1. TOK Human Sciences Year 12 and 13 “The only possible conclusion the social sciences can draw is: some do and some don’t.” Ernest Rutherford

2. Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQksa-KSV4Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeB1P14hKng http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DQIZV4YYQ 2P8 http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DQIZV4YYQ 2P8

3. What are the Human Sciences? Psychology Economics Anthropology Sociology Political Science In short they are all based on observation and seek to discover laws and theories of human nature.

4. Problems with studying human behavior Humans possess unique qualities that can be difficult to study Language Reason Free-will Creativity

5. Problems with Experiments in the Human Sciences Human Scientists try to make sense of complex real-world situations in which it is simply impossible to run in a controlled environment. The artificiality of some experiments that can be conducted distort the behavior of the participants. There are ethical reasons for not conducting experiments that have a negative effect on the people who participate in them.

6. Relationship between Natural Sciences and Human Sciences Reductionism Seeks to explain one subject in terms of other more fundamental ones. Ex: one might be able understand economics in terms of psychology, and psychology in terms of neuroscience.

7. Relationship between Natural Sciences and Human Sciences Holism The only way to make sense of things is to look at the whole problem. Ex: you cannot understand a group in terms of the individual or an action independent of the context in which it takes place.

8. Problems within the Human Sciences Observation1.We cannot directly observe the minds of people 2.Questionnaires may be misleading or bias 3.Observing people may affect the way they behave. Measurement4. Social phenomena are difficult to measure Hypothesis5. The act of prediction may affect the behavior predicted. Experiments6. Human sciences study complex social situations in which it is difficult to run in controlled experiments. 7. Various moral considerations limit our willingness to experiment. Laws8. Human Sciences are not very good at predicting things. 9. Human Sciences usually uncover trends rather than laws 10. Science laws are probabilistic in nature.

9. The UK riots of 2011: a human science phenomenon Dates: 6 th -10 th August Arrests: 3,100 Estimated costs of the riots: $200million Emergency calls to police on Monday night: 20,800 (400% increase) Crimes in London linked to the riots: 3,443 Cities involved: London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Leicester, Cambridge, Gloucester Deaths: 5 Number of police injured: 186 (Figures from the Guardian)

10. Verstehen Position The main aim of the Human Sciences is to understand the meaning of various social practices from the inside as they are understood by the agents themselves. You cannot simply observe the movements of people - you must get inside the heads of people and understand how they see the situation. Watch thisthis And then this….disclaimer – the content and language used in this Channel 4 documentary, though purely academic, may cause offence to some peoplethis

12. Key questions 1. What are the human sciences? 2. What are the aims of the human sciences? 3. How do we acquire knowledge in the human sciences? 4. What are the classic human science issues? 5. Are human scientists really scientists?

13. Human sciences Anthropology Human biology Business studies Communication studies Criminology Demography Development studies Economics Education Human geography Industrial relations Law Media studies Medicine Methodology Political science Political theory Psychiatry Psychology Public administration Social policy Sociology

15. Overall aims: The aims of virtually all these human sciences are the same: to explain human behaviour, formulate theories to predict it, and then develop remedies for the problems identified by those predictions. It is impossible to understand human beings properly without considering our society – for that reason, human sciences are sometimes referred to as social sciences

16. Causation and correlation The question of what causes phenomena is critical to the human sciences One of the key problems for human scientists is to distinguish between CAUSATION and CORRELATION They must avoid the following fallacies: cum hoc ergo propter hoc ( ‘ with this, therefore, because of this ’ ) post hoc ergo propter hoc – (‘after this, therefore because of this’).

17. Some examples of correlation are obvious… The amount of ice cream consumed is correlated to the number of shark attacks

18. and… Sleeping with your shoes on correlates to suffering from headaches in the morning

19. …Others aren ’ t so easy to figure out… Gun ownership in the US correlates to a high murder rate

20. and.. Cigarette smoking amongst young people correlates to poor grades at school

21. …and HRT is correlated to lower levels of heart disease amongst women

22. and… Myopia is correlated to those who have slept with the light on as children

23. All of these factors exist in the UK. But are they causing the violence? Decline of religion Cuts to the police service Poor economic conditions Introduction of high fees at UK universities A new government Increased immigration Breakdown of the nuclear family Failure of school system Gang culture Desire for material possessions Summer vacations Manipulation by the media Perceived socio-economic disparity High level political scandals Killing of a suspect by police Perceived police racism

24. Watch, then do… http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=sXcI-NL3Tro http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=sXcI-NL3Tro Assignment – Applying the Human Sciences Assignment – Applying the Human Sciences

