Comparison of the Social Sciences

[Date of Submission]

Comparison of the Social Sciences

Introduction

The world is a vast place where there are countless of things that present a challenge to be uncovered to an inquisitive mind. Human beings are lucky enough to be the only sentient being on the planet that possesses intelligence. For this reason they are able to claim mastery of beasts that are much stronger, faster and dangerous than mankind. The only reason is because mankind studies and learns. Humans learn and adapt according to the environment. Before the adaptation or the mastery of any element, beast or nature, learning is essential. Physics, Chemistry, Psychology, Sociology, etc. are all branches of Science that deal with learning different things so that they can be used as for mastery.

The study of humans themselves is known as Social Sciences and has three branches, namely psychology, anthropology and sociology. There are differences in all three of them but they are all inter-related (Calhoun, 2002).

Thesis Statement

“To define and identify the three branches of Social Sciences Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.”

Discussion

Psychology

It is the study of the mental processes and the human behavior which is both inter-linked with one another. Psychology commonly stresses on understanding the psyche of the individuals and how that understanding can be used in a practical manner (although it is not limited to this definition) (Darity, 2008).

Psychology's study is inclusive of the concepts like cognition, perception, emotion, attention, brain functioning, motivation, behavior, personality, relationships on an interpersonal level, behavioral and mental disorders like depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, post-traumatic stress and phobias; as well as their treatment and development. It also has branches which touch the fields of Neuroscience, Statistics, and Theoretical Mathematics.

Psychology can be simply defined as the study which deals with the functions and the mind itself, both in full health and with disorders. It analyses and evaluates the intellectual development as well as the intelligence of an individual; he environmental, genetic and other factors influence the development of the intellect. Physical, disease elated and emotional disorders of the brain are also a part of a psychologist's study. The scientific, analytical and other tools of psychology include intricate analytical models to the traditional hard science.

The field of psychology has expanded exponentially and has inter-wined with other biological and natural fields of science. Some of the branches for instance neurological psychology (as mentioned above), have split into completely separate fields of study that include the technology and medical science with psychology. Trained and licensed psychologists are also recognized as medical practioners and reserve the right to recommend and apply therapeutic and diagnostic treatments to the mental disorders or illnesses.

Sociology

It is very identical to the field of psychology, because sociology is

“…is the study of modern human social behavior, but with emphasis on society, rather than the individual.” 

Sociology makes it's a practice to study and understand the social behavior or the people in the form of groups as opposed to the individuals like psychology. The study can be either of household or classroom interactions or even entire ...