StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Comparison of Anthropology to Other Social Science Disciplines - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
"Comparison of Anthropology to Other Social Science Disciplines" paper focuses on anthropology which is the study of human diversity or in general humanity around the world and has its origins in the natural sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.5% of users find it useful
Comparison of Anthropology to Other Social Science Disciplines
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Comparison of Anthropology to Other Social Science Disciplines"

Download file to see previous pages

Physical anthropology - It deals with learning about humans' biological aspects by examining the skeletal and other physical remains of earlier humans. It also includes research on human evolution as well as forensic studies" (unt.edu). The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that also include anthropology as a sub-discipline and study various human aspects of the world. In general, it can be said that social sciences are involved in studying subjective, inter-subjective, and objective or structural aspects of society and are traditionally referred to as soft sciences.

On the other hand, hard sciences, such as the natural sciences focus mainly on objective aspects of nature. However, today due to the flow of various aspects it becomes much more difficult to distinguish between hard science and soft science. Other social science disciplines other than anthropology include economics, education, geography, history, law, linguistics, political science, social work, psychology, sociology, etc. Anthropology is a unique and holistic discipline that deals with the integration of different aspects of the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Human Biology.

Several fields such as Archaeology, Prehistory and Paleontology, Physical or Biological Anthropology, Anthropological Linguistics, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology, and Ethnography are linked with anthropology. In other words, anthropology is the only social science subject that interlinks most of these branches. For instance, economics is a social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth (economics). Education is a sub-division of social science that deals with teaching, learning specific skills, etc.

These are all independent subjects whereas anthropology is the only subject that interlinks all other social science subjects. Numerous subfields or modes of anthropology cut across these divisions. For instance, medical anthropology is over and over again considered a subfield of socio-cultural anthropology; but, today there are several anthropologists are involved in studying medical topics especially to look at biological variation in human populations or the interaction of culture and biology.

It is seen that they may use linguistic analysis to understand communication around health and illness or archaeological techniques to understand health and illness in historical or pre-historical human populations. Forensic anthropologists in general may use both techniques from physical anthropology as well as archaeology and may also at times practice as medical anthropologists. Environmental or ecological anthropology is currently a growing subfield concerned with the interactions between humans and their environment.

This is in fact another interlinked subject where the cultural and biological and sometimes archaeological approaches combine together, to deal with a broad range of topics ranging from environmentalist movements to wildlife or habitat conservation to traditional ecological knowledge and practices. Today, the term biocultural anthropology is widely used to explain syntheses of cultural and biological perspectives. Applied anthropology is another subject of wide interest as the job perspective is high and the work for government agencies, nongovernmental agencies, or private industry, using techniques from any of the subfields to address matters such as policy implementation, impact assessments, education, marketing research, or product development (Wikipedia).

Other social science subjects such as economics, education, geography, history, law, linguistics, political science, social work, psychology, sociology, etc. are subjects that can be studied individually. Whereas an anthropologist will have to have knowledge of most of these subjects and cannot be separated from other social science disciplines. This makes anthropology the most unique among all other social science disciplines.

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/science/1515873-anthropology
(Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words - 3)
https://studentshare.org/science/1515873-anthropology.
“Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words - 3”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/science/1515873-anthropology.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Comparison of Anthropology to Other Social Science Disciplines

American Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology Name University Three principal outlooks have dominated American anthropology for the last hundred years: cross-cultural comparison of groups (focus on human groups), breadth (focus on a broad spectrum of space and time) and holistic systems (focus on the human experience in terms of holistic integrated systems) (Smith, 2010).... The concept of culture is important and deep-seated in anthropology (Howe, 2004); cultural anthropology, one of four disciplines of American anthropology and also known as social anthropology, sociocultural anthropology and ethnology (‘Cultural Anthropology/Introduction' n....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Comparison of the Social Sciences

The paper "comparison of the Social Sciences" describes that disciplines study the discrepancies that arise due to facts such as moral and cultural constraints.... The differences that emerge among these disciplines are also necessary for studying the diverse nature of man's behavior and culture.... As such, the similarities between psychology, sociology and anthropology emerge, in summary, all three disciplines focus on studying human beings in their settings (Shepard, 2009)....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Comparison of the Social Sciences

Young (2009) further notes that the disciplines of anthropology and sociology study fundamental socio-cultural institutions such as economics; religion and family life; forms of interaction; types of social organization such as schools, social clubs and businesses; and patterns of social difference such as class, race and gender.... The paper "comparison of the Social Sciences" discusses that forces of globalization and the rising emphasis on cultural diversity have resulted in a mutually reinforcing and powerful relationship between these disciplines....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Integrated and Inclusive Science of Human Behavior

The paper "Integrated and Inclusive Science of Human Behavior" tells that every academic discipline is related to other fields of study, especially in the human behavioral sciences.... Basically, social anthropology embraces anti-reductionism, which suggests that it is against the reduction of knowledge and interpretation of social life to other disciplines like psychology (Sharma, 1996).... When characterizing the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, and psychology, it is apparent that a certain extent of overlapping of the topics arises....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Comparison of the Social Sciences

"Comparison of the Social Sciences" paper demonstrates that the discipline of anthropology, which offers all of the evidence of a culture, is founded upon culture, region, race, sexual category, and culture.... To elaborate further, a person must comprehend that, even though each of the sciences can and frequently do supplement each other, they are diverse sciences or disciplines in their own perspectives.... Even though some sociology, anthropology, and psychology disciplines can be valuable to each other, they are as far apart from each other as any scientific model, any scientific learning, and any social scientist who learns them....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Interdisciplinary Approach in the Social Sciences

He regarded sociology as the most far-reaching social science (Kendall, 2012).... Anthropology is a social science that is almost similar to sociology.... This essay presents a critical comparison between the human behavior disciplines of anthropology, sociology, and psychology.... When characterizing the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, and psychology, it is apparent that a certain extent of overlapping of the topics arises (Marginson, 2002)....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

What is Applied Anthropology

It involves applying the study of human culture, behavior, language, and biology and many other sub-disciplines.... 1 Traditionally, the field required four sub-disciplines like biological, linguistic, cultural as well as archaeological anthropology.... Therefore, it was believed that the practical implementation of any of the pre-mentioned sub-disciplines might be considered as 'applied anthropology.... In fact, some practical problems impel and compel anthropologists to invoke all sub-disciplines....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

The Field of Social Science

The paper entitled 'The Field of social science' focuses on human relations that is a multi-disciplinary field, which draws on various academic disciplines among which are the social sciences.... The aim of the paper is to explore the field of social science.... The key purpose of the social sciences is to identify the methodical attributes of the human condition as well as that of human behavior using a system that is associated with the physical sciences when it is possible....
6 Pages (1500 words) Case Study
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us