UNDERSTANDING THE

DOMAIN OF THE Ypril James F. Cabasag

SOCIAL SCIENCE
UNDERSTANDING THE
DOMAIN OF THE SOCIAL
SCIENCE
 The great Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote that “man is a social
animal.”
 We are all born and raised in a society. We belong to a particular
group and we share a certain territory.
 We interact with one another and build relationship in the hope
of pursuing a better life.
 As rational animals, we use reason in order to satisfy our
curiosity and discover the how and why of so many things around
us.
 THE HUMAN KNOWLEDGE
 There exist several classification of human knowledge (Bining & Bining, 1952).
Categories of Knowledge: Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities.
A. Natural Science
-Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Physics, etc.
-The field of the natural sciences aims to explain and predict various phenomena in nature.
B. Social Science
-Those subjects that relate to the foundation, establishment and growth of human society.
-Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, Economics, and Political Science.
THE HUMAN KNOWLEDGE
C. Humanities
-Comprised the different branches of knowledge that tend to humanize humans as
they express themselves in various forms.
- Art, Art History, Literature, Music and others alike.
D. Applied Professions
-Another branch of knowledge aside from the Traditional branches of knowledge.
- Involves a practical application of knowledge draw out from other branches.
-Business, Communication, Criminal Justice, Education, Engineering, Law, Social
Work, Nursing, Medicine, etc.
SCIENCE & SOCIAL SCIENCES
• Society is commonly defined as people in general thought of
living together in organized communities with shared laws,
traditions, and values.”
• It is an enduring and cooperating social group whose members
have developed organized patterns of relationship through
interaction with one another.
• The term “social” is closely related to human society as it refers
to the interaction of individuals and groups as well as to the
welfare of humans as members of the society.
SCIENCE & SOCIAL SCIENCES

• Science – knowledge about or study of

Empirical A phenomenon should be observable using the different senses.

Propositional Things are explained in the form of statements or generalizations.

Logical Employs the rules of logic in order to validate inference.

Public Ideas are communicated from one scientist to another.

Problem- solving Presents rational explanations about unexplained observation.

Continuous Knowledge is built upon by previous and future research on the subject.
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
- Modern-day research provides us a more efficient way of gaining knowledge
and solving problems through scientific method.
- By way of “Scientific Method,” we are able to generate knowledge about the
universe, earth, humans, plants, animals and all other forms.
- Hypothesis – is a shrewd guess or inference that is formulated and
provisionally adopted to explain observed facts or conditions and to guide in
further investigation (Good & Scates, 1954).
- The use of scientific method is very evident during the gathering of data.
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
The researcher selects a particular subject matter depending on his or her interest; it could be
Topic purely accidental sometimes.

The researcher defines the nature of the problem where a theory can be developed along the way;
Problem this is the most important phase of inquiry.

The researcher formulates a general statement of the problem that could give him or her idea on what
Hypothesis data to gather or omit.

This is the state of empirical research involving the use of senses and/or precision instruments,
Methods phenomenon must be carefully and accurately described and recorded.

The researcher may find patterns and relationships that could help in the analysis of gathered data;
Analysis this is the stage of classifying and organizing data.

The researcher formulates a scientific theory after a thorough analysis of data; a theory can be
Conclusion changed or revised depending on the result of future research projects.
 SOCIAL SCIENCES VIS-À-VIS
THE NATURAL SCIENCES
- Social Sciences can use scientific method to study human relations in a society.
- Natural Sciences are sometimes called “hard sciences” and Social Sciences are called
“soft science.”
- Qualitative Data belong to soft sciences because of the nature of their unpredictability
when it comes to validating results.
- Nevertheless, one may find some overlapping of knowledge on the different disciplines
of the two domains.
- Natural Science – laboratory is their environment.
- Social Science – society is their environment.
SOCIAL SCIENCES VIS-À-VIS
THE NATURAL SCIENCES
- If there is one major difference between the natural sciences and the social
sciences, it may be on the uncertainty of data or outputs when doing social science
research.
- Unlike in the natural sciences where experiments may be confined within rooms or
laboratories under strict conditions that can be repeated many times, this is not the
case for social sciences. It goes without saying that society itself is the main
laboratory of social scientists.
- Data obtained from people themselves may be affected by so many factors at that
particular instance of contact between the researcher and the respondents such as
culture, ideology, bias, and even mood swings.
- Every social science research may be unique in itself that it can not be duplicated in
other societies for most of the time.
IMPORTANCE OF THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES
- Our present social ills can be effectively addresses by
obtaining knowledge from both the natural and the social
sciences.
Ex. Climate change
- Fortunately, the field of social sciences may help us
understand the complexities of human behavior and
relations as it attempts to solve the aforementioned
societal problems.
END!
QUESTIONS?