25. ‘ If you're a left-winger, the causes of the violence and looting are straight-forward: they're the result of monstrous inequality and historic spending cuts; while the youth running amok through branches of JD Sports are what happens when you offer a generation plastic consumerism rather than meaningful jobs. For the right, explaining the violence is even simpler – because any attempt at understanding is tantamount to condoning it. Better by far to talk of a society with a sense of over-entitlement; or to do what the prime minister did yesterday and simply dismiss "pockets of our society that are not just broken but, frankly, sick". You can expect to hear more of the same rhetoric in today's debate in parliament, especially from backbenchers on either side. ’ (The Guardian)

26. Adolf Eichmann

30. Culturally rich nation turned…

31. …Nazi government by 1933

32. The experiment Stanley Milgram, Yale psychologist To what extent do human beings unquestioningly follow order? 40 volunteers: told they were helping to ‘ teach ’ memory and learning The ‘ learner ’ was an actor with a ‘ weak heart ’ The ‘ experimenter ’ gave the orders

34. Reluctant volunteers told: 1. ‘Please continue.’ 2. ‘The experiment requires that you continue.’ 3. ‘It is absolutely essential that you continue.’ 4. ‘You have no other choice, you must continue.’

35. How far would they go? Milgram asked academics and students from the university whether they thought the volunteers would continue administering electric shocks Almost no one believed they would do so

36. The results 65% (26 out of 40) of the volunteers preceded all the way to the maximum 450 volts charge, although many were obviously uncomfortable doing so Only one volunteer refused outright to go over 300 volts

37. Milgram ’ s conclusion: Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.

38. The Nurembourg Defence

39. Experimental repetition The experiment has been repeated throughout the world For example, Sheridan and King believed that the volunteers in Milgram’s original experiment knew that it was a fake experiment They used puppies hooked up to the electric wires, and administered real shocks 20 out of 26 of their ‘teachers’ obeyed the commands to apply the shock to the animals. Watch this!this

40. Epilogue: The Strip search prank call scam 1992-2004 Involved a man calling restaurants and grocery stores claiming to be working for the authorities Around 70 incidents occurred before a man was arrested (though charges were later dropped)

41. What happened? In November, 2000, a McDonald ’ s manager in Kentucky was told by the caller to undress before a customer The caller told her that the customer was a suspected sex offender and that she had to serve as bait Undercover officers would arrest the customer as soon as he showed an interest in her In June, 2003, a Taco Bell manager in Juneau, Alaska was told by the caller to strip-search a 14 year old female customer and perform cavity searches on her The caller claimed he was working with a company to investigate drug abuse

42. Answer the questions on the HWapp

43. Highlighting the difficulties of remaining detached and objective as human scientists

44. The Hawthorne Effect

45. The key difficulty of human sciences: Remaining detached from the subject matter, and therefore objective If human beings know they are being observed, their behaviour will alter This is known as the Hawthorne Effect Named after a study done at the Hawthorne Electrical Works, Chicago, between 1924-32

46. The Hawthorne Works Study The Hawthorne Works commissioned a study to see how workers ’ efficiency was affected by the level of light in their workplace Results showed that efficiency rose at the beginning of the study, and decreased after the study had finished, regardless of the level of light

47. Conclusion? Workers felt motivated by the attention shown to them When they were motivated, they worked harder As soon as they felt ignored again, production fell Human subjects are therefore affected profoundly by contact with outsiders

48. For anthropologists …the problem is far more pronounced They typically investigate less developed societies The differences between researchers from Western universities and ‘ primitive ’ societies is massive Behaviour therefore changes radically

49. Cargo Cults Perhaps the most radical example of how exposure to Western society can alter behaviour in less developed societies Mostly a Pacific Island phenomenon Has now largely died out Pacific Islanders venerated or worshiped the manufactured goods of western cultures, which, they believe, were created divinely

50. Origins and development Began in 19 th Century when Europeans began to arrive on the Pacific Islands Massive growth during the Second World War – because of the presence of Japanese and American forces, and their military hardware When the soldiers left, the goods (or cargo) disappeared

51. Rituals and beliefs Cult participants had little or no knowledge of modern manufacturing techniques Tried to summon back advanced western technology by invoking western symbols

52. Constructed mock runways, offices and dining rooms Radios were constructed out of coconut shells Even full-size aeroplanes were constructed

53. Participants staged army drills with fake weapons and national insignia painted on their bodies

54. The Prince Philip Movement Based on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu Ancient fables tell of a man born from a volcano, who will travel over the seas to a distant land, marry a powerful lady and in time return

55. This man is, of course… In the 1950s, islanders decided that this legendary figure was the Duke of Edinburgh The idea was strengthened after the royal visit to the island in 1974

56. In 2007, islanders travelled to the UK to visit the Duke Gifts were exchanged between the islanders and Buckingham Palace In August 2010, the islanders celebrated the Duke ’ s 89 th birthday

57. Tanna ’ s chief Siko Nathuan said: “ He ’ s an old man in England, but on Tanna he will never die ”

58. Meet the Natives

59. Cargo Cult

60. Go to The Hawthorne Effect assignment on DCSZnline