FY008 Ways of Learning About the Social World

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INTRODUCTION
Social science is considered as a branch of academic discipline where human behaviour is
analysed in terms of social and cultural aspects. In other words, it is a way of explaining how
society works and how the individuals in the society explore and behave. Through social
science, the triggers of economic growth as well as the reasons of unemployment can be
analysed and at the same time, social science also helps to find out the factors that will help
people to be happy. Thus, it can be stated that this study of people as individuals or as a
community seeks to understand the human system which is constantly evolving across the
increasingly complex world.

In the study, it will be analysed how social science will help to better understand the lives of
individuals as well as the lives of others in a society.

MAIN BODY
Social science helps an individual to learn about the world beyond the immediate experience
as well as it also helps to explain how society works. It is important to have the concept of
Social Science as it helps people to understand how to access the own behaviour of the
individual and at the same time, people should also analyse the behaviour as well as
motivation of other people. According to the statements provided by the critics like Pedersen
et al. (2020) it helps to develop compassion and empathy among people. Social science helps
people to improve gender equity and diversity so that people can implement these aspects in
the corporate world and the leadership becomes more inclusive for helping people in terms of
organisational behaviour. Social science not only helps to enhance gender equality and
Diversity it also helps people to identify the changes in the human world and inspires people
to be culturally sensitive as well as socially responsible. It also helps people to become
aware of the external environment. In order to gain knowledge about the society the human
being lives in, to develop information about the resources they use as well as to focus on the
relationship between individuals, social science is beneficial. However, as it has been argued
by the authors like Aiello et al. (2021) the primary reason of studying social science is to
develop the ability to make the right decision. Moreover, according to many critics, among
the student’s social science is beneficial to increase social consideration.

Social science helps people to make decisions rationality. People learn to incorporate rational
choices in terms of decision making. The rational choice theory therefore can be taken into
consideration. According to this particular theory, it is the self-interest of the individual that
drives them to make choices that are advantageous for them and provide with greatest
benefits. From the perspective of rational choice theory, it can be stated that different social
phenomena at the outcome of individual choices. People like to analyse the different factors
associated with social phenomena to identify the best choice and implement them for the
development of society. According to this particular theory, it is assumed that a person
making a decision should waste on the rational choice that will result in a positive outcome.
In the opinion of Buyalskaya et al. (2022), this theory holds the fact that all considerations
must be pertinent to choose. From the perspective of this theory, the social behaviour and
economic behaviour of individuals can be analysed and it can be determined that a cost-
benefit analysis is considered by every individual so that the individual can be ensured that
the outcome will be satisfactory economically and psychologically. In terms of making any
decision, as it has been stated by the critics like Risjord (2022), every individual must
identify whether the decision is beneficial and analyse the number of benefits the decision
may provide. This analysis will help to the individual to make the decision.

On the other hand, the theory of structuralism can be taken into consideration in this regard.
In order to find out the aspects of the internal and external world and identify the aspects of
people living in the society, the theory of structuralism can be taken into consideration. To
elaborate the concept of structuralism in terms of social science it can be stated that it is the
study of underlying and unconscious regularities of human expression. It is seen that there
are some unobservable structures in the society that can have an observable effect on the
behaviour as well as the culture of the society. This particular theory developed by Swiss
linguist Ferdinand de Saussure showed that it is the role of the theory to detect the underlying
structure as well as the rules of transformation which can connect the observed expressions
with that of the structure in the language or in the society which is non-arbitrary and regular,
as per the statements of Han, (2020). In terms of social and cultural life in general, this
particular theory can be incorporated. Common structures of different social and cultural
forms can be detected according to the theory and concrete expressions can also be
determined. This theory has identified the human mind as the deep structure and according to
this theory, human behaviour should be understood in the context of the specific social
system. The theory has suggested that people are not independent actors who are responsible
for making individual decisions in their lives and their society. Rather they are influenced by
different types of internal and external choices and factors in order to make any decision in
their lives. It was found that there are a number of social conditions that help people to
identify the decisions and implement them. Different institutions, ideas and cultures
identified by this theory often influence people to make any particular decision.
Structuralism is considered as a promising approach in terms of Social Science as it helps to
find meaning between different things rather than things in isolation. It also helps to interpret
the elements of human culture which often influences people to make decisions. From this
perspective, social science helps people to understand their lives as well as other people
living in the same society (Peters et al. 2022). As the theory provides the description of
structures of different objects that are interrelated, people get an understanding of how
society works and what aspects people should consider in order to make any decision while
staying in society.

CONCLUSION
In order to conclude the study, it can be stated that from the perspective of both of these
theories that are described above, it is found that social science is beneficial for having a
better understanding of the lives of every individual and the other people in society. From
this analysis, theoretical analysis has been done and from that perspective, it can be stated
that the knowledge about how society is being influenced by different objects has been found.
Social development is the responsibility of the people deciding in society and social
behaviour also helps to develop the different civil qualities among people which helps them
to generate better decisions. People like to consider rational choices based on the cost benefit
analysis and it also helps people to find out the rational decision which can help them develop
their lives as well as the surrounding.
References
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and Reale, E., 2021. Effective strategies that enhance the social impact of social sciences and
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Buyalskaya, A., Gallo, M. and Camerer, C.F., 2021. The golden age of social science.
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Han, S., 2020. Structuralism and post-structuralism 1. In Routledge handbook of social and
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