What is social science?
Social science, in its broadest sense, is the study of society and how people behave and affect the world around us.
Social science tells us about the world beyond our immediate experience and can help explain how our own society works – from the causes of unemployment or what contributes to economic growth, how and why people vote or what makes people happy. It provides important information for governments and policymakers, local authorities, nongovernmental organizations, and others.
Social science disciplines
Social science covers a wide range of disciplines.
Demography and social statistics, methods and data processing.
Demography is the study of populations and population changes and trends using resources such as birth, death, and disease statistics.
Social Statistics, Methods, and Computing involves the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative social science data.
Development Studies, Human Geography, and Environmental Planning.
Development studies is a multidisciplinary branch of the social sciences that addresses a range of social and economic issues related to developing or low-income countries.
Human geography studies the world, its people, communities, and cultures, and differs from physical geography primarily in that it focuses on human activities and their impacts-for example, environmental change.
Environmental planning studies the decision-making processes for managing relationships within and between human systems and natural systems in order to manage these processes effectively, transparently, and equitably.
Economics, Management, and Business Administration.
Economics seeks to understand how individuals interact within the social structure to address key issues related to the production and exchange of goods and services.
Management and Business Studies examines a wide range of aspects related to the activities and management of business, such as strategic and operational management, organizational psychology, labor relations, marketing, accounting, finance, and logistics.
Education, Social Anthropology, and Linguistics.
Education is one of the most important social sciences and explores how people learn and develop.
Social anthropology is the study of how human societies and social structures are organized and understood.
Linguistics focuses on language and how people communicate through spoken sounds and words.
Legal, Economic and Social History
Law focuses on the rules created by governments and people to ensure a more orderly society.
Economic – and Social History looks at past events to learn from history and better understand the processes of today’s society.
Politics and International Relations
Politics focuses on democracy and the relationship between people and politics, at all levels, from the individual to the national and international levels.
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of other organizations.
Psychology and Sociology
Psychology studies the human mind and seeks to understand how people and groups experience the world through various emotions, ideas, and states of consciousness.
Sociology involves groups of people, rather than individuals, and seeks to understand the way people relate to each other and function as a society or social subgroups.
Science and Technology Studies
Science and Technology Studies is concerned with what scientists do, what their role is in our society, the history and culture of science, and the politics and debates that shape our modern scientific and technological world.
Social Policy and Social Work
Social policy is an interdisciplinary and applied field concerned with analyzing societies’ responses to social needs, focusing on aspects of society, economics, and politics that are necessary for human existence and how to provide them.
Social work focuses on social change, problem solving in human relationships, and empowering and liberating people to improve social justice.
