The Historical Background of the Growth of Social Sciences

Learning Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

 Acquire basic knowledge about origin, growth and development of the social
sciences.
 Explore the significant personalities that contributed to the development of the
social sciences
 Sharing of social and cultural backgrounds of students as acting subjects or social
actors, agents, persons; (examples: gender, socioeconomic class, ethnicity,
religion, exceptionality/non-exceptionality, nationality)

Look at the pictures below and answer the following questions.

7Q3

ACTIVITY 1

How can the social

sciences contribute in
solving these specific
problems? Why do you
think it is necessary to
employ the knowledge of
the social sciences to
solve these problems?
Understanding Culture, Society and Politics-11
 Auguste Comte is commonly credited as being the founder of
sociology. He coined the term sociology. He emphasized that
the study of society must be scientific, and he urged
sociologists to employ systematic observation,
experimentation, and comparative historical analysis as their
methods. He divided the study of society into social statics and
social dynamics. He saw Sociology as the product of a three-
stage historical development: a) Theological stage (religious:
responding to the supernatural); b) Metaphysical stage (natural rather than supernatural);
Scientific stage (explicable science). Comte favored positivism – which is a way of
understanding that is based on science.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/social-science-is-born-history-
anthropology-sociology-and-archaeology.html

Visit the link above for more information.

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics-11

 The Sociological Perspective

Sociology is broadly defined as the scientific study of social

interaction/behavior and social organization. As an academic discipline, it helps in general
enlightenment of social behavior and society, challenges popular myths (such as women as the
weaker sex) and identifies social problems & designs solutions Sociology can be further divided
into two subcategories. One is Microsociology which is the detailed study of what people say,
do, and think moment by moment as they go about their daily lives. Second is Macrosociology
which focuses upon large-scale and long-term social processes of organizations, institutions, and
broad social patterns.

Anthropological Perspectives

Anthropology is a study that deals with the origin of man and society. Its theories range
from traditional, modern to post-modern and as a discipline many of its concepts are borrowed
from biology, psychology, sociology, economics, ecology and others. Over time, the discipline
covers several million years, from the first proto-human ancestors to the present. Likewise, as a
study it covers the widest range of societies, from small hunter-gatherer bands to modern
societies.
Culture, Race & Ethnicity

These concepts are complex and are often confused or thought to mean the same thing – but they
do not. Many different definitions of these terms exist, and the following are examples:

Culture

Culture is not about superficial group differences or just a way to label a group of people.

• It is an abstract concept.

• It is diverse, dynamic and ever-changing.

• It is the shared system of learned and shared values, beliefs and rules of conduct that
make people behave in a certain way.

• It is the standard for perceiving, believing, evaluating and acting. Culture enables
humans to survive in
• Not everyone knows everything about their own culture. their environment

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics-11

Race

The term ‘race’ is not appropriate when applied to national, religious, geographic, linguistic or
ethnic groups. Race does not relate to mental characteristics such as intelligence, personality or
character.

• Race is a term applied to people purely because of the way they look.

• It is considered by many to be predominantly a social construct.

• It is difficult to say a person belongs to a specific race because there are so many
variations such as skin colour.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity is a sense of peoplehood, when people feel close because of sharing a similarity. It is
when you share the same things, for example:

• physical characteristics such as skin colour or bloodline,

• linguistic characteristics such as language or dialect,

• behavioural or cultural characteristics such as religion or customs or

• environmental characteristics such as living in the same area or sharing the same place of
origin.

ACTIVITY 2

How does a culture

define who a person is?

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics-11

ACTIVITY 3
Write your name in the box (middle) and write the following information of yourself in the
4 spaces

a. Gender
b. Socio-economic class
c. Ethnicity
d. religion

ACTIVITY 4

Directions: Based on the output from the previous activities, discuss your observation
based on the following questions.

1. What are the similarities and differences of every individual?

2. Do these similarities and differences affect the life of the whole community?

Why?

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics-11

Nationality and Ethnicity

The concepts of nationality and ethnicity are not interchangeable. Both, however, are
capable of informing an individual’s behavior and habits due to a set of cultural norms that each
category provides. Nationality is the identity that is tied to being part of a nation or country – “a
group of people who share the same history, traditions, and language” and who inhabits a
particular territory delineated by a political border and controlled by a government. Nationality
can be acquired by being born in a country or by the process of legal applications called
naturalization. If one is born in the Philippines, he or she is called a Filipino citizen.

Beyond Walls 1.0 GO ONLINE

GO ONLINE

Visit the following website to see a list of all known existing ethnic groups in the
Philippines:

 http://www.ethnicgroupphilippines.com/people/ethnic-groups-in-the-
philippines/

Using the information that the Web page provides, creates a portfolio of an ethnic
group that interests you. The portfolio should contain data (visual, text, numerical)
on the ethnic group. Your data may include the group’s clothes, food, environment,
and language.

Apart from the varying cultural backgrounds and ethnicity, human populations also experience
social differences, which include categories on gender, socio-economic class (social class and
economic status) political identity, and religion.

Gender

According to the World Health Organization (2013) gender

“refers” to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities and
attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and
women”. Unlike sex which refers to the biological characteristics
of humans such as male or female, gender categories are more
varied, accommodating identities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI), among others. In
some societies, gender becomes a basis of one’s identity, as social
norms allow for their acceptance

https://dailybruin.com/images/38111_web.op.10.26.zymet.bullying.picA.jpg

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics-11

of the population. In cases of neglect, individuals who subscribe to alternative genders create
communities where they can articulate their thoughts and aspirations.

Finally, there are people whose gender identities do not match their biological identity as male or
female. These people identify themselves as transgender. their sexual orientation is not related to
their genitalia, which allow them to identify with any other type of gender such as heterosexual,
homosexual, pansexual, bisexual, and asexual. Under this category are people who identify
themselves as transsexual. These individuals believe that the discord between their internal
gender and the gender role that they have to perform can be addressed through medical sexual
reassignment.

You might have questions about people whose gender

identity is not within society’s prescribed norms. This link
will direct you to a video entitled “Bekitaktakan”.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV961YVhyxo

Through this video, you will be further enlightened with the

different types of gender and the common misconceptions
that people have regarding people who belong to gender
identities.

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics-11

 ACTIVITY 5

What are some of the things from your culture that you are
proud of?

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics-11