Vocabulary

Find the missing parts of the collocations used in the text:

1. … -based data collection

2. archival … information

3. statistical … testing

4. … modelling

5. differential …

6. to form an an … whole

7. … formalization

8. the time … of a point's position

9. the … rule of the dynamical system

10. to … the subjective nature of research

11. Karl Marx's materialist … to theory

12. rational … theory

FOLLOW-UP

Prepare a detailed report on any of the social theory perspectives listed above using the expressions from the tables in Chapter II.

UNIT 6

WARM UP

Answer the questions.

Should any science be criticised? Why?/Why not?

READING

Read the text.

Criticism and opposition

The social sciences are at times criticized as being less rigorous than other natural sciences, in that they are seen as being less empirical in their methods.^[ This claim has been made in the so-called Science Wars. This is most commonly made when comparing social sciences to wholly different fields such as physics, chemistry or biology in which corroboration of the hypothesis is far more incisive with regard to data observed from specifically designed experiments. Some physicists have expressed their view that social sciences do not qualify as science. Characterized as observational, the social sciences explanations for cause-effect relationships are largely subjective.  A limited degree of freedom is available in designing the factor setting for a particular observational study. 

Most social scientists, however, themselves recognise their fields do not constitute 'sciences' in the modern sense of the word, but rather in the classical sense. Social science is thus an archaic term that "stuck". It may be argued that the strongest critiques of positivism and social empiricism have arisen from within the social sciences, through hermeneutics, neo-Kantianism, phenomenology, antipositivism, critical theory, and, at a later stage, post-structuralism. Flyvbjerg (2001) has argued that the discussion of whether natural science is more scientific than social science is futile; social science is best practiced as phronesis, whereas natural science is best practiced as episteme, in the classical Greek meaning of the terms, and both have important if different roles to play in the production of knowledge in society.

It has been argued that the social world is much too complex to be studied as one would study static molecules. The actions or reactions of a molecule or chemical substance are always the same when placed in certain situations. Humans, on the other hand, are much too complex for these traditional scientific methodologies. Humans and society do not have certain rules that always have the same outcome and they cannot guarantee to react the same way to certain situations.

A third criticism is that social sciences tend to be compromised more frequently by politics, since results from social science may threaten certain centers of power in a society, particularly ones which fund the research institutions. Further, complexity exacerbates the problems, since observed social data may be the result of factors which are hard to evaluate in isolation.

Not all institutions recognize some fields listed above as social sciences or as being only social scientific. Some disciplines have characteristics of both the humanities, social and natural sciences: for example some subfields of anthropology, such as biological anthropology, are closely related to the natural sciences whereas archaeology and linguistics are social sciences, while cultural anthropology is very much linked with the humanities. Note that social science methodologies are being incorporated into so-called hard science fields like medicine, where a three-legged stool to the understanding of physical well-being is now emphasized in the medical curriculum: biological, socio-psychological, and environmental.

Most universities offer degrees in social science fields. The Bachelor of Social Science is a degree targeted at the social sciences in particular. It is often more flexible and in-depth than other degrees which include social science subjects.

In the United States, a university may offer a student who studies a social sciences field a Bachelor of Arts degree, particularly if the field is within one of the traditional liberal arts such as history, or a Bachelor of Science degree, as the social sciences constitute one of the two main branches of science (the other being the natural sciences). In addition, some institutions have degrees for a particular social science, such as the Bachelor of Economics degree, though such specialized degrees are relatively rare in the United States.

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Answer the questions:

1. Why were social sciences sometimes criticized?

2. Does sociology have an empirical nature?

3. What was Flyvbjerg’s viewpoint about the ‘Science Wars’ like?

4. What is the object of study for Sociology?

5. What makes social science so complicated for research?

6. What disciplines and sub-fields is Sociology related to?

7. What degrees can many universities offer to social science students?

8. How do you view your professional future as a sociologist? Enumerate the areas where you could apply your knowledge and skills.