Social Studies Study Guide for the HiSET Test

Geography

Geography is the study of the physical features of the Earth’s surface and how humans interact with the physical landscape. Geography is important to understanding all other disciplines because it provides a spatial context and explanation for what is being studied.

Physical Geography

Physical geography focuses on the spatial patterns of landforms, weather, and climate that occur naturally on Earth. It is usually broken down into regions for easier study based on similarities within world regions. Related fields include meteorology, geology, and ecology.

Human Geography

Human geography is focused primarily on the interactions that humans have with the physical landscape. It studies how the environment impacts human development and how humans impact the environment. Culture is a major theme of human geography but other important topics include political geography, urbanization, agricultural practices, population and migration, industry, and development. Analyzing these major themes from a spatial perspective is a fundamental of human geography.

Spatial Phenomena

Spatial phenomena refer to the arrangement of something on the Earth’s surface. It is a way to represent data about a particular topic. For example, geographers can use maps with varying shades of color to communicate the distribution of population across the world. Darker shades would indicate highly dense and more populated areas while lighter shades communicate sparsely populated areas.

Economic Factors

Development is the key economic factor in geography. Development is often measured by GDP per capita (per person), life expectancy, and literacy rates. By comparing these three main factors, it is easy to compare countries and see which ones are highly developed and which are not as developed. The physical environment can be influential because some countries may have access to valuable resources and develop quickly while others may not and get left behind, developmentally.

Political Factors

The environment can also influence politics. Countries that are made up of predominantly one ethnic group would do much better with a unitary form of government since they are already like-minded. On the other hand, countries with very large, diverse populations would do better with a federal system in order to give more control to lower levels of government to better meet the needs of the people. Politically speaking, countries develop differently based on the influence of the physical landscape and the culture of the people.

In geography, the concept of social factors most often refers to social classes. Social class is usually determined by how much money you make, the size of your home, and your level of education. When studying the distribution of people, especially in cities, trends and patterns can be discovered based on social class. Once social class distribution is determined, other trends can easily become visible like voting preferences, transportation forms, etc.

Having a solid background in social studies will help you answer questions on this test, but you’ll also need to engage some analytical thought processes. You can practice this type of thinking using online materials, books, and workbooks before test day. The test focuses on these three main categories of thought. We have listed some important points about each of them to help you prepare.

Interpret and Apply

When assessing social studies, questions may require interpretation or application. When seen in a question, both these terms are based on things that have already been stated. When asked to interpret something, draw from the information presented and use context clues to find the meaning. For example, if asked to interpret a graph, you are basically looking for the meaning of the graph. Likewise, when asked to apply something, find the meaning and put it to use to find the answer. If asked to find the distance between locations on a map, apply your knowledge and the scale to find the answer. The good thing about all of the following concepts is that the answer is provided in the prompt if you know how to break down the information and find the answer.

Making Inferences

An inference is a conclusion made based on prior knowledge and information presented. Usually, inferences always require you to draw a conclusion based on unstated relationships. In social studies, inferences are made on a regular basis. For example, people make inferences when reading current events because they must draw on prior knowledge to gain a good understanding of the news presented.

Making Predictions

One goal of the social sciences is to make predictions. Historical analysis is important to informing current decisions and making predictions about what might happen in the future. Also, considering geographic distributions and past events helps inform government policy that shapes the future. Questions may require you to draw from information provided and make a prediction.

Drawing Conclusions

When taking the test, some questions may require you to draw conclusions. Drawing conclusions is similar to cause and effect. These will usually be accompanied by an excerpt or data set (map, graph, or chart). Use your content knowledge and the information presented to draw a conclusion, or make an inference, and choose the best answer.

Applying to New Situations

Application is a higher-order thinking skill that requires you to put your knowledge into practice. Carefully read all information presented and use what is provided to complete the task. Often, you will be able to apply a concept to other situations. Don’t let the change in context fool you, though; the questions are normally asking you something you already know but are simply requiring you to display your knowledge in a different situation.

Analyze

Many test items require you to analyze data. To analyze simply means to carefully examine something. Carefully examine the information presented in order to understand what is being asked and then give the best response.

Facts, Opinions, and Values

The test might ask you to analyze a text and identify the facts, opinions, or values found in the text. Facts are pieces of information that are true and not disputable. Opinions are views that people have about things that are not based on fact. Values are things that people hold in high regard. Values include principles, morals, and beliefs. The answers to these types of questions will be found in the information provided. Be sure to carefully analyze the information provided to find the answer.

Author’s Purpose

Sometimes, questions will ask about the author’s purpose for writing the excerpt. In these cases, read the entire passage and look for any indication of persuasion. Some authors try to persuade the reader to believe a certain way, adopt their opinion, or join a cause. Others might simply be conveying factual information.

Assumptions

Another part of analysis is making assumptions. An assumption is something that is accepted as true without concrete evidence. Questions may ask you to make assumptions based on the information provided. You may have to analyze information and find the answer choice provided that is an assumption, or accepted as true based on the information provided.

Arguments

Most passages of reading make an argument. The argument is basically the summary or main idea of the passage. If a question asks what the author’s argument is, carefully read the passage and choose the answer that best summarizes the main point of the passage.

Evaluate and Generalize

Evaluation is the process of making a judgment about something. To generalize is to make a broad statement about something. Questions that require you to evaluate and generalize will also provide you with the information to make a judgment and draw and conclusion about.

Adequate Information

You will have all the information you need to reach a conclusion on the test. The questions on the test evaluate your ability to use the information provided to make judgments and draw conclusions. Be sure to carefully read each question and use context clues to find the correct answer.

Valid Conclusions

How do you know if a conclusion is valid or not? Chances are, the test will provide answer choices in which the correct answer is not obvious. You may think more than one answer is correct. In this case, compare each possible answer to the passage and find the one that best aligns with the author’s argument and what the question is asking.

Source Reliability

Sometimes, it can be difficult to know whether the source of the information is reliable. One easy way to tell that you can trust a source is if it is peer-reviewed. This means the information was reviewed by other professionals and approved as true and correct information. In social studies, it is important to verify that the information you are reading is valid and reliable because people can take many perspectives when studying this subject and some authors may have an intent to persuade their audience with incorrect information.