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EC1- clarify the relationships and differences between social sciences and applied social science.

Have you ever wonder why people act in certain ways? Or how individuals make sense of their experiences no matter how small or life-changing? Have you asked yourself how a particular society unites its people despite of differences in traditions and beliefs? Or how our political and financial system came to be? The answer to these questions lie in the domain of social sciences and its related field-applied social sciences.

Larsson and Wisselgren sees the social sciences as the kind of oxygen in the today’s globalized society. As an oxygen to breathe, we also need social sciences to understand and make sense of the world we are living in that goes beyond what the natural sciences can offer to us.

While oxygen is important, we also need other elements to keep us alive. As social sciences is associated more with facts and theories, Larsson and Wisselgren explained that we also need to put them into practice in a field we call applied social science. This area of discipline deals with finding ways to create equal structures, forming an informed citizenry, empowering individuals and groups to rise above disasters and tragedies, creating accurate voting systems, and making sure that people are included in governance, among others.

While an understanding of social sciences is important to contextualize what is applied social sciences, this module will focus more on the latter, including the reason for its being and the areas and disciplines under it. However it is important to note, as initially explained in the introduction that neither social science nor applied social science is more important than the other. Finally, the rest of the book will focus on three disciplines: counseling, social work and communication, as representative samples of the vast world that is applied social sciences.

What is social sciences?

Social Science is a bit more complex, it examines society and the intricate relationships among individuals within a society. While social interactions and relationships may have been of interest to many scholars and philosophers even the earliest times, it was only in the19th century that social science as academic discipline was institutionalized. This started with the publication of Suicide by Durkheim and Systeme de Politique Positive by Auguste Comte – both scientific studies of the relationship between individuals and their society. According to Calhoun, economics, sociology and political science – considered the first areas under social sciences – all emerged out of the common framework of the field of history between the 1870s. Anthropology, geography and psychology were also integrated under social sciences in the early 20^th century.

Different field of Social Science.

1. Anthropology – it is defined as the study if humans. It includes four fundamental sub-disciplines, namely, archeology, or study of the past human culture and behaviour physical or biological anthropology, or the study of human evolution; socio-cultural anthropology, or the study of human social or cultural organization; linguistic anthropology, or the study of human communication.

2. Economics – is the study if the production, distribution and consumption of resources, goods and services.

3. History – is the study of the human past.

4. Psychology – is the study of human mind and behaviour.

5. Political Science – is the study of the theories and practices of politics. It involves an analysis if political systems and patterns.

6. Geography – is the study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of Earth.

7. Sociology – is the systematic study of human social behaviour, relationships, institutions and societies.

EC2 – Cite the differences among applied social sciences.

What is Applied Social Sciences?

Applied social sciences can be defined as the practical application of social science knowledge. Borrowing concepts from Aristotle, we can locate the distinction between social science and applied social science in episteme and techne. Episteme broadly refers to the production of knowledge, which pertains to the field of social sciences, while techne is loosely translated into art or craft, which in this case pertains to applied social sciences with its emphasis on putting theories into practice. Gouldner has provided a more detailed explanation of applied social science:

a. It makes use of the loose concepts rather than generalized propositions and theories.

b. Not all concepts or theoretical models of social sciences are equally useful to applied social science

c. It is more likely to borrow form their basic disciplines those concepts and theoretical models which can aid social scientists in understanding or producing changes.

d. When the discipline does not provide theoretical systems or concepts to aid the applied social scientist to deal with change, the latter will develop these him/herself.

e. These new concepts will, in turn, exert pressure to produce modifications in the theories of the basic disciplines.

However as previously noted, both social science and applied social sciences are two sides of the same coin and in recent years, the line separating them as an academic field are increasingly blurred. As for example, there is now a conscious effort in current studies done in most field under social sciences towards practical application with an end goal of contributing to society’s progress and the empowerment of the individual. Likewise, most applied social scientists have increasingly turned to theories to enrich their field or to help explain particular cases they have encountered. Lastly, with trend on interdisciplinary studies, students are encouraged to look past our specific disciplines to create a holistic picture of any given phenomenon.

Different Fields of Applied Social Sciences

1. Accounting – this field provides business principles and other applied skills in the area of accounting it provides an understanding of a an individual, group, or institutional finances, including, but not limited to, budget and cost analyses, payroll, auditing, taxes, etc.

2. Business Administration – this specializes in the operations and management of business institutions.

3. Communication – this field focuses on how humans use verbal and nonverbal messages to create meaning in various contexts across cultures using a variety of channels and media. It includes the study of communication in interpersonal relationships, groups, organizations and across-cultures rhetorical theory and criticism performance studies argumentation and persuasion technologically mediated communication and popular culture.

4. Criminology – this focus on the study of crime, criminal behavior, and the legal system.

5. Healthcare Management – this field provides professionals in clinics, hospitals, private practices, nursing homes, research facilities, and more with the focused training required to handle the unique management challenges of the healthcare industry.

6. Human Resources and Organizational Development – is a field that specializes in the administrative knowledge needed to meet the demands of corporate technology systems including problem solving, resources allocation, networking and security.

7. Marketing – this field includes promotion, creative services, public relations, research, consulting, communications, advertisement, strategy, branding, and much more.

8. Policy Studies – his field is the combination of policy analysis and program evaluation and involves the systematic study of the nature, causes and effects of alternative public policies, with particular emphasis on determining the policies that will achieve given goals. It also examines the conflicts and conflict resolution that arise from the making of policies in civil society, the private sector, or more commonly, in the public sector.

9. Public Administration – this field is considered with the implementation of government policy and also an academic discipline that studies implementation and prepares civil servants for working in the public service.

10. Social Work – Is both a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or perceived social injustices and violations of their human rights.

11. Urban Planning – is a field that is concerned with the use of land, protection and use of the environment, public welfare, and the design of the urban environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks.

As mentioned in the introduction, the rest of the lesson is focus on three representative fields under applied social sciences counseling, social work, and communication. The selection of these three is appropriate considering that they are all disciplinary and deals with the practical application of theories. Counseling, social work, and communication’s roots straddle the various disciplines of psychology, sociology, anthropology, even political science and linguistics. All three fields focus on the improvement and empowerment of an individual, a group, even and institution. Further, these three also seek to put the various theories from social sciences into practice. However, each area is also aware that general theorizations may not be enough to explain a certain phenomenon, and they will not try to, but instead, will adjust, modify, and reconceptualize existing knowledge in order to meet the needs of their disciplines.