Basics of Social Science

SSU1013

Semester 1 Sesi 2016/2017

 Basic texts
 Hunt, E. F. & Colander, D.C. (2011) Social Science: An
Introduction to the Study of Society. Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.
 Perry, A.J. & Perry, E.K. (2010) Contemporary Society:
An Introduction to Social Science. Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.
What is the purpose of this paper?

 Social science is more than the study of the individual

social sciences

 It’s important to know how each of the social sciences

relate to each other & what they share in common

 Understanding these relationships is essential for

understanding modern social problems
Course Objectives
At the end of this course you should be able to…

1. Explain the origin of the social sciences

2. Be familiar with the key concepts and language of the
social sciences
3. Understand why the social sciences have evolved & are
still evolving
4. Understand the relevance of social sciences for
understanding past & present societies
5. Understand & describe social realities using a social
science perspective
After completing this topic you should be able
to…

• Define social science and explain why it is important

• State the steps that make up the scientific method

• Explain the various research methods used in the social sciences

• Explain the basic differences between the social and natural

sciences
 We are born into a natural world and a social world

 Natural world
 ready made environment
 only partly amenable to change & control

• Social world
 That has been shaped by previous generations
 That is reshaped by each new generation
Spontaneous Generation

 It was common knowledge for thousands of years that

simple organisms could come from dust, mud and food
left out.

 This idea was called “spontaneous generation.”

 From the time of the ancient Romans, through the
Middle Ages, and until the late nineteenth century, it
was generally accepted that some life forms arose
spontaneously from non-living matter.
i.e. “life from nonlife”
How Did This Happen?
 Every year the Nile River flooded leaving behind
nutrient rich soil that enables people to grow that
year’s crops.

However, along with the muddy

soil, large numbers of frogs
appeared that weren’t around in
drier times.
What did people conclude?

• It was perfectly obvious to the people back

then that muddy soil gave rise to the frogs.
Another example
 In many parts of Europe, medieval farmers
stored grain in barns with thatched roofs.
As a roof aged it started to leak. This could
lead to spoiled or moldy grain, and of
course, there were lots of mice around.
What did people conclude?

• It was obvious that the mice came from the

moldy grain.
 Place a dirty shirt or some rags in an open pot or
barrel containing a few grains of wheat or some
wheat bran, and in 21 days, mice will appear. There
will be adult males and females present, and they will
be capable of mating and reproducing more mice.
 What were the obstacles to developing a scientific
method of inquiry towards the world?

 Well… before scientific inquiry could develop, certain

conditions had to exist
What conditions are favourable to scientific inquiry?

Certain attitudes have to be developed or tolerated…

• CURIOSITY - that makes people ask why or how

• SKEPTICISM - that makes people re-examine & re-evaluate past

explanations

• OBJECTIVITY - that makes people want to be impartial

SOCIAL SCIENCE: deals with all aspects of the group
life of human beings.

NATURAL SCIENCE: deals with the natural

environment in which humans exist.
 Natural Science

 A systematic & empirical body of knowledge and study of

the natural world
 Includes theories and empirical observation
 High degree of universality
 High utilitarian value, especially materially
Basic principle of scientific knowledge

 Scientific knowledge is based on the assumption that this is an

orderly universe, ruled by the law of cause and effect
 The scientific method
 A system of rational enquiry based on the empirical testing of
facts

 It is this method, rather than the particular content, which

gives scientists a unique way of looking at things.

 The scientific method aims at obtaining evidence that can be

verified and replicated ; judgment is withheld until supported
by overwhelming ‘proof’
The nature of the scientific method

 Observation
 Formulate a problem or question
 Collection and classification of more facts
 Generalization
 Formulate a hypothesis
 Testing the hypothesis
 Does it fit all similar sets of facts or situations?
 Retest and reformulate the theory
 Example of the scientific method
 OBSERVATION: Every swan I've ever seen is white.
 HYPOTHESIS: All swans must be white.
 TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS: A random sampling of swans from each continent
where swans are indigenous produces only white swans.
 "My global research has indicated that swans are always white, wherever
they are observed."
• RETEST AND VERIFY: Every swan any other scientist has ever observed in
any country has always been white.
 THEORY: All swans are white.
 PREDICTION: The next swan I see will be white.
 The experimental method

 An experiment is a study of cause and effect

 Important in chemistry, physics, & biology for

testing hypotheses

 involves the deliberate manipulation of one

variable, while trying to keep all other variables
constant.
In the example below, the slope of an incline is changed
and the time it takes the ball to roll down the incline is
measured.
 SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS
 The introduction and trying out of new social policies

 e.g. China’s “One Child” population control

policy launched in 1980
 Social Science

 Social science is, in its broadest sense, the study of

society and the manner in which people behave and
impact on the world around us.
 Some people say:

Social science is a soft

science... a ‘pretender’

Do you agree?
Science is a very powerful word

 It is plainly the case that poverty is the cause of crime

 Scientific research reveals that poverty is the cause of

crime

definitions of poverty change & vary!

