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re: When did social studies become a science?

Posted on 3/30/17 at 2:43 am to
Posted by CSATiger
The Battlefield
Member since Aug 2010
6220 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 2:43 am to
HS and College in the 70's
Social Studies HS
College Social Sciences
Posted by TxTiger82
Member since Sep 2004
33939 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 4:54 am to
quote:

not a science and in studying society their findings are useless


Did that make you feel better? Please go sit back down.
Posted by ShortyRob
Member since Oct 2008
82116 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 5:21 am to
Social Studies isn't a science.

Neither is psychology.

They both attempt to be somewhat scientific in their approach.

That's fine. But they aren't sciences.
Posted by JawjaTigah
Bizarro World
Member since Sep 2003
22501 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 5:34 am to
quote:

For what it's worth, Economics is part of the "social sciences" as well, as are Sociology, Psychology, and Geography. Even History uses research methods that are pretty intense, if done correctly.
And what about my own major/degree? Political Science. Voila! Proof! Lol.

Child to Prog/Left hack daddy: Daddy, what do you do at work? Daddy: "Rubella Anne, I'm a scientist! I do science."
This post was edited on 3/30/17 at 5:35 am
Posted by buckeye_vol
Member since Jul 2014
35236 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 6:19 am to
quote:

Psychology in studying mental health and the individual has lost out to psychiatry and medicine . When people have mental illness medicine is the way to treat it.

All psychologists do now is take surveys or polls and come up with findings of polls and surveys. They claim to be a science but in studying the individual they are not a science and in studying society their findings are useless.
So you clearly don't know what you're talking about.
Posted by buckeye_vol
Member since Jul 2014
35236 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 6:20 am to
quote:

That's fine. But they aren't sciences.
Well do tell what science is then. I'm sure your definition is going to be quite inaccurate.
This post was edited on 3/30/17 at 6:21 am
Posted by ShortyRob
Member since Oct 2008
82116 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 6:32 am to
quote:

Well do tell what science is then. I'm sure your definition is going to be quite inaccurate.


I really don't care what you think of my definition.

Both Sociology and Psychology are at best, weak sciences.

That wouldn't be bad if they were at least aware of the problem but many are not.

What they call "controlled" experiments aren't. And, when they try to apply their group studies to individuals, they look ridiculous.

I'm not saying they aren't learning things with their studies. They are.

They just always take their conclusions too far.

In addition, they are spectacularly prone to human bias in choice of study, setup of studies and observation of said studies.

Finally. There is no such thing as a human control group when studying behavior. There may be "slightly" controlled groups but in practice, the term control is completely different for social sciences than for hard sciences.
Posted by buckeye_vol
Member since Jul 2014
35236 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 6:41 am to
quote:

I really don't care what you think of my definition.
That's a leftist argument. "It's my definition, and it's personal; that's all that matters."
quote:

I'm not saying they aren't learning things with their studies. They are.
But that's what science is; experiments are one part of science.
quote:

They just always take their conclusions too far.
Usual that's politicians or some random person with an agenda. It's just like climatic change; others hijack it.
Posted by ShortyRob
Member since Oct 2008
82116 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 6:47 am to
quote:

s a leftist argument. "It's my definition, and it's personal; that's all that matters."

Ok.
quote:

the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

Neither comes close to meeting this description.
quote:

l that's politicians or some random person with an agenda. It's just like climatic change; others hijack it.
Nope. Those in the profession are some of the worst offenders. Mostly because they can't get over their conceit that their science is rigorous. As such, they fail to identify glaring problems with their experiments/studies.


Posted by Upperdecker
St. George, LA
Member since Nov 2014
30574 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 7:01 am to
Sociology is not a true science. True science involves the use of the scientific method: forming a hypothesis, testing it, and making a conclusion on it (to put it in concise format). Sociology is the study of human culture. Sociologists call themselves scientists, but what they fail to comprehend is that they can't reliably test their hypotheses. Sociologists only use surveys to perform their "tests", and anyone with an actual science background or who's even filled out a survey can tell you that they should not constitute science, and surveys are not reliable information. Sociologists accept surveys as their form of scientific testing, but people are inherently biased, frequently confused about reality and prone to purposefully lieing. Surveys aren't reliable forms of testing, and so the whole basis of sociology being testable is incorrect. It's just a way for liberal professors to act like their work matters
Posted by ShortyRob
Member since Oct 2008
82116 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 7:09 am to
quote:

, but what they fail to comprehend is that they can't reliably test their hypotheses
quote:

Upperdecker

Some of what you said is not correct but the line about reliably testing
Is dead on

Their "tests" are fraught with insurmountable problems.

If i want to know the likelihood of a particular social or psychological phenomenon occurring, the social sciences are mildly useful.

But that is of very little use really because even perfectly run unbiased research can't make individual predictions or assessments AT ALL!

Which is why those in the profession are annoying because they pretend they can do this all the time.
This post was edited on 3/30/17 at 7:11 am
Posted by buckeye_vol
Member since Jul 2014
35236 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 10:33 am to
quote:

Neither comes close to meeting this description.
I should preface that this is personal since my PhD is in psychology. And I'm well aware of the scientific limitations of studying human behavior, but I spent (and continue to) years learning how to systematically observe and study, and whenever possible, test the concepts and theories of my specific disciplinep.

I understand that, compared to the hard sciences, social science in general is inferior. That doesn't make them pervasively unscientific.

In addition, I hate that some researchers and disciplines are arguing "theories" with limited, or no, true scientific scrutiny. Psychology alone has 54 divisions, and some are essentially pure quantitative and/or experimental in nature, and focus on observable and measurable behaviors. On the other hand, others focus on abstract, purely conjecture-based concepts. The latter's unscientific focus doesn't negate the former's though.

So when you make a sweeping generalization that psychology is not a science, I have a personal and professional problem with that.
Posted by LSU Patrick
Member since Jan 2009
73493 posts
Posted on 3/30/17 at 10:44 am to
Sociological research cannot be replicated. In many cases, although very difficult, psychological research can.

Psychology does the best it can to control for extraneous variables. Ethics and that brain thingy make this a real challenge, but they can be overcome in some cases with some real creativity. This includes Social Psychology, which is the more scientific branch of sociological research.

Sociology sort of recognizes the limitations of controlling social interactions and makes no real attempt to do so. It draws a lot from anthropology.

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