ABSTRACT
This chapter describes and compares approaches to human ecology in a number of social science disciplines. The ecological perspective originated in the natural sciences—plant and animal ecology—beginning in the latter third of the nineteenth century. The chapter presents a preliminary synthesis of the ecological approaches developed in the various social science disciplines. All sciences operate in terms of fundamental “paradigms” which include definitions of the subject matter, assumptions about logical-theoretical constructs, identification of key concepts and explanatory variables, and procedural rules for empirical inquiry. In order to judge the appropriateness of the ecological perspective for the subject matter of the social sciences several preliminary issues must be addressed. Relationships between populations and their environments have been given limited attention by the social sciences. The unit of analysis is a cultural vocabulary for classifying the natural environment, with little attention given to functional interrelationships with the wider ecosystem.
