The social sciences have and will continue to be in the future will play an important role in studying and solving problems for both society and its individuals. The disciplines that it encompass vary widely but often need to come together to solve issues and study certain facets of humanity. For my personal use social science is a tool to better understand others, be more sensitive to issues that people may face and to anticipate the way people and society may act in certain situations. A social science lens can be productive in that it helps people be more indiscriminate though understanding people and their behavior. I hope to use the socials sciences to impact other people’s lives in a positive manner. The social sciences to me when used in a well-intended manner are able to not only explain phenomena but also be a solution and or make a situation better. The intent of this essay is to better understand and define the social sciences, touch on the many disciplines of the science in addition to its relationships with other scientific areas.
The social sciences have always face ridicule from many other of its scientific partners and colleagues of different disciplines, in fact the “fields of social science have occupied a shifting, liminal position within the academy. Condemned by one set of observers for being insufficiently scientific, they are condemned by the other side for being too scientific.”(Gerring xxiii) Although it has faced ridicule for it legitimacy it has held true to studying human society and societal relationships. There are many functioning definitions for social science, but the best one that I have come across state that “Social science is the collection of academic disciplines which study any aspect of soc...
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... more and more in a society that is withdrawing further and further, the development of technology has created a distancing between people and eventually it will have to be dealt with in some manner. Who better to help the divide than social scientists. Social interactions are becoming increasingly less personal and communication is being lost in many areas within life. I believe that the future of social science lies in the belly of communication and interpersonal interaction becoming personal once again.
Works Cited
Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSSR) Definition. (n.d.). NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). Retrieved February 4, 2014, from http://obssr.od.nih.gov/about_obssr/BSSR_CC/BSSR_definition/definition.aspx
Gerring, J. (2001). Social science methodology: a criterial framework. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Blakeley, G., Bromley, G., Clarke, J., Raghurham, P., Silva, E. and Taylor, S. (2009) ‘Introducing the Social Sciences’ Learning Companion 1, Milton Keynes, The Open University
Blakely, G., Bromley, S., Clarke, J., Raghuram, P., Silva, E., and Taylor, S. (2012) DD131 Introducing the Social Sciences – Part 1, ‘ Learning Companion 1’, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
The term Sociology can be defined as a study of society, “the ology” of human inter-action within the collective (society). The Sociological Imagination C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) believes that sociology is the most reflective subject there is. Sociology can be used for practical purposes to identify and understand social problems. Sociologists try to study society from an objective, impartial and unbiased position. The study of sociology differs from a common sense view point, as it challenges what is accepted as normal. Sociologists try to be objective in their search to discover the truth.
Becoming advocates for social scientists have both benefits and drawbacks. On the good side, Gutting (2012) says that it can supplement general knowledge, critical intensity, practical experience and good sense. Gutting also says that scientists know where a certain piece of work falls in their relevant discipline. This allows them to be good advocates. Taking sides also allows social scientists to help curb harmful behaviors by conducting research on their harmful effects and discouraging the behaviors with facts. Examples are effects of drugs and substance abuse, risky sexual behaviors etc.
Babbie, E. (2007) The Practice of Social Research. Thomson Higher Education. Belmont. (USA) Eleven Edition.
1. The study and science of Sociology is a comparitively new pursuit, as opposed to the general sciences such as physics, archeology and chemistry, that is now being used to explain and help improve our way of life and behaviour. Many benefits are derived from the study of sociology; understanding the social dynamics within communities or certain groups give clarity on why problems and conflicts arise within them, and how those can be solved, as well as impinging upon our individual day to day existence.
After reviewing the article titles given for this first assignment, I believe they indicate that Sociology, generally speaking, is not only a study of diversity or commonality in traits among people; it is also a science about factors in a person’s life and how these factors culminate responses. Interestingly enough, its topics of concern seem to be directly determined by current and common events of the world. Through the invention and expansion of new ideas, popular trends and fashions through time, Sociology adapts to responsibly to service the very subjects of interest it studies; for, even the slightest change of a person’s daily experience can have an insurmountable impact on attitude, personal growth, family dynamics and basic group behavior.
