The Social Sciences:

Sociology, Anthropology,
and Political Science
Lesson Guide Questions
1. How do social forces
influence the life chances of
the members of society?
2. In what ways can social actors
benefit from the operations of
these social forces?
Lesson Guide Questions
3. Which among the social
forces are sociological,
cultural, and political?
Pre-test. TRUE or FALSE
1. An inherent feature of
social change is violent
actions.
2. Social actions and
interactions are governed
by unseen rules of society.
3. A person’s sex dictates what
he/she can and cannot expect in
life.
4. Each social science has a unique
take on what constitutes social
life. These takes are mutually
exclusive and are therefore
irreconcilable
5. If power and its exercise are objects
of interest of political science,
then anthropology cannot be used
to study power relations.
6. Because social sciences are sciences,
they adhere to the rules,
principles, and methods of the
hard sciences.
7. The interpretation of what
derives social action is called
perspective.
8. Cultures around the world are
different: therefore, they are
not equal.
9. The study of society is
exclusive to sociology.
10. Sociology was born during
the Industrial Revolution.
Reflection
If you want to see change in
your community, what do you
think are the necessary steps
that you need to do in order
to start or create change?
The Social as “Driver of
Interaction”
Study of Society
(1) Mapping the social forces
impinging on social actors as
their lives intersect in society
(2) Rehearsing the structures and
components of cultural
practices and traditions
(3) Exposing asymmetrical power
distributions among members
of social communities and
organizations
 The common concern of
these ways and attempts: To
understand the dynamics of
social interactions in society.
 These attempts are called as
“disciplines”
Disciplines
 Sociology—if the perspective
highlight the external
influences that facilitate or
constrain human actions.
Disciplines
 Anthropology—if the
perspective underlines the
role as cultural structures in
organizing human
interactions.
Disciplines
 Political Science—if the
perspective zeroes in on power
relations and how these produce
layered modalities of
opportunities among social
actors
They are complementary
perspectives as they provide
different ways of making
sense of social dynamics.
Social Forces
 Considered remote and impersonal
because mostly people have no hand in
creating them
 The constellation of these forces
characterize social actor’s social maps,
which in turn determine the set of
opportunities and life chances
Industrial Revolution
Brought about by the
introduction of machinery
Characterized by the use of
steam power, growth of
factories, and mass production of
manufactured goods
The First Set of Sociologists

Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Emile Durkheim (1858-1977)
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Emile Durkheim and Max Weber
Likened society as a body
system having parts performing
their assigned tasks and working
in coordination with the other
parts of the system
Structural functionalism
`
 Evaluation
Directions: Identify the term/s being
described in the statement.
1. It focuses on the ubiquity of the social
forces in unlikely forms.
2. Served as the historical and cultural
period of the birth of Sociology
3. A person’s specific economic and
political location
4. This suggests that humans tend to live
or do certain things on the basis of other
people’s thinking
5. He was considered as the “Father of
Sociology”
6. He likened society to an organism with
a life and vitality of its own.
7. This represent a constellation of unseen
yet powerful forces influencing the
behavior of individuals and institution.
8. The perspective in which the
society is like a body system having
different parts performing their
tasked for the whole operation of
the system
9-10. The sociologists who developed
the Structural Functionalism.
American Anthropological Association
describes anthropology as:

 A science seeking to “uncover

principles of behavior that apply
to all humanities”
 Diversity can be seen in body
shapes, and sizes, customs,
clothing, speech, religion, and
worldview
 “Universal culture”—cultural
artifacts that appear the same or
similar everywhere they are found
 “culture universal”—patterns of
similarity within an array of
differences
 “equal but different”
 Anthropologists look at cross-cultural
differences in social institution,
cultural beliefs, and communication
styles.
 They often seek to promote
understanding between groups by
translating each culture to the other.
The Social in the Guise of
Inequality
Social Diversity

-a concept that defines and

encompasses the great variety of
different and similar characteristics
that are shared between all human
beings, both personally and at a
group level.
 Sociology refers social
diversity as social inequality
 Social Inequality

-occurs when resources in a

given society are distributed
unevenly
The system of dividing society
into class or group.
Social Inequality, cultural
diversity and social
diversity for sociologists,
political scientists and
anthropologists
Sociologists

-attributed the persistence and

omnipresence of social inequality to
the beneficial functions it provides
for the overall operation of society
-exemplified merit system and
division of labor
Political Scientists

-social inequality as a product of

an asymmetrical distribution of
power in society
-clearest manifestation of power
relations is the existence of state
Anthropologists

-”equal but different ways”

-”difference dimension” is seen
as representing the culture’s
inherent value
Group Activity
Our Topic, Our Report!
1. An Unofficial Story of Anthropology
2. Forms of Diversity: Social and Cultural
3. The Social as a Tool of Change
4. The Story of Political Science: A Crib
Version