It can be rightly said that social science is the area of scientific and academic awareness regarding different social groups and more specifically in the context of human societies. I believe that social sciences are science because they primarily refer to the science of studying social groups, even though some would disagree because they mistakenly understand the concepts only from the perspective of the study programs being integrated into a field of study that aims at promoting civic competency. I firmly stand by my belief because social science is a science that speaks about social conditions, the roots of which can be traced to ancient philosophy. In the ancient world, there was not much difference amongst the studies in maths and other areas such as politics, history and poetry. Consequently, a strong unity had developed in terms of deductive reasoning of the social sciences which created a strong scientific framework for the social sciences.
I essentially believe that social science is a science because it directly relates to social conditions as also the relationships and institutions that have a bearing on the existence and well-being of human beings in being members of well-organized communities. Social science is concerned with issues of education, health, labour, criminal justice reformation of delinquents and criminals, and several other such practices of society. In this context, science too has been defined in the Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary as “knowledge attained through study or practice, or knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, esp. as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world” (Science Made Simple, 2009) Thus, science actually means and refers to a process of attaining knowledge, which is what is sought in the study of social sciences. The process of attaining knowledge makes use of examination and experimenting in order to illustrate and describe natural phenomena.
Any study of science entails two aspects; natural science that studies the natural world, and social science that makes a methodical examination of human behaviours and societies. All constituents of social science such as jurisprudence, law, trade, economy and health, have dealt with putting forth models of realities that are helpful for humanity, which again is in keeping with the scientific aspects of making methodical studies in given areas. It is the scientific aspect of the theories of these constituents that make such social sciences an essential part of science.
The difference between natural and social science arises primarily due to the cognitive nature of the scientists instead of the inapplicable nature of the generalization methods used in science in relation to human actions. The basic distinction between the two sciences does not relate to the method of investigations, but the different objectives and interests of the scientists. Both sciences are involved in abstraction resulting in rich connotations about the facts pertaining to both nature and history, which makes it very difficult to make a success out of attempts to provide explanations in either of the areas. The natural scientist aims at delving into aspects of nature that can be explained in terms of formulating abstract laws. Conversely, the social scientist aims at searching for such abstractions in human behaviour.
The study of contemporary science encompasses several academic streams that relate to the examination of society and human life including animals and individuals. It is well known that several streams in science directly relate to society and human behaviour such as psychology, political science, media study, languages, history, demographics, culture, communications, archaeological studies and the study of anthropology. It is well established that most of the subjects that deal with social studies are in some way related to the study of different streams of science (Hunt et al, 2007).
Although social science is sometimes not as vigorous as compared to other natural sciences due to the lesser number of empirical methods being applied in its different disciplines, it is nevertheless a science in meeting the requirements of the studies and research that is done in all aspects of human endeavours. When comparing social science to entirely different areas such as biology, physics and chemistry, there are lesser data and confirmation of different hypotheses because of specifically designed experiments being relied upon in the natural sciences. Social science is in the nature of being observational and its explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship is subjective.
Scientists argue about social science is very complicated as compared to natural sciences. In the natural sciences, the action and reaction of molecular and chemical substances are the same under given assumptions. Conversely, humans are much more complicated than any conventional scientific methodologies. There are no rules with humans that always result in the same outcomes nor is there any certainty about the reactions being the same as in natural sciences. Further, social science compromises by way of politics because outcomes of social science could work against the interests of certain sections of society. Such complications aggravate the problems in terms of the social data being difficult to be evaluated in isolation. However, all institutions and authorities do not agree with such concepts and many insist that several disciplines include aspects of social and natural sciences; such as anthropology and its offshoot biological anthropology, which are very much connected to natural sciences. Conversely, linguistics and archaeology fall within the ambit of the social sciences. It is noteworthy that methodologies of social sciences are being used in scientific areas such as medicine where physical well-being is closely being focused into the environmental, socio-physical and biological curriculum.
Scientists are unanimous in declaring that in being an essential element of science, social science is to be understood as practical wisdom while natural science is knowledge and that both terms have their own importance in providing experience and awareness for society in terms of the interpretation of scientific assumptions and results.
Works Cited
- Hunt Elgin, Colander David, Social Science: An Introduction to the Study of Society, 2007, Allyn & Bacon.
- Science Made Simple, Science Definition Web.