In: Psychology
What are some major developments in social science thinking that drive questions regarding studying the individual?
Answer.
In general, social sciences focus on the study of society and the relationship among individuals within society. As a field that emphasises on the network of relations between Individuals, it covers a wide spectrum of subjects, including economics, political science, sociology, history, archaeology, anthropology, and law. There are several factors that led to the growth of the social sciences. In particular, major economic and social shifts in industries and organisation after the Industrial Revolution And the discovery of the New world, Asia and Africa for establishing new markets for the purchase of raw materials from the new lands and the selling of finished commodities from the factories in Europe, led to massive changes in the political organisation of the world in the form of colonialism in the 18th- Ninetheen century. A direct result of these changes was that European intelligentsia became more reflective about the growing heterogeneity and inequality between the different social groups, classes, and inquisitive about the religions and cultures of the native countries. social scientists began to equip themselves with the analytical and communication skills that became important throughout many industries and organisations. Thus, Anthropology developed as a discipline to provide a better understanding of the cultures of the natives to their European colonisers, Sociology chartered the terrain of inequalities between the classes, ethnic groups, sexes, and the role of different institutions such as family, school, religious community, law and order agencies in managing social order, and the developments in Economics tried to engage with the question of changes in the market value of goods and services. Thus, within these disciplines, an attempt was made to mark the boundaries of social existence in and through the individual members who in turn were studied not as isolated units but in relation of one another.