What is Social Science
Social Science - Is a discipline to
understanding human behaviour
What is Social Science
Discipline involves research, data collection and analysis.
Many social scientists also apply their research to help
solve social problems.
They have challenging jobs because they study extremely
complex phenomena that are often subject to multiple
interpretations.
The effectiveness of social scientists is demonstrated in
the quality of their research.
What is Social Science
The Origins of Social Sciences
Some people might believe that human/groups/societies
act the way they do for very simple reasons.
But most reasons are very complex with many
different reasons and influences.
What is Social Science
The social science way of seeing the world will give you
new insights and perspectives and make you question many
things/ideas you have taken for granted.
Just as gravity existed before the science of physics
and diseases existed before the development of medicine,
human behaviour existed before the advent of social science.
What is Social Science
•The social sciences were created as a result of the Age of Enlightenment in
the 1700s
•Reason and logic became the cornerstones of this period
•Philosophers like Immanuel Kant, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and JeanRousseau criticized ignorance, intolerance, superstitions and political
oppression.
What is Social Science
•Many important scientific discoveries were made during this time
•
-Issac Newton, Universal Law of Gravity
•Authors and thinkers believed that if reason and science could be used
to discover laws of nature, then they could be used to discover laws
about humans and their behaviours
•Scientific observation became the basis for the science of social
behaviour- the social sciences of Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology