DIASS Module 1 PDF

MODULE 1 Discipline and Ideas in the Applied Social Sciences Defining Applied Social Science Introduction Social science tells us about the world beyond our immediate experience and can help explain...

MODULE 1 Discipline and Ideas in the Applied Social Sciences Defining Applied Social Science Introduction 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 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 science is any discipline or branch of science that deals with human behavior in its social and cultural aspects. The social sciences include cultural anthropology, sociology, social psychology, political science, and economics. Also frequently included are social and economic geography and those areas of education that deal with the social contexts of learning and the relation of the school to the social order. Lesson Objectives: At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: Define and explain what social science is. Compare and Contrast Social Science and Applied Social Science. Explain how social science started. Discuss the importance of studying Social Science Content History of Social Science The history of the social science disciplines may be highlighted in terms of four epochal transformations. First, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries a deep shift occurred from broad genres of discourse on moral and political philosophy into proto disciplines of a more delimited nature. Inherent in this shift was the constitution of a set of new basic conceptualizations of human agency and human society that came to be of perennial importance. Second, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a range of inquiries into the social question and into the conditions of institutional and administrative reform were gradually and unevenly transformed into university-based social science disciplines. Third, in the 1920s and 1930s several of these disciplines went through a process of intellectual and institutional consolidation. In this process research programs were formulated that came to serve as focal points for decades to come. Other research programs, often of a transdisciplinary nature, came to occupy a prominent position as intellectual points of reference without finding a secure institutional basis either in an increasingly authoritarian European setting, or in the discipline-based American academic landscape. Fourth, the first three decades of the period after the Second World War were characterized by secular processes, often inspired by American examples, towards disciplinary internationalization as well as professionalization. The social science disciplines also became increasingly subjected to demands to demonstrate their policy-relevance in a broad sense. In the present academic landscape, finally, the social science disciplines are more firmly entrenched institutionally than ever before. At the same time their intellectual and scholarly rationale is being re-examined and there is renewed interest in a dialog about their relationships to each other, to other scholarly and scientific pursuits and to society at large. Defining Social Science According to Seligman “social sciences as those mental or cultural sciences which deal with the activities of the individual as member of the group. The term social sciences thus embrace all those subjects which deal with the relationship of man to the society. According to Mitchell “the term social science is loosely applied to any kind of study concerning man and society. In the strict sense it should refer the application of scientific method to the study of the intricate and complex network of human relationship and the form of organization designed to enable people to live together in societies. According to Fairchild,” social science as a general term for all the sciences which are concerned with the human affairs.” According to Peter Lewis,” social sciences are concerned with the laws that govern society and the social department of man.” Considering all those definitions, we can say that social sciences embrace all those subjects which deal with the human affairs. Social sciences are disciplines concerned with the systematic study of social phenomena. Basically, the term ‘social sciences’ is defined as the study of human society; that area of study that relates to human behavior and society. In a broader sense, it is a branch of science that deals with the institutions, the functioning of human society, and with the interpersonal relationships of individuals as members of society. There are distinct disciplines or branches dealing with a particular phase or aspect of human society such as socio-cultural aspects of human behavior. Definition of Applied Social Science Applied social science is an integrated science cutting across and transcending various social science disciplines in addressing a wide range of issues in a contemporary, innovative, and dynamic way. It aims at presenting a well-developed understanding of social systems, social theory, and social policy It integrates theory, social research, skills and professional experience, and critical thinking skills necessary to fully address social phenomena. Applied social science, therefore, is a broad field that draws on different social theories and perspectives and combines theory and practice drawn from different social disciplines that highlight the complexity of social issues. The focus of applied social science is less fixed and allows for specialisms in other areas to provide perspectives. It is very important to understand that applied social science is not an aggregation of various specialized social science disciplines. It transcends individual specialized social science and finds its true essence through active engagement with the larger society in action. Relationship between Social Sciences and Applied Social Sciences As discussed above, social sciences are more specific and focused on a distinct facet of a social phenomenon while applied social science attempts to focus on a distinct issue but use insights arising from various social science disciplines. While social science may explore broadly their distinct disciplines, some of their input may easily become applied while others may remain theoretical. When social science theories, concepts, methods, and findings gain application to problems identified in the wider society, then applied social science is achieved. Focus of Social Science The study of social science focus on the following: 1. Change in human relationship and reinterpretation between the present and past events. 2. Human activities and spatial distributions an interaction of culture, biological and physical elements. 3. Basic social systems, institutions and recesses. 4. Relationships between individual and institutions; and among political economic and social institutions. 5. The nature of societies and authors; and the interactions of people with each other and their social and physical environment. Understanding Social Science Social science as a field of study is separate from the natural sciences, which cover topics such as physics, biology, and chemistry. Social science examines the relationships between individuals and societies, as well as the development and operation of societies, rather than studying the physical world. These academic disciplines rely more heavily on interpretation and qualitative research methodologies. The Social Sciences comprise those disciplines that are concerned with the study of human behavior and the societies we form. Applied social science is the application of social science theories, concepts, methods, and findings to problems identified in the wider society. Using this understanding in the segmentation of social science into distinct disciplines gives rise to the concepts of applied social sciences that include counseling, social work, and communication. In this typology, theories, concepts, methods, and findings of counseling define the counseling practice. The same is true for social work and communication disciplines. However, this description of applied social science minimizes or even omits the interdisciplinary aspect that is implicit to social science when it is applied. There can be no social issue that is purely one- dimensional. Different disciplines within the field of social science bring some unique dimensions to a better understanding of social phenomena. This means that applied social sciences cannot afford to be fragmented. Essentially, it must unify and cut across. Social science is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the physical sciences and the arts. Functions and Effects of Applied Social Sciences Social sciences are described as generators of knowledge about the world to cause understanding. 1. They generate knowledge in an organized way for evidence-based actions and solutions to social problems and issues. They provide learning feedback by simultaneously engaging the experts and the stakeholders that form a social world 2. They cause social sciences to do things rather than just remain a source of factual knowledge with little or no utility at all. 3. They generate practical solutions to complex social problems Sample of practical function and effect of applied social science: 1. Communication provides accessibility to information and thereby serves the rights of an individual and the public to be informed and to he heard by their elders and communities 2. Counseling provides healing, courage, and strength for an individual to face his/her issues and take up the best possible option in moments of life crises. 3. The social work promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships, and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance their holistic well-being.