What is scientific about social science? The complexity of measuring human behavior

Authors

  • Susanna Priest Science Communication: Linking Theory and Practice.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.0.3923

Keywords:

social science, humanities, scientific method, participant observation

Abstract

The social and behavioral sciences share many characteristics with the «hard» or «natural» sciences, including a commitment to the systematic analysis of empirical data, whether quantitative or qualitative. Yet the subject matter of social science is sometimes elusive, involving many abstract entities like values and cultures, and its methods do not always involve measurement or experimentation. Is social science «scientific» or is it not? 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Susanna Priest, Science Communication: Linking Theory and Practice.

Susanna Priest. Editor-in-chief of the journal Science Communication: Linking Theory and Practice .

References

American Anthropological Association, 2014. «AAA Responds to Public Controversy over Science in Anthropology». American Anthropological Association. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved July 30, 2014. Available at: <http://www.aaanet.org/issues/press/AAA-responds-to-public-controversy-over-science-in-anthropology.cfm>.

Bishop, G. F., 2005. The Illusion of Public Opinion: Fact and Artifact in American Public Opinion Polls. Rowman and Littlefield. Lanham, Maryland.

Collins English Dictionary, n.d. «Soft Science». Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Harper Collins Publisher. Hammersmith, London. Retrieved July 30, 2014. Available at: <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soft science>.

Merton, R. K.,1968. Social Theory and Social Structure. Free Press. New York.

Downloads

Published

2015-04-16

How to Cite

Priest, S. (2015). What is scientific about social science? The complexity of measuring human behavior. Metode Science Studies Journal, (5), 201–207. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.0.3923
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    1786
  • PDF (Català/Valencià)
    372
  • PDF (Español)
    1174
  • PDF
    284

Issue

The light of science (2015)

Section

What is science? A multidisciplinary approach to scientific thought

License

All the documents in the OJS platform are open access and property of their respective authors.

Authors publishing in the journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors keep the rights and guarantee Metode Science Studies Journal the right to be the first publication of the document, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of authorship and publication in the journal.
  2. Authors are allowed and encouraged to spread their work through electronic means using personal or institutional websites (institutional open archives, personal websites or professional and academic networks profiles) once the text has been published.

Metrics

Similar Articles

<< < > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.