Discipline and Ideas in the Social Sciences

Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences Chapter 1 Lesson 1 Prepared by Ms. Rosel Joy Aquino Provido

TOPICS TO BE COVERED 

Definition of Social Science

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Natural Sciences and Humanities

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The Scientific Method and its Applications

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Types of Research Designs

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Qualitative and Quantitative

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Poverty as a Social Issue in the Philippines

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How Social Science Shapes Lives

Definition of Social Science 

September 11, 2001 will forever be remembered in modern history as a day of infamy. A terrorist group hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and fire fighters.

Definition of Social Science 

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Questions: 

Who is the group behind the attack and what kind of influence do they hold over the individuals who carried out the attack?

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Why target the United States and ordinary civilians?

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What could have been done to prevent it?

Such questions may be answered by the different disciplines under the social sciences, which look into the historical, cultural, sociological, psychological, and the political forces that shape the actions of individuals and its impact on society.

Definition of Social Science 

Simply put, Social Science is the study of society.

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It is a useful instrument in understanding the complexities and issues involved in the interrelationships of the different variables that produce the state of affairs at every level in society.

Natural Sciences and Humanities Social Science Its primary interest lies in predicting and explaining human behaviour.

Natural Science

Humanities

It aims to predict all natural phenomena and its studies are based on experimentally controlled condition of material entities.

It seeks to understand human reactions to events and the meanings humans impose on experience as a function of culture, historical era, and life history.

The Scientific Method and its Applications 

The use of the scientific method unites the three fields of study although it is more commonly used in the social sciences and natural sciences than in humanism.

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The scientific method is a systematic and logical approach in acquiring and explaining knowledge.

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This method requires critical thinking skills in solving problems.

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It has the same objectives with research, which investigates and studies different materials and sources in the pursuit of advancing knowledge.

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It is very important in the field of social science since it is the instrument by which issues and problems are examined and recommendations for policy-making are offered depending on the findings of the study conducted.

The Scientific Method and its Applications Stages of the Research Process

Key Questions

Define the research problem

What are the variables or the units of analysis being studied? What is the time frame or period of study?

Review the related literature

What has already been written about the topic? What are the research gaps?

Formulate hypothesis

What are the specific parameters of the research problem? What are the means of manipulating the variable and/or measuring the result of the study?

Prepare the research design

Is the research going to be descriptive, exploratory, or experimental? How should the sample be selected from the population?

Collect data

Will the interviews be done personally or over the phone? Who are the target participants in the survey?

Analyze data

What do the data reveal about the relationships of the variables being studied? How do the data answer the research problem?

Interpret the results and write the report

What are the social implications and significance of the findings? Are the sources, both primary and secondary, properly cited in the study?

Group Activity: Photo Analysis Instructions: 

Examine the photo

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Each group should identify key issues or problems in society as reflected in the photo.

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Explain how the social sciences can be used to address the issue or social problem.

Photo Analysis

Assignment: 1 whole sheet of paper 

What is a research design?

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Give at least 5 examples of research designs and provide their characteristics

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What are the 2 types of scientific methodologies that is use in social science research.

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Cite your sources.

Types of Research Designs 

The research design sets the direction of the whole study.

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It determines the type of data that will be used in the study, the methodology that will be used in gathering and analyzing data, and the direction of the narrative, which ultimately addresses the research problem.

Some Examples of Research Designs and their Characteristics Type 1. Descriptive Research

Characteristics It provides answers to basic questions associated with the research problem. It may not be able to conclusively provide the answer to the question “why” but it is able to describe “what exists” with respect to the variables of a given situation. Example: A descriptive study of the factors that lead to domestic violence

2. Historical Research

This design collects, verifies, and synthesizes evidence from the past in order to validate or reject a hypothesis. It uses secondary sources and a variety of primary sources like newspaper clippings, diaries, government records, and archival materials. Example: Martial law in the Philippines: the golden or the cursed years in the country’s history?

