Latin word socio which means
“people together’ and logos which means “the
study of.”
 One of the most diverse fields of the social
sciences.
 There are numerous subfields that one can
pursue and specialize as a sociology major.
 Applied sociology focus on the use and proper
application of sociological theories, methods and
skills to examine data, solve problems and
communicate research on the public.
 Urban sociology studies societal life and
interactions in urban areas through the
application of sociological methods like statistical
analysis and ethnographies.
 Cultural sociology analyzes the development of
social institutions, norms and practices.
 Rural sociology studies the social life of
people in rural areas.
 Medical sociology examines the societal
aspects of health and medicine of people.
 Sociology of education analyzes how
social forces and institutions like politics,
economic systems, and cultural affects
schools and educational systems.
 Political sociology examines how social
structures affects and influences politics.
 Military sociology is a sociological study
of the military organization, and the
different civilian and military
relationships, war experiences, and the
use and control of force.
 Geography is the study of the interaction between people and
their environments.
 Derived from the Greek words: geo meaning “Earth” and graphos
meaning “charting” or “mapping”
 Explores both the physical properties of Earth’s surface and
their relationship with human societies.
 Two main branches of geography.
 Physical geography studies the natural features of the earth
including land, water, and atmosphere.
 Human geography on the other hand, studies how people create
cultures in their natural environments.
 According to the Max Planck Institute for Demographic
Research (2016), demography is the scientific study of human
populations across time.
 It examines the changes in population growth through the
analysis of statistics on birth, human movement, and
morbidity, and agedness, and mortality.
 One of the most important subfield of demography is
population studies or social demography.
 Social demography analyze demographic data to define, explain,
and foresee social phenomena. It also studies social-status
composition and population distribution.
 The applied social sciences was introduced as a reaction to the highly
segmented and compartmentalized division of the social science
disciplines that dominated western research training during the 1990s
and until the end of the twentieth century.
 Scholars from the social sciences argued that there is a need for more
cooperation within the different disciplines of the social sciences.
 This means that the different fields of the social sciences must
effectively work together in addressing issues. This multidisciplinary
approach to the study of different issues in society became the main
focus and beginnings of the applied social sciences.
 Compared to the social sciences that focus on the theoretical study, the
applied social sciences focus on the use and application of the different
concepts, theoretical models, and theories of the social science
disciplines to help understand society problems and issues it faces.
 The applied social is utilized to provide alternative solutions to the
diverse problems of society (Gouldner, 1989).
Applied social scientist can use his/her training in
different real-life work settings.
 Having been exposed to the different theories, concepts,
methodologies, and frameworks of the different fields of the
social sciences, an applied social scientist has diverse
functions and careers where he/she can apply his learning
and skills.
 There are three main career tracks for applied social
science scientist. These include:
 (1) Counseling
 (2) Social Work; and
 (3) Communications
 What is counseling? Why do you think counseling is considered a
discipline of the applied social sciences?
 Counseling is one of the fields of the applied social sciences.
As an application of the social sciences, counseling provides
guidance, help, and support to individuals who are distraught by
a diverse set of problems in their lives.
 Through counseling, professional guidance is given to an individual
and this is done by applying psychological methods like collection of
case history data, personal interviews, and aptitude tests. Counseling
can be done by guidance counselors, life coaches, career counselors,
and personal growth counselors.
 Guidance counseling and life coaching are applications of the
social sciences and in these professions, expert help are
given to individuals who needed guidance or advice
pertaining to their business successes, general conditions and
personal life transitions, relationships and career.
 A life coach analyzes the present condition of the client,
discovers different obstacles or challenges that a client faces,
and provides a certain course of action to make the client’s life
better.
 Career counseling is needed by people who are in the process of
entering the job market, searching for possible career change,
or those wanting career advancements.
 Personal growth counseling concentrates on evaluation of the
different aspects of a client’s life. A good personal growth
counselor takes time to integrate the client’s past and present to
develop one’s future plans and goals in life.
 In this form of counseling, the practitioner incorporates the techniques
and approaches of life and career counseling with investigative work.
 Why is social work is
considered a
discipline of the
applied social
sciences? How do
social workers help
members of society?
 Social work is another professional activity of the applied social sciences.
Having been trained in the social sciences to interact and understand
social realities, an applied social science practitioner has a good
theoretical and conceptual foundation for social work practice.
 In social work, practitioners help individuals, families, groups, and
communities to improve their individual and collective well-being.
 Through social work, people enhance their skills and ability so that they can
use their own resources and of the community to resolve social problems.
 Social work does not only deal with individual and personal problems but it
also addresses social issues such as poverty, unemployment, and domestic
violence.
 Social workers play different roles and duties in society.
 They can involved in advocacy campaign and work, counseling, issue and conflict
mediation, and research.
 They can also serve as educators, case managers, facilitators, and agents of
community change.
 Why
communication
studies
considered a
discipline of the
applied social
sciences?
 The applied social sciences provide adequate training for careers
in the communication industry. One example of careers in the
community industry is in the field of mass media.
 In the news and current affairs department of major television and radio
networks, for example, practitioners stress the importance of balance,
objective, truthful and creative rendering of the news and other important
events as they actually happened.
 Practitioners in the applied social sciences have enough training in this
area because they are equipped with theories and concepts about
communication that allows them to understand and inform the public about
the social, political, cultural and economic realities.
 Communication practitioners are equipped with skills to write, produce
and deliver news accurately and creatively to the viewing public.
 In the entertainment industry, there is great need to
understand the needs and consumption patterns of the
viewing public. It necessary to cope up with the changing
demands of the viewers in order to get the audience’s
attention and product choices and preferences.
 The applied social sciences prove to be important in this aspect
of the communication industry because a strong foundation in
the study of the people’s viewing and consuming behavior and
patterns are emphasized in this multidisciplinary field through
the application of knowledge and methodologies learned from
the field of economics, sociology, anthropology, psychology.
Complete the data table to compare and contrast the social sciences and the applied
social sciences.
Criteria Social Sciences Applied Social Sciences

Definition
Major concerns of
study
Functions and roles of
practitioners in
addressing issues and
problems of society

Subfields or disciplines
 Answer the following essay questions .
1. Why are social sciences relevant in understanding the diverse
conditions and problems of society?
2. Can you explain the importance of applied social sciences in
understanding individual, group, organizational issue to explain
your answer.
3. How would you compare the functions and roles of a social
scientist and an applied social sciences?
4. How do you reconcile the main concerns of a social sciences and
the applied social sciences?
5. Explain why the following are considered as subfields of the
applied social sciences?
 Make a poster that explains the intersection and
differences of the social sciences and the applied social
sciences. The poster must explain through drawing the
following:
1. The different fields of the social sciences and the applied social
sciences
2. The differences of the social sciences and the applied social
sciences
3. The intersection of the concerns of the social sciences and the
applied social sciences
4. The relevance of the social sciences and the applied social
sciences in understanding individual and group members of
society.
 Produce a group infomercial that will promote awareness to the public about
the importance work and functions of a social scientists and an applied social
sciences practitioner. The infomercial must also explained the main differences
of a social scientist and an applied social science practitioner.
Mechanics:
1. The class will be divided into groups.
2. Each group must brainstorm and discuss the contents of their infomercial.
3. The infomercial must be able to highlight the important work and functions of a
social scientist and an applied social science practitioner.
4. It must also explain the main difference of the functions of a social scientist and an
applied social science practitioner.
5. The groups infomercial must not run beyond 7 minutes.