​Overview

​Social Science is, in its broadest sense, the study of society and how people behave and influence the world around us. It tells us about the world beyond our immediate experience. Our lesson tackles the definition and nature of Social Science. It provides activities such as writing an essay about distinguishing Social and Natural Sciences and Humanities.

​Objective:

​Differentiate the nature and functions of Social Science disciplines with the natural sciences and humanities

With all these interactions in mind, we have social scientists who study human behavior and actions within the context of society. This lesson will take us through the nature of the social sciences and their differences.​

​Processing Questions:

1. Have you listed some professions that you think belong to the academe? Do you think they belong to the Social Sciences?

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​2. Can you identify which professions can address the particular social issues you listed? How important is it to solve these problems in our society?

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DEFINING SOCIAL SCIENCE, NATURAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES​

​"Man is a social animal."

​- Aristotle

​We have divided human knowledge into several areas and fields

​Two Major fields

- Social Sciences

- Natural Sciences

​What comes into your mind when you hear or read SOCIAL SCIENCES?

Social Science​

Social Science is a systematic way of discovering and explaining the patterns of behavior of people. It is defined as the study of society. The social sciences focus on the social life of people which includes the nature, functions, and growth of human societies.​

Social Science​

The term social science implies two important contexts: (1) it involves the scientific process and (2) it inquires about the social space.​

​What comes into your mind when you hear or read NATURAL SCIENCES?

Natural Science​

Natural science is concerned with the natural environment where human beings exist. It includes such sciences as physics and chemistry, which deal with the laws of matter, motion, space, mass, and energy; it also includes the biological sciences, which deal with living things.

​What comes into your mind when you hear or read HUMANITIES?

Humanities

Humanities, which traditionally include philosophy, literature, and creative writing, are oriented toward a reflective interconnection between the subject and the object, which simply means that the chief aim of the humanities is to produce wisdom by understanding social realities through reflection.

​Social Sciences

​- attempts to discover and explain the behavior and attitudes of people.

​- through a scientific method, social scientists can study human relations in society.

​- “soft sciences”

​- qualitative data

Natural Sciences

​- attempts to understand nature’s phenomena by relying greatly on measurable data obtained through the scientific method.

​- natural scientists undertake controlled experiments as they validate their working hypotheses.

​- "hard sciences"

​- quantifiable data

​THE SOCIAL SCIENCES VIS-À-VIS THE NATURAL SCIENCES

If there is one major difference between the natural sciences and the social sciences, it may be on the uncertainty of data or outputs when doing social science research.

​Natural Science

Social Science

​Generalization

​Social Science can help us explain how our society works from the causes of unemployment or what helps economic growth, to how and why people vote, or what makes people happy. It provides vital information for governments and policymakers, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, and others. Social sciences also deal with people, their behavior, and social systems. Human behavior includes a person’s dreams, hopes, ambitions, activities, and problems which involve other people.