UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONIC AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

A SEMINAR PRESENTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILMENT FOR THE REQUIREMENT OF THE COURSE
GSP 201 (SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE TO PEACE AND
CONFLICT)

TOPIC:

UNIVERSE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

BY:
GROUP 1

LECTURERS:
PROF. JOHN EZE
MRS. S EZEAH

14TH JUNE, 2024

 GROUP 1 MEMBERS
NAMES REG. NO.
1. ABAH UKAMAKA JACINTA 2022/241908

2. AGBATA TIMOTHY CHIBUEZE 2022/241889

3. AGBO DONATUS CHIGOZIE 2022/241482

4. AJIMA CHIDINMA JESSICA 2022/246159

5. AKALUGO SIMON PETER CHIJIOKE 2022/241803

6. AKUKWE PHILIP CHUKWUEBUKA 2022/241938

7. ALEXODO OBICHUKWU DAVID 2022/243375

8. AMAECHINA CHIMDINDU DAVID 2022/244942

9. ANENE PETER CHUKWUEMEKA 2022/241462

 CHAPTER ONE
UNIVERSE OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
INTRODUCTION

Halloran (2010, p. 1) defined social sciences this way:

Social science, which is generally regarded to as including psychology, sociology,

anthropology, economics and political science, consists of the disciplined and systematic study
of society and its institutions, and of how and why people behave as they do, both as individuals
and in groups within society. At a minimum it would appear that to be "scientific" entails a
systematic and disciplined method of acquiring knowledge, and that knowledge must be
verifiable knowledge.

Social sciences comprise disciplines which apply systematic approach and other scientific
techniques to the study of humans and their interactions in society. Worsely (1980) views the
tasks of social sciences as the observation of human beings as they work, talk and perform
various physical acts.

It is important to say in what sense we have used the term, science. The word science entered
the English lexicon from French through the Latin nominal, scientia, which may be translated
as knowledge. But the etymology of the word does not bring out the difficulty in the highly
contentious debates on the term. We can avoid such disagreement without harming our
objective in the present discourse. Ezeh (2004) treated this debate in some depth. For our
present purposes, it may be enough to say that we treat as science any process of knowledge
production that is rule-governed and evidence-driven. What such rules are, have been treated
in a different chapter of this book. Science defined in this way accommodates both the physical
or pure varieties such are: physics, chemistry, geology, and the like; as well as social sciences,
which are our concern in the present discourse.

Origins of the Social Sciences

The roots of social sciences trace back to the Enlightenment, a period in 18th-century Europe
that replaced religiosity with rationality. This intellectual movement, led by the philosophes,
advocated for empirical and rational analysis of human societies. Their work laid the
foundation for the first social science, sociology, introduced by August Comte. Comte
emphasized objective study akin to physical sciences, aiming to free social inquiries from
common-sense and sentiments

The Enlightenment or the Age of Reason led to the emergence of the first of the social sciences,
namely sociology. The founder of this specialisation in the intellectual history of Europe was
a man named August Comte. Before he gave the new discipline the name, sociology, he had
considered calling it social physics. It was only through such an attitude that practitioners in
the new discipline might reach the kind of conclusions that might be as reliable as the ones that
those in the physical sciences produced in their disciplines. It may be helpful to read Ezeh
(2016) for such details that may not be crucial for our present purposes in this course.

Three things, though, stand out from the contributions of Comte and other early practitioners
of sociology that made the emergence of other social sciences possible. First, they developed
methods for social research, and theories for use in analysing the results of social research.
Distinctive research methods and theories have the objective of freeing social enquiries from
the common-sense or sentiments of writers or commentators. Second, the pioneer sociologists
held that progress was within the attainment of humans who used appropriate knowledge for
the organisation and management of their societies. Third, in their equation for the progress of
human society, there was no place for contributions by supernatural agencies. Humans
progressed or failed, thanks entirely to what humans did or did not do.

