Economics in relation to other social sciences
Economics is a social science which deals with human wants and
their satisfaction. It is related to other social sciences like sociology,
politics, history, ethics, jurisprudence and psychology. For example,
the economic development of a nation depends not only on economic
factors but also on historical, political and sociological factors. Our
country did not have much of economic progress during the British rule
owing to historical reasons. Again, we had slow but steady economic
growth in our country because of political stability. But in many other
countries, there was no steady growth because of political instability. If
there is one government today and another government tomorrow, there
will not be economic development in that country.
We shall discuss, in some detail, economics in its relation to other
social sciences.
Economics and Sociology
Sociology is the science of society. Social sciences like politics
and economics may be considered as the branches of sociology.
Sociology is a general social science. It attempts to discover the facts
and laws of society as a whole. Sociology deals with all aspects of
society. But economics deals only with the economic aspects of a society.
It studies human behaviour in relation to scarce means and unlimited
wants. For a student of sociology, social institutions like marriage,
religion, political institutions and economic conditions are all important
subjects for study. But in economics, we are interested in them only to
the extent that they affect the economic life of a society. And we cannot
properly understand the economic conditions of a society without
considering its sociological aspects. Though economics is a branch of
sociology, we must look at it as a separate and distinct branch.