DISCIPLINES AND IDEAS IN THE APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES

Social Science – study of society and the manner in which people behave and
impact the world.

Branches of Social Sciences

 Economics – studies the optimum allocation of scarce resources and how

individuals interact within the social structure to address questions regarding the
production and exchange of goods and services.

 Anthropology – studies humans and their culture in the past and present time.

 History – studies past events in order to understand the meaning, dynamics, and
relationship of the cause and effect of events in the development of human
societies.

 Political Science – studies government, power, and politics and examines

relationship between people and policy at all levels from the individual to the
national and international levels.

 Psychology – studies how the human mind works in consonance with the body
to produce thoughts that lead to individual actions.

 Sociology – a systematic study of people’s behavior in groups rather than

individuals.

 Geography – studies the interaction between people and their environments.

 Demography – scientific study of human populations across time.

Applied Social Science – branch of study that applies the different concepts,
theoretical models, and theories of the social science
disciplines to help understand society and the
different problems and issues

3 Main Career Tracks for Applied Social Sciences:

 Counseling – professional guidance given to an individual by applying

psychological methods.

 Social Work – discipline that focus on the improvement of individual and

collective well-being of families, groups, and communities.

 Communication Studies – careers in the field of journalism and mass

communication through the multidisciplinary knowledge and skills that graduates
learn from the social sciences.