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Class 9 Understanding Social Science: cheat sheet
CBSE Social Science. What Social Science studies, its four core disciplines, the kinds of sources historians use, and the methods and tools social scientists work with.
Key ideas
- Social Science studies human society: how people live together, use resources, govern themselves and change over time.
- Geography asks where and why places differ, History how societies changed, Political Science how power and government work, and Economics how limited resources are used.
- One event can be studied by all four: a drought touches crops and climate, incomes, government relief and migration.
- Historians use literary, archaeological, epigraphic (inscriptions) and numismatic (coins) sources, and genealogical records of families.
- Social scientists gather evidence by observation, interviews, surveys and studying documents, so that others can check their conclusions.
- Geographers work with maps, atlases, globes, GIS and infographics; historians also date the past with carbon-14 dating and archaeology.
- Sustainable growth meets today’s needs without harming the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
Remember
| Four core disciplines | Geography, History, Political Science, Economics |
| Epigraphic source | an inscription on stone, metal plates or rock |
| Numismatic source | a coin, currency or medal (numismatics: the study of coins) |
| Survey and interview | survey: the same questions to many people; interview: a longer talk with one or a few |
| Arthashastra | a text on administration and the economy, attributed to Kautilya |
| Atlas | a book of maps |
Watch out
- Mixing up epigraphy (inscriptions) and numismatics (coins).
- Calling a survey an interview: a survey asks many people the same set of questions.
- Treating an opinion as evidence: a social scientist’s claims must rest on facts others can check.
Worked example
A student surveys 400 households about how they get water; 60% use a well. How many households is that, and which method of Social Science is a survey?
Working: 60% of 400
Answer: 240 households; a survey collects data by asking many people the same questions.
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