Social Sciences: An Introduction

“Social” Science VS. “Regular” Science NATURAL SCIENTISTS Example Questions: How does that tree grow? What is the effect of sunlight on plants? *STUDY THE PHYSICAL WORLD SOCIAL SCIENTISTS Example Questions: Why do some people get tattoos? Why are people marrying later in life? *STUDY HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

The Humanities (PRODUCTS OF HUMAN CULTURE) Art Literature Philosophy Religion Drama Film Studies

Natural Sciences (PHYSICAL WORLD) Chemistry Biology Physics Geography

SOCIAL SCIENCES (HUMAN BEHAVIOUR) Examine human behaviour that is observable and measurable Social Science is the most closely related to our lives as individuals What we eat, our customs, activities, etc. SUBJECTS: Economics Political Science History Urban Geography Family Studies Anthropology Psychology Sociology

The “ologies” During this course you are going to learn about 3 branches of social science: ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY SOCIOLOGY ‘Ology’ is a Latin phrase that translates to ‘study of’

THINK OF IT THIS WAY… Like a prism, each of the big 3 ‘ologies’ can examine the same aspect of human behaviour, but cast a different light on it…each discipline poses different questions and arrives at different conclusions

A HOT DATE Imagine you had a hot date last night! How would you describe it to: Your best friend? Your Mom? Your Grandma? You would likely focus on different aspects…ah, ha! Just like the 3 different disciplines.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW ANTHROPOLOGY: the study of humankind and their origins and culture PSYCHOLOGY: the study of the human mind and individual sources of behaviour, ex. mental and emotional processes, motivation, learning, perception SOCIOLOGY: the study of how groups and society shape people, including patterns of social relationships and social interaction

THE HOT DATE ANALYZED FROM EACH DISCIPLINE Anthropology What are North American dating customs & traditions? What is the purpose of dating? What symbols reflect dating? What type of body language and/or dialect takes place on a date?

THE HOT DATE ANALYZED FROM EACH DISCIPLINE Psychology Did the date meet the person’s expectations? Was there physical chemistry? What was the person on the date thinking and feeling? What motives did the person have?

THE HOT DATE ANALYZED FROM EACH DISCIPLINE Sociology What are the roles of each person on a date? How does a person’s socialization affect dating? Ex. religion, school, family, media Is dating different for people from different age groups, socio-economic backgrounds, etc.

Anthro, Soc, Psych Examples Anthropology http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX_dndXEGHI&feature=related Sociology http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RKIqPkRxoo&feature=related Psychology http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsyfQeSITww&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JozmWS6xYEw&feature=related

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

The Inquiry Process No matter which aspect of human behaviour you are studying a social scientist goes through the same 5 steps to research it: 1: Pose a Question 2: Develop a Hypothesis 3: Gather Data 4: Analyze Data 5: Form Conclusions

THE INQUIRY PROCESS STEP 1 IDENTIFY A PROBLEM; POSE A QUESTION Example: The problem – if a student does not eat breakfast it can interfere with learning The question – what do teenagers eat for breakfast?

THE INQUIRY PROCESS STEP 2 Develop a hypothesis (a predicted answer to your question) It does not have to be right – if you knew the answer, you wouldn’t need to do the research! EXAMPLE HYPOTHESIS: The majority of teenagers eat nothing for breakfast

THE INQUIRY PROCESS STEP 3 GATHER DATA Use one of the following methods: Survey Experiment Observation Interview Case Study To research what students eat for breakfast a survey would be best…

EXAMPLE SURVEY QUESTION What do you most often eat for breakfast? Check one of the following: Toast Cereal Eggs Pancakes Muffin Cereal bar Leftovers Nothing Other

THE INQUIRY PROCESS STEP 4 ANALYZE THE DATA Sample size = 20 # of responses/sample size x 100 = % Example: 10 people answered that they eat nothing for breakfast 10/20x100=50%

THE INQUIRY PROCESS STEP 5 COMMUNICATE THE FINDINGS

STEP 5 Con’t Half of the students sampled (50%) ate nothing for breakfast. This is different than the original hypothesis, which stated the majority would eat nothing. This is significant to social scientists because it means that half of students are not getting their learning off to a good start in the morning. Future research should consider the reasons why they are not eating breakfast and look at the specific effects.