Chapter 1

The Social Sciences And The

Three Faces Of The Social
 LEARNING COMPITENCIES
At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:
Knowledge • Identify the subject of inquiry and goals of
anthropology, political science, and
sociology.
• Adopt an open and critical attitude toward
different social, political, and cultural
phenomena through observation and
reflection.
• Demonstrate curiosity and an openness to
explore the origins and dynamics of culture
and society and political identities.
• Analyze the dynamics of social, political, and
cultural change.
• Recognize the intersections of anthropology,
sociology, and political science vis-à-vis the
phenomenon of change.
Skills/Performance • Construct an individual social
Task
map/editrial essay identifying
the various social forces at
work. These forces----social,
cultural, and political----define
the range and domains of the
opportunities and life chances
that members of society can
expect given their coordinates
in the social map.
 Chapter Description
Chapter 1 • Introduces sociology,
anthropology, and political
The Social Sciences sciences as social sciences
and the Three Faces discipline. As social sciences,
they offer unique perspectives
of the Social in understanding the nature of
the social. Despite their
distinctive ways of looking,
they share common
foundational assumptions on
how the social determines the
dynamics of society in general
and the nature of social action
and social interactions in
particular.
 INTRODUCTION

Society in its broader sense involves

social, cultural and politics realities. These
three facets are referred to as the “social
sciences” also known in academia as
“disciplines”. It provides unique ways of
seeing and an equally unique ways of
zooming in on social details.
 Sociology

Cultural Social
practices FACES OF forces
THE SOCIAL
Anthropology Power Political Science
relation

The social as the merging point of the

sociological, anthropological, and
political reflections.
Lesson 1

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE,
SOCIETY AND POLITICS:
SOME KEY OBSERVATIONS
 LEARNING COMPITENCIES
At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:
Knowledge • Articulate observation on human variations,
social differences, social change, and political
identities
• Demonstrate curiosity and an openness to
explore the origins and dynamics of culture
and society and political identities
• Trace the link between behavior and culture
through observation and analysis
• Analyze social, political, and cultural change
 Skills/ Observations of a Mall as a Social World
Performance This activity aims to get you to think about the
Task familiar world that you see around you. You
will visit a local mall, and for an hour observe
how people inside the mall conduct
themselves individually collectively. The
following questions, serve as observation
guide:
• What sort of people go to malls?
• What sort of things do they buy?
• What sort of spots do they visit?
• What sort of interaction takes place
between people of different categories (e.g.,
gender and age)?
CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS AS
CONCEPTUAL TOOLS