IB Group 3 – Individuals and Societies

ECONOMICS, ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS AND SOCIETIES, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY

People in Society

An essential characteristic of the disciplines in this group is that their subject matter can be disputed, and therefore their study requires in-depth examination of wide-ranging sources.

Aims

The general aims of the People in Society programme are:

• Systematic and critical study of human experience and behaviour, of the varieties of physical and social environments in which we live, and of the history and development of the social and cultural institutions which we have created.
• Development in the student of the capacity to identify, to analyse critically and to evaluate major theories concerning the nature and understanding of the individual and society, as well as concepts, arguments and research findings in the field of social studies.
• Study of the various methods of description and analysis employed in social studies disciplines and the ways in which hypotheses are tested and complex data may be interpreted.
• Appreciation of the ways in which what has been learned is relevant to both the culture in which the student lives and those of other societies.