Follow
When looking at all available degrees, social science is a very popular choice among students. What makes social science so special? Social science is a very broad term that encompasses a lot of different aspects of society. The Economic Social Research Council defines social studies as, “In its broadest sense, the study of society and the manner in which people behave and influence the world around us.” That about sums it up. Social science has a vast amount of subsets, here are some of the most important ones.
History
Everyone has taken a History course at some point in their education. History is one of the most popular specializations of social science that people get a degree in. History usually focuses on a particular country at a particular point in time. For instance, the United States during the Reconstruction or China during the Communist Revolution.
Political Science
Political science is another very popular branch of social studies. Generally speaking, this is the study of different political systems and how they shape the society in which they are implemented.
Linguistics
Linguistics isn’t the mere study of language. People with a social science degree in Lingustics study how language is used and how it was evolved over time. This also includes how different sounds are made and what implications phonetics can have.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of human social behavior and its origins and development. This is an emphasis on how people interact with each other.
Environmental Studies
Environmental studies is the field that studies how society interacts with the environment. Given the negative impact that humans have had on the environment, this field has an emphasis on trying to find solutions to the damage that we have done to the Earth.
Law
This isn’t quite law in the paralegal sense. However, most people that decide to become a lawyer have to take this social science class. This places emphasis on how laws affect our society, as a whole. Along with the impact that laws or the lack of laws can have on a population.
Criminology
Criminology is the study of the nature of criminal behavior in society. Criminologists don’t go around crime scenes dusting for clues. Instead, they look at all different aspects into what makes a criminal into a criminal. These include societal factors, economic situation, childhood, and many other aspects of the criminal.
Internet
A relatively new specialization in social science, these people study how people interact on the Internet. With the prevalence of social networking, communication between individuals has changed drastically and very quickly. There are studies that examine how social networks and Internet interactions affect our mood and even our health.
Economics
People run the economy. This is the field in which students learn about product distribution, product manufacturing, wealth, and many other aspects of the economy. Students also study different economic systems how the population can have an effect on it and how it can have an effect on the population.
Bottom Line
As you can see, social sciences is a very interesting field because there are so many different branches. Obviously, studying the Internet is going to be a lot different than studying Economics. These are a lot of the different things you can study with a social science degree.