Sudan International University
Faculty Of Economics &
Faculty of Management
Sciences
Semester One
Dr. Amani Ibrahim
Mohammed
Introduction
To social sciences
Introduction to social sciences
Course Description:
Basic concepts and modern theoretical
approaches.
Introduction to research approaches.
Ethnocentrism and relativism.
Theories and research on socialization.
Theories and contemporary research on social
interaction.
Theories and contemporary research on
groups, networks, and organizations.
▪ Sociological theories and research on
crime and deviance.
▪ Social stratification and the importance
of social background.
▪ Social inequalities.
▪ Sociological theoretical and historical
perspectives on families.
▪ Major sociological perspectives on the
role of schooling.
▪ The (changing) nature of work affecting
economic life today.
▪ Demographic processes, theories of
population size and control.
Course Aims:
This course is designed to introduce
students to the theoretical and empirical
foundations of the social forces and
processes that shape human personality
and behavior, culture, institutions, and
society.
This module provides a brief
introduction to the history of the
social sciences in order to understand
the development of social thought.
Student Learning Outcomes :
Upon the successful completion of this course,
students should be able to:
1. discover and develop social imagination and
apply it to a variety of social issues in daily life,
including the business environment .
2. explain, compare and apply basic sociological
perspectives and concepts.
3. recognize and evaluate social patterns that
influence individual decisions and social
interactions.
4. understand how social background and
inequalities can alter individual life chances.
5. distinguish different research methods in the
social sciences and understand their
advantages and limitations.
6. collect, analyze and evaluate data and
information as a result of in-class exercises
(worksheet, group work, case study).
7. effectively explain ideas, contrast
perspectives, and work in teams as a result
of class discussions and assignments.
Introduction:
What are the social sciences?
The social sciences are a diverse
discipline including lots of different
disciplinary and sub disciplinary areas.
These include, for example, sociology,
anthropology, criminology,
archaeology, social policy, human
geography, and many more.
At their core, they apply the ‘scientific
method’ to the analysis of people,
societies, power, and social change.
Defining key terms:
Ontology: Ontology is the study of reality
and being. When we refer to ‘ontology’, we
are not just talking about people’s views of
the world, but also their lived experience
and actual being in the world, as well as
their beliefs and claims about the nature of
their existence.
Some key questions are ‘what and who exists in
the world?’
and ‘what are the relationships between them’?
Epistemology:
Epistemology concerns the origin and nature of
knowledge, including how knowledge claims are
built and made.
Some key questions are ‘what is knowledge?’
and ‘how is knowledge acquired’?
Positivism: Positivism is an ontology that
assumes there is an objective ‘truth’ waiting
to be discovered.
Positivism involves, therefore, the search for
a universal / generalizable ‘truth’.
Constructivism: Constructivism is an
ontology that assumes that there are
multiple ‘truths’ that are subjective and
socially constructed.
Truths are not, therefore, universal but are
instead rooted in social, historical, and
geographical context.
These ‘truths’ are also bound up with
power.
For instance, those who hold power get to
say what is ‘true’ and what isn’t.
In addition to the above, ArgentineCanadian philosopher Mario Bunge‘s (2003)
glossary of key terms includes
a range of ontological concepts used in the
social sciences that are useful to think with:
“Definitions of Twelve Ontological Concepts
1. Ontology: The philosophical study of
being and becoming.
2. Realism : The thesis that the world
outside the student exists on its own.
3. Phenomenalism :
The philosophical view that there are only
phenomena (appearances to someone).
4. Constructivism:
The view that the world is a human
(individual or social) construction.
5. Dialectics:
The ontological doctrine, due to Hegel and
adopted by Marx and his followers,
according to which every item is at once the
unity and struggle of opposites.
6. Materialism: The family of naturalist
ontologies according to which all existents
are material.
7. Naturalism:
The family of ontologies that assert that
all existents are natural-hence none are
supernatural.
8. Idealism:
The family of ontologies according to
which ideas pre-exist and dominate
everything else.
9. Subjectivism:
The family of philosophies according to
which everything is in a subject’s mind.
10. Holism:
The family of doctrines according to which
all things come in unanalyzable wholes.
11. Individualism:
The view that the universe is an aggregate of
separate individuals, that wholes and
emergence are illusory.
12. Systemism :
The view that everything is either a system
or a component of some system.”
Why study the social sciences?
According to Carré (2019)
social science exists between:
1. return on investment versus
intrinsic value .
2. Citizen relevance versus academic
relevance.
3. Applied research versus basic
research.
Applied research addresses real
problems (e.g, youth crime), while
basic research shapes broader
understanding.
THANKS