UNDERSTANDING

THE
CONCEPTS OF
ANTHROPOLOGY,
SOCIOLOGY, AND
POLITICAL SCIENCE
ANTHROPOLOGY
It includes topics such as
human origin, globalization,
social change, and world
history.
 GOALS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Discover what all people have in common – By studying
commonalities (folklores, traditions, language, etc.) in all humanity,
we could understand more about the human’s nature.
Produce new knowledge and new theories about humankind and
human behavior – This new knowledge is then applied in an
attempt to alleviate human challenges.
Discover what makes people different from one another in order to
understand and preserve diversity
 BRANCH OF
ANTHROPOLOGY
 CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Refers to the study of living people and their
cultures including variation and change. It deals
with the description and analysis of the forms
and styles and the social lives of past and
present ages. Cultural anthropologists also study
art, religion, migration, marriage, and family.
 LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
Refers to the study of communication,
among humans. It includes the study of
communication’s origins, history, and
contemporary variation.
 ARCHAEOLOGY
Refers to the study of past human
cultures through their material remains.
It is the study of past human cultures
through the recovery and analysis of
artifacts.
 BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Also known as “physical anthropology”,
this refers to the study of humans as
biological organisms including their
evolution and contemporary variation.
 SOCIOLOGY
It is a systematic study of groups and societies that people build
and how these affect their behavior.
It focuses on various social connections, institutions, organizations,
structures, and processes.
It gathers social inputs which are composed of frequent forms and
manners namely: attitude, viewpoints, consolidated values, and
norms of social institutions which form part of social array.
 THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY
ENABLES US TO:

Critically study the nature of humanity, which also

leads to examining our roles within the society;
Appreciate that all things (in society) are
interdependent with each other. An individual’s
personal history is connected to his/her environment’s
history, which is also tied into the nation’s history;
BRANCHES OF
SOCIOLOGY
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
This includes the study of social
institutions, social inequality, social
mobility, religious groups, and
bureaucracy.
 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
This area focuses on the study of human
nature and its emphasis on social
processes as they affect individual or
responses which are called “social
stimuli”.
 APPLIED SOCIOLOGY
This is concerned with the specific intent of
yielding practical applications for human
behavior and organizations. The goal of
Applied Sociology is to assist in resolving social
problems through the use of sociological
research.
 POPULATION STUDIES
This area includes size, growth,
demographic characteristics,
composition, migration, changes,
and quality vis-à-vis economic,
political, and social systems.
 HUMAN ECOLOGY
It pertains to the study of the effects of
various social organizations (religious
organizations, political institutions and
etc.) to the population’s behavior.
 SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
AND RESEARCH
It focuses on the discovery of
theoretical tools, methods, and
techniques to scientifically explain
a particular sociological issue.
 SOCIAL CHANGE
It studies factors that cause social
organization and social disorganization
like calamity, drug abuse, drastic and
gradual social change, health and
welfare problems, political instability.
 POLITICAL SCIENCE
• It is an academic discipline that deals with the study of
government and political processes, institutions, and
behaviors.
• It is a study of the complex behavior of various political
actors such as the government administration, opposition,
and subjects.
• It is the systematic study of political and government
institutions and processes
 POLITICS
•It originated from the Greek word ‘polis’,
which means ‘city’ or ‘state’.
•It is the art and science of governing
city/state.
•It is the social process or strategy in any
position of control which people gain, use, or
lose power.
 GOVERNMENT
• It is the organized agency in a state tasked to
impose social control.
• It is a group of people that governs a community or
unit. It sets and administers public policy and
exercises executive, political, and sovereign power
through customs, institutions and laws within a state.
 The government exists for the benefit of the
governed. It is there for our benefit not for the
government officials to benefit from us. It is not
just governing the people or the citizens but
also the territory and the sovereignty or
independence of the country. Collectively, the
government, people, territory, and sovereignty
are known as the elements of the State.
People often interchangeably use the terms state and nation
but the difference lies on how the latter refers to an ethnic
concept which means that people are bound together by
common ethnical elements such as race, language, and
culture. On the other hand, a state is more of a political
concept. It refers to a community of persons more or less
numerous permanently occupying a definite portion of
territory, having a government of their own to which the
great body of inhabitants render obedience and enjoying
freedom from external control.
• References:
• American Anthropological Association. (2016). What is anthropology? Retrieved from
• http://www.americananthro.org/AdvanceYourCareer/Content.asp
x?ItemNumber=2150
• American Sociological Association. (2016). What is sociology? Retrieved from
http://www.asanet.org/about-asa/asa-story/whatsociology
• Royal Anthropological Institute. (2016). What is anthropology? Retrieved from
https://www.discoveranthropology.org.uk/aboutanthropology/what-is-
anthropology.html
• Study.com. (2003-2016). What is political science? Retrieved from
http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-politicalscience.html