Growth of the Social Sciences

Social anthropology, or cultural anthropology as the Americans prefer to call it, shares the same
concerns with sociology in the study of humans as social aggregates or collectivities. They
have the same intellectual origins in the efforts of August Comte. However, by the latter half
of the 19th century social anthropology had begun its separation from sociology. It made its
specialisation the study of non-Western societies, leaving sociology to focus on industrialised
Euro-American societies. While conceding that virtually the interests of all social sciences had
been adumbrated in works as old as such classical Greek writers as Plato, Aristotle, and other
antique writers, the disciplines as we now know them grew out of sociology following the
events of the Enlightenment. Some, for example linguistics, grew out of those that grew out of
sociology. Linguistics grew out of social anthropology, and is indeed still considered as one of
the branches of general anthropology; the others being physical anthropology, archaeology,
and social or cultural anthropology itself. We may now list social sciences as: anthropology,
archaeology. economics, human geography, linguistics, mass communication, political
science, psychology, and sociology. Some classifications include education and law among
these disciplines. Several of these have sub-specialisations that have grown into full-fledged
disciplines of their own, or may be known by other names in some countries or scholarly
traditions; for example, political science and such specialisations as international relations,
public administration, government, and so on. For sociology, we may encounter religion,
criminology or police science, to name only these. Here religion is studied as a social
institution, and not necessarily in the theological form that prescribes dogmas or tenets of
particular faiths.

One point this brings up is the problem of locations of these disciplines in particular
universities, and the inherent identities of the disciplines themselves as academic fields. In
some universities, disciplines that are usually regarded as being in the humanities or in the arts
are put in the faculties of the social sciences. For instance, religion and philosophy are part of
the Faculty of the Social Sciences in the University of Nigeria, but this is not so in some other
Nigerian universities. Yet, in other universities, faculties are created combining all the arts and
social sciences in one administrative unit. Some universities in Nigeria and elsewhere in the
world have put these disciplines in one faculty or the other for reasons that are peculiar to those
universities. It may have something to do with their own history as institutions, or it could be
for administrative convenience. In some universities, some of the fields constitute an entire
faculty or have been combined with others to form only one department, for the same reasons.
For example, in University of Ibadan, anthropology is combined with archaeology and also
with sociology, depending on the option that the student chooses. Some Nigerian universities
have also combined sociology and psychology: others with political science. In the University
of Nigeria, Nsukka, linguistics and mass communication are located in the Faculty of Arts. In
University of Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, mass communication is in the Faculty of
Social Sciences. In Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. anthropology constitutes an
entire faculty. The point being made is that where these fields are placed in a particular
university does not necessarily

determine their inherent identity as fields of study. Perhaps we may solve this identity problem
by bringing out the qualities that are expected of a social science; that way any field of studies
that satisfies these may then be classified as a social science. A social science is an academic
field that studies human aggregates systematically using particular research methods that are
hinged on scientific principles, concepts and theories or other explanatory models in order to
describe the behaviour of such aggregates and usually predict how they are likely to behave in
the future. Disciplinary boundaries among social sciences are usually blurred but what
distinguish one from the other are the aspects of human social behaviour or activities that it
focuses on.

Conclusion

Social sciences encompass disciplines that study human aggregates systematically, using
scientific methods to describe and predict behaviour. Their origins lie in the Enlightenment,
advocating for evidence-driven understanding of human society to enable progress.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. How do social sciences differ from natural sciences?
ANSWER: Social sciences focus on the study of human society and social relationships,
whereas natural sciences study the physical world and its phenomena.

2. What prompted the emergence of social sciences during the Enlightenment?

ANSWER: The desire to apply rational analysis and empirical evidence to understand human
behaviour and societal structures, moving away from religious explanations.

3. Why is August Comte considered the founder of sociology?

ANSWER: He introduced the concept of sociology as a distinct discipline, initially calling it
social physics, to systematically study society and social behaviour.

4. How does anthropology contribute to our understanding of human societies?

ANSWER: By studying the biological, archaeological, linguistic, and cultural aspects of
human beings, anthropology provides a comprehensive understanding of human evolution and
social development.

5. What are the main differences between physical and human geography?
ANSWER: Physical geography studies natural features like mountains and rivers, while
human geography focuses on human activities and their impact on the environment.

6. How does economics help in understanding societal issues?

ANSWER: Economics analyses how resources are allocated, the behaviour of individuals
and institutions, and the factors influencing economic policies and development.

7. What role does political science play in shaping governmental policies?

ANSWER: Political science examines political behaviour, the functioning of governments,
policy-making processes, and international relations, influencing how policies are designed and
implemented.

8. How does psychology fit into the realm of social sciences?

ANSWERS: Psychology studies human behaviour, emotions, and mental processes, and its
social branches examine how individuals interact within societies.

9. What are the practical applications of studying sociology?

ANSWER: Sociology helps in understanding social structures, institutions, and issues, aiding
in policy formulation, social planning, and addressing social problems.

10. Can you explain the importance of criminology and penology in sociology?
ANSWER: Criminology and penology study crime, its causes, and the effectiveness of
correctional systems, contributing to better crime prevention and rehabilitation strategies.