social science history and methods

7/29/2019 Social Science History and Methods

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Social ScienceSocial Science

Social Science ISocial Science ISecond Sem., SY 2010Second Sem., SY 2010--20112011

UP VisayasUP Visayas

Knowledge :Knowledge :

Social ScienceSocial Science field of human knowledgethat deals with all aspects of the group life ofhuman beings

Natural ScienceNatural Science concerned with thenatural environment in which humans exist

Includes physics, chemistry,

biological sciences

HumanitiesHumanities deals with literature,music, art and philosophy


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Politics is more difficult than physics andthe world is more likely to die from bad

politics than from bad physics.

- Albert Einstein

Historical roots of the Social SciencesHistorical roots of the Social Sciences

Greeks

- the first to establish rational theory

- grasp rational concepts and use them as a wayof looking at reality andseeing logical connections

- empirical and anti-mystical


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PlatoPlato and AristotleAristotleare responsiblefor establishinga basis ofknowledge aswe know it anddeal with it

today


Much of the Greek contribution to knowledge would havebeen lost were it not for the preservation by EasternCivilizations

Crusades (1095 to 1272) :Europeans becamereacquainted with thelearning ofthe ancient Greeks,and they broughtback the body of

ancient Greeklearning to Europewhere it was generallyavailable by the twelfthcentury


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Middle Ages (A.D. 476 to 1453)

- Religion was so central to life :it tied together allfields of study

- Gods will


-series of literary and culturalmovements

in the 14th, 15th, and 16th

centuries- the totality of knowledge was

comprehensible by the human mind;an educated person could

know everything and exercise all skillsand social graces

Renaissance man


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- Rationalist Approach- Places human reason above faith

- Logical connections

- Proofs, evidence

- Religious Approach- Places faith above reason


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Renaissance- Division:

- Humanities and Physics- Physics was later broken up into empirical

studies (which developed into variousnatural sciences) and metaphysics(non-empirical studies that developedinto philosophy)Social science (as we consider it now)was part of History simply adocumentation of what had happened.

History was part of literature and thehumanities.


The Enlightenment- 1659 to 1700- period in which rationalism replaced religionas the organized system of knowledge

- period when the development ofthe social science took hold andflourished

- there was a belief that civilizationhad improved and so too shouldthe thinking about civilization


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The Enlightenment

Three humiliations of human beings:

1. The earth is not the center of the universe

2. We are creatures of nature like other animals

3. Our reasoning ability is subject topassions and subconscious desires

Paradox: human beings humiliation was

accompanied by a belief in humanbeings power


history of knowledge.pdf


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Common Sense and the Social SciencesCommon Sense and the Social Sciences

True or False?

Some people dream every night whileothers do not dream at all.

People tend to pair off withpartners who closely matchthem in physical attractiveness

Events such as going on a

vacation or a change in eating habits canactually cause stress

Common Sense and the Social SciencesCommon Sense and the Social Sciences

Which one is true?

Opposites attractvs.Birds of samefeather flock together


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UnscientificThinking: CONTENT

Comes from our sources of informationFriends Family

Family Authority

Authority Media

Media Books

People we respect and admire Do we test their

assertions?

Beliefs become stablebecause we rarely test

them



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Unscientific Thinking: PROCESS

Comes from the way we get information People want to feel like they can control

the outcomes that they care about

they see relationships that arent really there

Lucky shirt, lucky pen, lucky color, lucky song, etc

Confirmation Bias:

Pay the most attention to evidence that

supports their ideasWashing the car and then it rains

The Scientific Method

Important Assumption:

Behavior must follow a natural order,

therefore, it can be predicted

Determinism: there are

specifiable, causes for the way

people behave, and these causes

can be discovered through

research.


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The Scientific MethodThe Scientific Method

1. Observe.2. Define the problem.3. Review the literature.4. Observe some more.5. Develop a theoretical framework

and formulate a hypothesis.6. Choose the research design.7. Collect the necessary data.

8. Analyze the results.9. Draw conclusions.


Seeking general principles-laws, theories, hypothesis

Gathering empirical data-observable, experienced,can be quantified

Exercising good thinking- Systematic, objective,rational, logical


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Galileo Galilei (1564 1642). Renaissance

astronomer, mathematician, and developer of thescientific method. (National Library of Medicine)

Galileos InquisitionGalileos Inquisition


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Methods of the Social SciencesMethods of the Social Sciences

Experimental Method

Historical Method

Case Method

Comparative Method


Cross Cultural Studies on Power Distance Index


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Cross Cultural Studies on Power Distance Index

KOREAN AIRLINE (KAL) ACCIDENTS

1977 Russian Airspace

1979 Seoul

1982 Sakhalin Island, Russia

1987 Andaman Sea

1989 Tripoli

1989 Seoul1994 Cheju, South Korea

1997 Nimitz Hill, Guam


Comparative Methods: Cross Cultural Studies

on Power Distance Index

Top Five Pilot PDIs1.Brazil2.South Korea

3.Morocco4.Mexico5.Philippines

Five Lowest PilotPDIS

1.United States

2.Ireland3.South Africa4.Australia5.New Zealand


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Social Science ISocial Science I

Interdisciplinary approachInterdisciplinary approach-- -- InterdisciplinaryInterdisciplinary

UnderstandingUnderstanding

social science history and methods

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