In social science, there are several paradigms, each with its own unique ontological and epistemological perspective. Examples of paradigms include positivism which focuses on objectivity, know ability, and deductive logic. Its assumption is that society can and should be studied empirically and scientifically (Ritzer, 2004). Critical paradigm’s main emphasis is on power, inequality, and social change. It is of the assumption that social science can never be truly value-free and should be conducted with the express goal of social change in mind (Calhoun, 2007). Social constructionism paradigm’ s main emphasis is that truth as varying, socially constructed, and ever-changing and is of the assumption that reality is created collectively and that social context and interaction frame our realities (Berger, 1966).
Social science helps society bond our personal situations with our everyday life. This is shown through many topics such as sociological imagination and politics. Sociological Imagination is all about knowing the connection between personal experiences and society. Politics is what creates society. Studying these topics had brought a better idea of what social science is and how it impacts on me as a member of
Sociology, as a form of science, is therefore also criticized for making scientific studies a means to an end unto themselves, as well as for not recognizing the importance of the individual.
To Quote Anthony Giddens: "Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. It is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its subject matter our own behaviour as social beings. The scope of sociology is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals in the street up to the investigation of world-wide social processes“(1989). Gidden’s statement describes sociology as a study that helps us understand our own behaviour as human beings in a social word. Sociologist study everything from the interaction between people in the street to the interaction between different countries. Sociologists aim to study how societies have changed over, how societies are structured and organized, the norms of society. It’s also important to understand that not all sociologists agree with each other, Sociologists often debate with one another to prove/disprove certain theories and concepts. By studying Sociology is it helps us analyze social conflicts on a micro and macro scope. Through a macro level, we can study large-scale social organization and large social categories it also examinees social processes and patterns society as a whole. We can analyze individuals much deeper on a micro level. This way we study a human by face-to face interactions. Its important as humans to understand the way our society came together and the reasons to how elements work and function together. Sociology gives us a deeper
By the definition, science is the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment (Oxford dictionary). This crude definition is elaborated further by a world-famous sociologist Anthony Giddens as ‘the scientific study of human social life, groups, and societies. It is dazzling and compelling enterprise, as its subject matter is our own behavior as social beings. The scope of sociological study is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals on the street to the investigation of global social processes such as the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.’ (Giddens: 2006)
There is a very crucial point in the social sciences which make the events and phenomenons more clear. Therefore we as the students of these areas can have the chance seeing the backgrounds of what happens in the world and noumenon of the events. Another important aspect of social sciences is its holistic structure which interconnects different disciplines and they move together helping each other in the area. The purpose of the social sciences is to set up an available and strong method and thus to get the ability of reading the social world.
The discipline of sociology provides a perspective that allows for individuals to expand and dig beyond “common knowledge” and inherit an approach to society that allows an advanced analysis of the root cause of activity in a certain society, opposed to assessing it on an assumption. A beneficial component to sociology is that it can be individually directed to different components of society that all contribute to its overall functioning. Under a sociological perspective we can use an engaged approach that once applied to social issues can improve the functioning of societies on both local and global scales that are considered complex, degrading, or facing considerable amounts of neglect. When we take into consideration the environment and
I feel that challenges to success in the social science are not similar to the challenges of the natural sciences. The main purpose for my statement is natural sciences base theories on concrete structural forms. Changes are much slower and subjects or matters are constant. Another factor is natural science research is primarily performed in a lab where conditions are more controllable. The similarities between natural science and social science are which they are both observed specific phenomena, only observation for social scientist can be divided as observation, asking question, studying written document. But natural scientist is not able to use those ways because metals, chemicals and other materialistic matters can not be studied like people.