Social Sciences

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Why is it important to study social sciences?  

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It is important to study social sciences because it is important for people to learn about their own identity, history, and culture. Learning about your own life can help you learn more about the world around you.

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In order to understand the importance of social science, we must first examine what social sciences actually is and what is its purpose.

Social science is essentially the study of human society: it offers insight into the social environment and nature and examines the way individuals behave and communicate with...

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each other and form relationships. It also analyzes how the behavior and social interactions of these individuals influence the socioeconomic, political, and cultural climate of the world.

There are several academic disciplines that are considered social sciences, such as history, geography, sociology, psychology, anthropology, archeology, political science, economics, business and management, law, linguistics, media studies, and others. All of these disciplines help the people better understand the global system as well as the social, economic, and political institutions that affect their lifestyle and general welfare, and they teach them how to engage with these institutions and how to participate in the society for their own sake and the sake of the community. In other words, one must first understand how society functions before becoming an official part of it, and the social sciences, as well as the humanities, enable that.

Social science also helps the individuals understand the principles of democracy and informs them about the social structure and culture and all social issues, while promoting physical, social, and cultural growth and development.

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The term social science is a catch all for so many subjects it is sort of like asking "why should we study life"? Learning about our own identity, history, culture, and how we relate to other humans on this planet is essential to living as one. Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, all of these are essentially the study of what it means to be human.
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It is important to study social sciences because they are about what it means to be human.  When we better understand ourselves, we can better understand how the world works.  Once we understand that, we are able to identify root causes of society's problems and find more effective solutions.

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Studying the social sciences can provide us with so many important answers and observations that may help improve the understanding of our lives, and thus help us to improve our interactions with each other. The social sciences can provide insight into all types of social situations such as raising children, romantic relationships, family relationships, friendships, work place relationships, interactions with strangers, cultural differences, and so on.

Studying these situations and complex scenarios that arise in each situation really aids those in various professions that dedicate their lives to helping people improve and understand their behavior or psychological processes.

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As previous posters have mentioned, one of the best reasons is just because it is fascinating to try and figure out why humans do what they do.  The newer science of behavioral economics and looking closely at how people can be manipulated to make decisions, etc., is absolutely fascinating stuff.

Though it is impossible to totally understand why humans do what they do, it is certainly possible to better understand it.

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I personally find the social sciences among the most interesting of subjects to study.  Human behavior is fascinating.  For anyone involved in a life or profession that deals with human behavior (which is arguably everyone), knowledge and understanding of communication, conflict-resolution, motivation, etc. is immensely helpful.

Additionally, we can look at the successes and failures of situations in the past to gain an understanding of how to better the future.  Though this taps more into Social Studies, the principles are the same.

We are a relational species.  It behooves us to understand how we function.

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Social means people interacting together. Social Sciences are all about an objective study (science) of people and their interactions. How could this not be important? If we want to improve our lives, choices, groups, institutions and societies we need to understand how they work, why they exist and how they have functioned in the past. I think the most effective study of social science is when they are studied together to answer the big questions we have about ourselves and human life on the planet.

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The main reason why it is important to study the social sciences is because a knowledge of the social sciences can help us improve our societies.

When we study the social sciences, we are studying how people put their societies together and we are looking at the impacts of their decisions about how their societies should be run.  By studying these things, we are becoming better informed about how societies should be put together.

For example, one area of social science is sociology.  One thing that a sociologist might study is the impact of various governmental programs on the behaviors of the people who participate in them.  If a sociologist studies a welfare program, for example, and finds that it does not help its clients have a better life, that is an important finding.  When social scientists discover things like that, it can help governments better understand what sorts of policy choices to make.

Overall, then, it is important to study social sciences so that we can get the sorts of information that can help us create better societies.

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