 Social science: similarities and
differences to natural science
 The study and knowledge of the social world (a
created world)

 A highly complex and dynamic subject matter

with variations in form and meaning

 Subject matter has will and conscience

 There is order in the social world

Social science is not a natural science but it is a
science none the less

 The basic procedures of the scientific method are used.

(Social scientists carefully observe, classify and analyze
their facts, make generalizations and attempt to develop
hypotheses to explain their generalizations. )
 Knowledge is organized systematically and methodically,
according to definite concepts, theories and research and
not according to random, subjective and possibly biased
observation.
 It adheres to the scientific spirit
 The scientific spirit – what does this mean?

DOUBT & SKEPTICISM

Scientists approach everything with great doubt and skepticism, taking
nothing for granted, even their own findings which they accept are always
subject to change after further analysis
OBJECTIVITY
Scientists must try to rid themselves completely of personal attitudes, desires,
beliefs & values when confronting data intended to support a finding. Must
strive to be dispassionate, not allow biases to affect their judgment. An ideal to
strive for rather than a reality – no one can be objective all then time. This issue
is especially pertinent in the social sciences because it deals with the
relationships and behaviour of people.
ETHICAL NEUTRALITY
Scientists must not make value judgments about their findings. Not be concerned about
whether their conclusions are good or bad, right or wrong; only whether the
findings are true or false.
RELATIVITY
Scientific conclusions must never be considered final or absolute or universal truths;
rather they should be considered relative to the time and place in which they are
obtained and always subject to change or revision.
 Methodology is what makes social science
different to natural science

Although the social sciences adhere to the basic procedures of

the scientific method…

 The kind of facts gathered by social scientists are difficult

to classify and interpret.

 The generalizations or laws that the social scientist can

make are likely to be less certain/definite than those of
natural science.
 Why is this?
 Many things that important in our social life cannot really be
measured – social progress, democracy, happiness.
 Society is extremely complex – it is difficult to find and evaluate all
the causes of a given situation
 The human element exists in every social situation. It’s difficult to
predict individual behaviour .
 social scientists can seldom use controlled experiments to test their
hypotheses. In the social sciences, the Subjects or the Experimenters
are active, thinking human beings., not passive, inanimate objects.
 It’s more difficult for social scientists to remain objective, because
they deal with human beings and are humans themselves with their
own frustrations, sympathies, prejudices, likes and dislikes.
So…critical thinking is needed!
 How can this be?

 A father and son are in a car accident and the father is

killed. When the boy is brought to the hospital, the
doctor on emergency duty says: I can’t operate on him –
he’s my son.”
 This doesn’t mean that social science is less scientific than
natural sciences or less objective
 But…It does mean that social scientists must always remain
aware of these problems.
 And it means that the research approach and methodology
social science uses is different to the natural sciences. (we’ll
take a look at these next lecture)
A social science methodology

 Define the problem - often formulated as a question

 Review the literature

 Develop a hypothesis

 Develop a research design

 Collect the data

 Analyse and verify the results

 Draw conclusions
Social Science Research Methods and
Approaches
 Historical
 Case study
 Comparative/cross cultural
 Surveys
 Participant – observation
 Experiment
 Statistics
 Mathematics
 Common sense
 The interdisciplinary approach
Note that…
 Often, social scientists will use a combination of
research methods
 Different social science disciplines favour different
methods
 None of the research methods available to social
scientists is 100% effective or foolproof
 Difficulties are compounded by problems of
subjectivity, logistics and the unpredictability of
human behaviour, the number of variables.
 The task of social science

 To discover how social goals & objectives can be achieved.

(NB. What our social objectives are or should be is not a
scientific question, but has to do with our social values, our
likes and dislikes, our moral standards, our religious beliefs.)
 To help people understand the issues, the difficulties
involved, and the possible steps to a solution.