1. The Human Sciences
List as many features as you can that distinguish human beings from other animals.
To what extent do these features make it difficult to study human beings in a scientific way?

2. TASK
List five examples of human behaviour that you are convinced would hold true for all people in all circumstances.
List five examples of human behaviour that you believe would hold true for 80% of all people, 80% of the time

3. TASK
How would you go about finding out, as accurately as possible, the attitude of people between 70 and 80 years old to the Internet?
If you choose to live anywhere in the world where would you choose to live and what measurable factors could help you make your choice?

4. How does the use of numbers, statistics, graphs and other quantitative instruments affect the way knowledge claims in the human sciences are valued?
“The only possible conclusion the social sciences can draw is: some do, some don’t.” Ernest Rutherford
Do you agree with this statement regarding the Human Sciences?

5. What are the social sciences
Anthropology [The study of humans societies and customs]
Economics [The study of the production and distribution of wealth]
Political Science [The study of the state and systems of government]
Sociology [The study of the structure and functioning of human society]
Psychology [The study of the human mind and its behaviour in specific contexts]

6. Observation 1. Seeing what can’t be seen 2. Being seen by the seen
3. Seeing what you want to see
TASK:
Reality TV has become popular in many countries, with the series like Big Brother, Survivor and Star Academy. What, if anything, do we learn about human nature from such programmes?

7. Conclusion:
Observing in the social sciences is not the same as observing in the natural sciences.
1. Social science is concerned with concepts that may not be observed through the physical senses.
2. What is observed can be distorted, either deliberately or otherwise, by the what or who is being observed.
3. Objective value free observation is even more difficult than it is in the natural sciences.

8. OTHER RESOURCE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcvSNg0HZwk
Milgram's Obedience to Authority Experiment /3
Abusing statistics for politics and profit