What are the Social Sciences?

Anthropology

Anthropology The word anthropology is derived from two Greek words “Anthropos” meaning humans and “logia” meaning study. It is the science that studies the origin, development, and customs of human beings. It involves the study of people, both in the past and in the present day, using many methods including studying and classifying fossils and artifacts, and analyzing behaviours, languages, and other characteristics of specific cultural groups. Two major branches within anthropology include cultural anthropology and physical anthropology. Physical anthropology: examining bone and stone remains of our ancient ancestors, studying primates, and examining the physical differences and similarities of existing human populations. Cultural anthropology: learning about the origins and cultures of different races and peoples, studying the history and structure of language, examining the ways humans use language to communicate, and studying the physical remains of past cultures. Essentially, anthropology examines what makes humans “human.”

Psychology

Psychology Psychology comes from the Greek words psyche (“soul” or “mind”) and logos (“study of”). It is interested in the human mind and how it functions. Psychologists often look for links between human behaviour and the mental processes. Psychologists will study the following mental activities: Cognition - knowledge and beliefs Emotions - affect, mood and feelings Motivations - drives, needs, desires and goals It often involves constructing models to understand individual experiences. Essentially, psychologists are intrigued by what’s happening inside the mind.

Sociology

Sociology Sociology comes from the Greek words socius meaning “companion” and logy meaning “study of.” Studies how humans relate to one another on a social level. Sociologists often look for patterns in human behaviour and use statistics to study societal trends, issues, individuals, and groups. It can take 2 approaches: Macrosociology: concerned with studying society as a whole and analyzing social systems and populations on a large scale. Microsociology: concerned with the role and interactions an individual or small group of people may have on society. Essentially, sociologists are interested in human interactions and how social systems and institutions shape individuals and groups in society (eg. government, religion, media).

Sources 2016. Social Sciences and Related Disciplines. http://hsp3usta.blogspot.ca/ Barter. (2016). Intro to APS. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byd- viQUdKZ6NUNhRFZranI1TEU/view Moffatt. The Three Social Sciences. TVDSB. Retrieved from http://www.tvdsb.ca/webpages/moffattl/hsp3m.cfm?subpage=133669