Some Examples of Research Designs and their Characteristics Type 3. Experimental Research

Characteristics This type of research answers the question, “What causes something to occur?” This design uses both an experimental group and a control group, which allows a measurement of the dependent variable when the independent variable is administered to the experimental group and not to the control group. Example: A study on the effect of sleep deprivation on health and productivity

4. Exploratory Research

This design tackles research problems that have little or no previous studies done on it. It aims to develop tentative theories or hypotheses on research problems that are still in the preliminary stages of investigation. Example: A comparative study on the effectiveness of same sex parenting vis-àvis conventional parenting

Some Examples of Research Designs and their Characteristics Types 5.Cross-sectional Research

Characteristics The design measures similarities or differences across groups and subjects. A specific variable is examined across different groups or subjects. It is rather limited because it does not capture the process of change following intervention. Example: A study on the incidence of breast cancer across different age groups of women

6. Longitudinal Research

It studies the same sample across time or across regular time intervals. This type of study allows researchers to track challenges that occur over a period of and identify the variable or variables that might be causing the changes. Example: A study on the effect of TV programming to violent behaviour among children

Some Examples of Research Designs and their Characteristics Types

Characteristics

7. Sequential Research

This is a type of research design carried out in a series over a time interval. It has no predetermined sample size as the researcher can accept the null hypothesis, accept an alternative hypothesis, or choose a new set of samples and repeat the study once again. Example: Improving school conditions by changing public policy in South Los Angeles: the Community Coalition Partnership

8. Case Study

This type of design is applied to study a very particular research problem. This is used to test whether a specific theory or model is applicable to real world issues or scenarios. Example: A study on the effects of diet, exercise, and common medication on heart disease conducted across different age groups.

Some Examples of Research Designs and their Characteristics Types 9. Meta-analysis

Characteristics This is a type of design that evaluates and summarizes the results of other individual studies. It requires strict adherence to a set criteria in selecting the studies that will be used. An analysis of the previous studies increases the explanatory power of the new study. Example: Fertility and women’s employment: A meta-analysis

Qualitative method 

It analyzes qualitative data such as interviews, narratives, and literary texts.

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The emphasis in qualitative analysis is “sense-making” or understanding a phenomenon, rather than predicting or explaining.

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This method relies heavily on the knowledge of the researcher of the social context of the gathered data.

Quantitative Method 

It analyses quantifiable or numeric data and subjects them to statistical analyses.

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While statistics or numerical data does not provide an absolute measurement of human ideals like happiness or quality education, it does provide measurement of its indicators like the size of the population of the country, the presence or absence of corruption, or the levels of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Qualitative and Quantitative Method 

In some cases, a research methodology may employ a combination of both quantitative and qualitative.

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The date collection includes both numeric and text information like interviews.

Qualitative

Mixed

Quantitative

Poverty as a Social Issue in the Philippines 

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the poverty incidence among Filipinos for the first quarter of 2015 is at 26.3 percent. This is lower compared to the same period in 2012 when the poverty incidence is at 27.9 percent.

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Subsistence incidence on the other hand for the first quarter of 2015 is estimated at 12.1 percent. The rate is also lower compared to the same period in 2012 when the subsistence incidence is 13.4 percent.

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While there is some hope in seeing an improvement in the incidence of poverty and subsistence in the country, this has to be analysed together with the identified poverty threshold.

Poverty as a Social Issue in the Philippines 

Poverty threshold is the minimum income required to meet the basic needs like food, clothing, housing, transportation, health, and education expenses.

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The poverty threshold for the first semester of 2015, is 9,140 pesos on the average, while the food threshold is at 6,365 pesos.

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These numbers indicate that close to 70 percent of the household income goes to food expenses.

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This has a serious impact on the quality of life and labor productivity of the people.

How Social Science Shapes Lives 

For government policies, 

Conducting a study before implementing a policy or a project will minimize or even prevent wastage.

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A scientific study will reveal the necessity of the project, the number of beneficiaries expected to gain from the project, and may even provide possibly more cost-effective alternatives.

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Example: Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) 

The program aims to break the cycle of poverty by providing immediate monetary assistance to the poorest of the poor in the short term and investing in human capital, like nutrition and education, in the long term.

Other Applications of the Social Sciences 

Framing legislative policies in relation to political and social issues of class, gender, and power.

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Recommendations on changes on environmental use with respect to geography studies on climate change.

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Preservation of cultural diversity and respect for traditions in this period of globalization.

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Exchange of culture and ideas in the macrolevel and breakdown of families in the microlevel as a result of economic migration by Filipino workers.

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Infrastructural changes resulting from population studies.

Quiz for Lesson 1 ¼

sheet of paper

Assignment 

Review the various disciplines of Social Science

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Focus on the origin of the discipline

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Output: 1 whole sheet of paper

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Explain how the disciplines (9) are related to each other