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Social Science
Social Science I Second Sem., SY 20102010-2011 UP Visayas

Knowledge :

Social Science field of human knowledge

that deals with all aspects of the group life of human beings

Natural Science concerned with the

natural environment in which humans exist Includes physics, chemistry, biological sciences

Humanities deals with literature,

music, art and philosophy

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Politics is more difficult than physics and the world is more likely to die from bad politics than from bad physics.
- Albert Einstein

Historical roots of the Social Sciences

Greeks - the first to establish rational theory - grasp rational concepts and use them as a way of looking at reality and seeing logical connections - empirical and anti-mystical

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Historical roots of the Social Sciences

Plato and Aristotle are responsible for establishing a basis of knowledge as we know it and deal with it today

Historical roots of the Social Sciences

Much of the Greek contribution to knowledge would have been lost were it not for the preservation by Eastern Civilizations
Crusades (1095 to 1272) : Europeans became reacquainted with the learning of the ancient Greeks, and they brought back the body of ancient Greek learning to Europe where it was generally available by the twelfth century

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Historical roots of the Social Sciences

Middle Ages (A.D. 476 to 1453) - Religion was so central to life : it tied together all fields of study - Gods will

Historical roots of the Social Sciences

-series of literary and cultural movements in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries - the totality of knowledge was comprehensible by the human mind; an educated person could know everything and exercise all skills and social graces

Renaissance man

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Historical roots of the Social Sciences

Historical roots of the Social Sciences

- Rationalist Approach
- Places human reason above faith - Logical connections - Proofs, evidence

- Religious Approach
- Places faith above reason

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Historical roots of the Social Sciences

Renaissance - Division:
- Humanities and Physics - Physics was later broken up into empirical studies (which developed into various natural sciences) and metaphysics (non-empirical studies that developed into philosophy) Social science (as we consider it now) was part of History simply a documentation of what had happened. History was part of literature and the humanities.

Historical roots of the Social Sciences The Enlightenment - 1659 to 1700 - period in which rationalism replaced religion as the organized system of knowledge - period when the development of the social science took hold and flourished - there was a belief that civilization had improved and so too should the thinking about civilization

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Historical roots of the Social Sciences

The Enlightenment Three humiliations of human beings: 1. The earth is not the center of the universe 2. We are creatures of nature like other animals 3. Our reasoning ability is subject to passions and subconscious desires Paradox: human beings humiliation was accompanied by a belief in human beings power

Historical roots of the Social Sciences

history of knowledge.pdf

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Common Sense and the Social Sciences

True or False? Some people dream every night while others do not dream at all. People tend to pair off with partners who closely match them in physical attractiveness Events such as going on a vacation or a change in eating habits can actually cause stress

Common Sense and the Social Sciences

Which one is true? Opposites attract vs. Birds of same feather flock together

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Unscientific Thinking: CONTENT

Comes from our sources of information
Friends Family Authority Media Family Authority Media Books

People we respect and admire Do we test their assertions? Beliefs become stable because we rarely test them

Unscientific Thinking: CONTENT

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Unscientific Thinking: CONTENT

Unscientific Thinking: CONTENT

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Unscientific Thinking: PROCESS

Comes from the way we get information

People want to feel like they can control the outcomes that they care about
they see relationships that arent really there
Lucky shirt, lucky pen, lucky color, lucky song, etc

Confirmation Bias:
Pay the most attention to evidence that supports their ideas
Washing the car and then it rains

The Scientific Method

Important Assumption: Behavior must follow a natural order, therefore, it can be predicted Determinism: there are specifiable, causes for the way people behave, and these causes can be discovered through research.

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The Scientific Method 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Observe. Define the problem. Review the literature. Observe some more. Develop a theoretical framework and formulate a hypothesis. Choose the research design. Collect the necessary data. Analyze the results. Draw conclusions.

The Scientific Method

Seeking general principles -laws, theories, hypothesis Gathering empirical data -observable, experienced, can be quantified Exercising good thinking - Systematic, objective, rational, logical

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The Scientific Method

Galileo Galilei (1564 1642). Renaissance astronomer, mathematician, and developer of the scientific method. (National Library of Medicine)

Galileos Inquisition

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Methods of the Social Sciences

Experimental Method Historical Method Case Method Comparative Method

Methods of the Social Sciences

Cross Cultural Studies on Power Distance Index

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Methods of the Social Sciences

Cross Cultural Studies on Power Distance Index

KOREAN AIRLINE (KAL) ACCIDENTS 1977 Russian Airspace 1979 Seoul 1982 1987 1989 1989 1994 1997 Sakhalin Island, Russia Andaman Sea Tripoli Seoul Cheju, South Korea Nimitz Hill, Guam

Methods of the Social Sciences

Comparative Methods: Cross Cultural Studies on Power Distance Index

Top Five Pilot PDIs 1.Brazil 2.South Korea 3.Morocco 4.Mexico 5.Philippines Five Lowest Pilot PDIS 1.United States 2.Ireland 3.South Africa 4.Australia 5.New Zealand

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Social Science I

Interdisciplinary approach - - Interdisciplinary Understanding

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