Social science is not a science

Other View vs Mainstream View

There is a non-mainstream point of view that "Social science is not a science". Let's take a look into pros and cons of this statement:

1. Pros: Social sciences deal with human behavior and society, which are complex, variable and difficult to study objectively.
   – Cons (Mainstream View): While studying human behavior is challenging, social sciences still use the scientific method of forming hypotheses, collecting data, and testing theories. Many findings in social science are replicable.

2. Pros: Theories in social science are often not as predictive as theories in natural sciences like physics.
   – Cons (Mainstream View): Predictive power is not the only hallmark of science. Social science theories still have explanatory power to help us understand social phenomena.

3. Pros: There is inherent subjectivity and bias in social science research since it is conducted by humans studying other humans.
   – Cons (Mainstream View): While perfect objectivity may not be possible, social scientists use techniques like double-blind experiments and peer review to minimize bias as much as possible. Natural sciences also have some inherent biases.

Terms

• Science: The systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
  Example: Physics, chemistry, and biology are classic examples of natural sciences.

• Social sciences: Academic disciplines that study human society and social relationships.
  Example: Social sciences include psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, and political science.

• Society: A community of people living in a particular country or region and having shared customs, laws, and organizations.
  Example: Sociologists study how societies are structured and how they change over time.

• Hypothesis: A proposed explanation for a phenomenon, or a reasoned prediction of a possible causal correlation among multiple phenomena, which can then be tested through research.
  Example: A researcher might hypothesize that stress leads to increased risk of heart disease.

• Theory: A plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena.
  Example: The theory of evolution by natural selection is a cornerstone of modern biology.

• Scientific method: A systematic way of gathering data and testing ideas. It usually involves observation, forming a hypothesis, making testable predictions, experimentation or study, analysis, and drawing conclusions.
  Example: A psychologist forms a hypothesis that a certain therapy is effective for depression. She tests this by randomly assigning depressed patients to either receive the therapy or a placebo, and measuring their symptoms before and after.

• Replicable: Findings that can be duplicated when the same study methodology is repeated. Replicability is a key principle of science.
  Example: Many famous experiments in social psychology, like Milgram's obedience studies, have been replicated by other researchers.

• Explanatory power: The ability of a scientific theory to effectively explain the phenomena it pertains to.
  Example: Cognitive dissonance theory, which says people experience discomfort when they hold contradictory beliefs, can explain many observable behaviors like rationalization.

An analogy

Saying social science is not a science is like saying baking is not cooking. Baking, like social science, involves complex "ingredients" (people and societies) and outcomes that are not always perfectly predictable. But bakers still use systematic techniques and principles to achieve their best result, much like social scientists use the scientific method. And the proof, as they say, is in the pudding - we know a lot more about human behavior thanks to social science.

The history

1. 1800s: Early social theorists like Marx and Weber apply systematic analysis to society, but their methods are not always scientific by today's standards.

2. Early 1900s: Disciplines like psychology and sociology become more scientific, adopting experimental methods and statistical techniques. Influential research includes Pavlov's work on classical conditioning.

3. Mid 1900s: Social science continues to mature with the development of key research methods like randomized controlled trials. Significant studies include Asch's conformity experiments.

4. Late 1900s-present: Many social science theories are further refined and tested. Fields like behavioral economics emerge at the border of social and natural science. But debates continue about the "hardness" of social vs natural science.

Three cases how to use it right now

1. When reading about a social science study, think critically about the methods used. Were there control groups? Placebos? Random assignment? Appropriate statistics? The more rigorous the methods, the more seriously we should take the findings.

2. Don't automatically discount social science research as "soft". Findings that have been replicated across many studies are likely quite robust, even if they are not laws of physics.

3. Apply social science principles in your own life with a scientific mindset. If you are a manager trying to boost employee motivation, research different techniques, systematically implement them, and objectively measure the results to see what works.

Interesting facts

• Psychology only became a formal discipline in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychology lab in Germany.

• The "soft" science of psychology has made "hard" discoveries, like the fact that the human brain has approximately 86 billion neurons.

• Sociology helped create the randomized controlled trial, which is now the gold standard in medicine for testing treatments.

• Economics experiments have shown that increasing the fine for late daycare pickups actually makes parents more likely to be late - an example of the complex forces governing human behavior that social science tries to unravel.

• A famous anthropology study found that the !Kung people of the Kalahari spend only 12-19 hours per week obtaining food - disproving the idea that hunter-gatherer life was always a constant struggle for survival.