Please read. sociology and anthropology?

Question

ok, here is the deal, im a sophmore in high school and im already exploring my options for college. i was looking at the different degrees they offer at a certain college im interested in and i want a description of sociology and anthropology and please no definitions. I just need a description of what it is in the simplest terms possible. Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

I've answered this question like 3 times in as many days...

You do know that yahoo has a "search" function right? actually it's how they got started.....

anyways.

Anthropology = study of humanity. culture, history, physiology, biology, linguistics and all the other things that make us human.

sociology = study of contemporary human society. it deals with current problems facing society, and how to deal with them.

Answer 2

they do seem to overlap, don't they?

Sociology focuses on the institutions that define a culture.

I think there were 7, but i can only remember 6:  

government, schools, family, military, religion, religion

something else - maybe it was peer groups)

Anthropology also focuses on the culture, and interactions,

( translates as "the study of man" if you hadn't run into that)

and a lot of that is culture and interactions in the culture.

You might want to know that anthropologists divide it  into cultural vs. physical anthropology, and then breaks down into smaller groups within those categories.

BUT the truth is, you should take these classes when you are a freshman, see what you enjoy - what is fascinating - and then change majors if you need to.

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the first URl takes you to a site where you can start reading current anthropology

http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils...

this might be a good place to start learning more about sociology

http://www.asanet.org/

Answer 3

I'll let someone better at sociology answer sociology.

Anthropology, while it does focus on the overall picture of "culture" (and you will take those classes), generally involves eventually choosing a specific direction to go in.  Some of your options are:

Primatology, as in, study of diet, ecology, behavioral systems, etc., of non-human primates:

Archaeology:  Study of artifacts in order to reconstruct ancient peoples

Medical anthropology:  Study of the body, of illness, of sickness, and what they mean to people, how people express that

Anthropology of language:  How does language shape culture?  how does culture shape language?  

Biological/physical anthropology: stuff like osteology (bones), genetics, s*x, how all of those things effect behavior and evolution

ETC> ETC> ETC>

There are an INFINITE number of directions to go in anthropology.

That said, there are three basic groupings: Cultural, which is a bit more "fuzzy" - things like language, family structures and kinship patterns), Biological/physical, which tends to be more "math", evolution, bones, and archaelogy, which involves the exclusive study of stuff you dig up out of the ground..

Answer 4

Well basic Sociology classes in college are going to focus on social issues in the world such as behavior and attitude. And Anthropology will focus at first about evolution of man from apes through the modern age before focusing on the culture of humanity.