Outline of social science The following outline is provided as an overview of and among humans, collecting data about the ef- topical guide to social science: fect of global economic and political processes on local cultural realities. Social science – branch of science concerned with soci- ety and human behaviors. • Ethnobiology – scientific study of dynamic re- lationships between peoples, biota, and envi- ronments, from the distant past to the imme- 1 What type of thing is social sci- diate present. • Ethnography – systematic study of people and ence? cultures. • Ethnology – branch of anthropology that com- Social science can be described as all of the following: pares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social • Branch of science – systematic enterprise that builds structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national and organizes knowledge in the form of testable ex- divisions of humanity. [1][2][3] planations and predictions about the universe. • Ethnopoetics – method of recording text ver- sions of oral poetry or narrative performances • Major category of academic disciplines – an aca- (i.e., verbal lore) that uses poetic lines, verses, demic discipline is focused study in one academic and stanzas (instead of prose paragraphs) to field or profession. A discipline incorporates ex- capture the formal, poetic performance ele- pertise, people, projects, communities, challenges, ments which would otherwise be lost in the studies, inquiry, and research areas that are strongly written texts. associated with academic areas of study or areas of • professional practice. For example, the branches of Evolutionary anthropology – interdisciplinary science are commonly referred to as the scientific study of the evolution of human physiology disciplines. For instance, gravitation is strongly as- and human behaviour and the relation between sociated with the discipline of physics, and is con- hominids and non-hominid primates. sidered to be part of that disciplinary knowledge. • Experimental archaeology – Experimental archaeology employs a number of differ- ent methods, techniques, analyses, and ap- 2 Branches of social science proaches in order to generate and test hypothe- ses, based upon archaeological source mate- rial, like ancient structures or artifacts. • Anthropology - study of humans, past and present, • Historical archaeology – form of archaeology that draws and builds upon knowledge from the so- dealing with topics that are already attested in cial sciences and biological sciences, as well as the written records. humanities and the natural sciences. • Linguistic anthropology – is the interdisci- • Anthropology of religion – study of religious plinary study of how language influences social institutions in relation to other social institu- life. tions, and the comparison of religious beliefs • Medical anthropology – interdisciplinary field and practices across cultures which studies “human health and disease, • Applied anthropology – application of the health care systems, and biocultural adapta- method and theory of anthropology to the tion”. analysis and solution of practical problems. • Physical anthropology – study of the physical • Archaeology – study of cultures via material development of the human species. remains and environmental data (Outline of • Psychological anthropology – interdisciplinary archaeology) subfield of anthropology that studies the inter- • Cultural anthropology – branch of anthropol- action of cultural and mental processes. ogy focused on the study of cultural variation • Zooarchaeology – study of faunal remains. 1 2 2 BRANCHES OF SOCIAL SCIENCE • Anthrozoology – study of human-animal inter- • Macroeconomics – branch of economics deal- action. ing with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of the whole economy • Business studies – academic area that consists of • Microeconomics – branch of economics that many sub-areas pertaining to the social relationships studies the behavior of individual households that comprise the human economic systems. and firms in making decisions on the allocation • Accountancy – the measurement, processing of limited resources and communication of financial information • Behavioural economics – Behavioral eco- about economic entities. nomics and the related field, behavioral fi- nance, study the effects of social, cognitive • Finance – a field dealing with the study of in- and emotional factors on the economic deci- vestments. sions of individuals and institutions and the • Human resource management – a function consequences for market prices, returns and in organizations designed to maximize em- the resource allocation. ployee performance in service of an em- • Bioeconomics – applies the laws of thermody- ployer’s strategic objectives. namics to economic theory • Management – the administration of an orga- • Comparative economics – comparative study nization, whether it be a business, a not-for- of different systems of economic organization, profit organization, or government body. such as capitalism, socialism, feudalism and • Marketing – the study and management of ex- the mixed economy. change relationships. • Socialist economics – economic theories • Organizational studies – the examination and practices of hypothetical and existing of how individuals construct organizational socialist economic systems. structures, processes, and practices and how • Development economics – branch of eco- these, in turn, shape social relations and create nomics which deals with economic aspects of institutions that ultimately influence people. the development process in low-income coun- tries. • Economics – details of this area and its own • sub-areas are provided in this taxonomy below. Ecological economics – an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field that aims to address • Civics – study of the theoretical and practical as- the interdependence and coevolution of hu- pects of citizenship, its rights and duties; the duties man economies and natural ecosystems. of citizens to each other as members of a political • Economic geography – study of the location, body and to the government. distribution and spatial organization of eco- nomic activities across the world. • Cognitive Science – interdisciplinary scientific study • Economic history – study of economies or of the mind and its processes. It examines what cog- economic phenomena in the past. nition is, what it does and how it works. • Economic sociology – studies both the social • Criminology – study of the nature, extent, causes, effects and the social causes of various eco- and control of criminal behavior in both the indi- nomic phenomena. vidual and in society. • Energy economics – broad scientific subject area which includes topics related to supply • Cultural studies – academic field grounded in critical and use of energy in societies theory and literary criticism. • Entrepreneurial Economics – study of the en- • Demography – statistical study of human popula- trepreneur and entrepreneurship within the tions and sub-populations. economy. • Environmental economics – subfield of eco- • Development studies – multidisciplinary branch of nomics concerned with environmental issues. social science which addresses issues of concern to • Evolutionary economics – part of mainstream developing countries. economics as well as heterodox school of eco- • Economics – analyzes the production, distribution, nomic thought that is inspired by evolutionary and consumption of goods and services. It aims biology. to explain how economies work and how eco- • Financial economics – branch of economics nomic agents interact. (The term 'economics’ is concerned with “the allocation and deploy- erroneously conflated with the current mainstream ment of economic resources, both spatially Neoclassical economics.) and across time, in an uncertain environment”. 3 • Heterodox economics – approaches or to • Public economics – study of government pol- schools of economic thought that are consid- icy through the lens of economic efficiency ered outside of “mainstream economics” and and equity. sometimes contrasted by expositors with neo- • Real estate economics – application of eco- classical economics. nomic techniques to real estate markets. • Green economics – one that results in im- • Resource economics – study of supply, de- proved human well-being and social eq- mand, and allocation of the Earth’s natural re- uity, while significantly reducing envi- sources. ronmental risks • Feminist economics – diverse area of • Welfare economics – branch of economics economic inquiry that highlights the that uses microeconomic techniques to eval- androcentric biases of traditional eco- uate economic well-being, especially relative nomics through critical examinations of to competitive general equilibrium within an economic methodology, epistemology, economy as to economic efficiency and the re- history and empirical study. sulting income distribution associated with it. • Islamic economics – body of Islamic • Political economy – study of the production, studies literature that “identifies and pro- buying, and selling, and their relations with motes an economic order that conforms law, custom, and government, as well as with to Islamic scripture and traditions,” and the distribution of national income and wealth, in the economic world an interest-free including through the budget process. Islamic banking system, grounded in • Socioeconomics – considers behavioral inter- Sharia’s condemnation of interest (riba). actions of individuals