41409 Other professional occupations in social science

What this occupation covers

Other professional occupations in social science include anthropologists, archaeologists, geographers, historians, linguists, political scientists, sociologists and other professional occupations in social science. They are employed in universities and throughout the public and private sectors.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 11 main duties for this code.

• Conduct studies of the origin, development and functioning of human societies and cultures and of human evolution, changing physical characteristics and geographical distribution.
• Study artifacts (objects and structures) to reconstruct past economic, social, political and intellectual life.
• Study crime, criminals, prevention and rehabilitation, and may assist and counsel individuals on their social reintegration.
• Study and analyse the spatial distribution and interrelationship of physical, biological, cultural and social patterns.
• Conduct research into one or more phases or aspects of past human activity and interpret and document findings.
• Study the origin, structure and development of languages and apply linguistic theory to problems in teaching, translation and communications.
• Conduct research into the theory, origin, development, interrelationships and functioning of political institutions, political movements and individual political behaviour.
• Develop psychological tests, scales and measures, and may administer or apply and interpret such tests, scales and measures. Psychometrists administer and score psychological tests, usually under the supervision of a registered psychologist.
• Study the development, structure, social patterns and interrelationships of human society.
• Specialize in particular areas of social sciences and humanities disciplines. These include gerontologists (specialists in the phenomena and problems of aging), graphoanalysts (specialists in handwriting analysis) and others.
• Specialization usually exists within each of these occupations.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 11 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 41210 College and other vocational instructors
• 41401 Economists and economic policy researchers and analysts
• 21210 Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries
• 31200 Psychologists
• 41220 Secondary school teachers
• 41403 Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers
• 41200 University professors and lecturers

Excluded from this code

• College and other vocational instructors (See 41210 College and other vocational instructors)
• Economists and economic policy researchers and analysts (See 41401 Economists and economic policy researchers and analysts)
• Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries (See 21210 Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries)
• Psychologists (See 31200 Psychologists)
• Secondary school teachers (See 41220 Secondary school teachers)
• Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers (See 41403 Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers)
• University professors and lecturers (See 41200 University professors and lecturers)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

anthropologist · applied anthropologist · applied geographer · applied linguist · archaeological consultant · archaeological field worker · archaeologist · biogeographer · biological anthropologist · criminologist · cultural anthropologist · cultural geographer · diplomatic historian · dramatic arts historian · economic geographer · economic historian · educational sociologist · ethnographer · ethnologist · etymologist · genealogist · geographer · gerontologist · graphoanalyst

Employment requirements

• A master's or doctoral degree in the discipline is usually required.
• In Quebec, membership in the regulatory body for criminologists is required to use the title "Criminologist".