Question

ASSIGNMENT

Compare and contrast the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology) with the behavioral and social sciences (psychology, anthropology, economics, political science).

Answer 1

The natural sciences constitute of disciplines which focus on developing theories based on causal explanations for a physical phenomenon. The natural sciences emphasise on the study of empirical or observable variables only which can be objectively measured using appropriate scales of measurement. In doing so, operational definitions of phenonmena such as weight in terms of kilogram units, time in terms of seconds, minutes,etc. are valued in research in the natural sciences to the extent of framing the research questions and findings in terms of falsifying that is proving the validity of some nomothetic or universal truth claims.

Social sciences on the other hand emerged in response to the lacuna in the natural sciences for addressing issues pertaining to the differences in human life such as the influence of society, culture, economy, geography etc. social sciences like Psychology study the mental, behavioural and affective processes of human beings in relation to other animals, while others like Sociology and Anthropology focus on social organisations, institutions and cultures respectively. Research in social science is not largely governed by the principles of objectivity and generalisable universal phenonmena and instead often involves study of a specific group to make theoretical conclusions about the group in question. Thus, compared to the nomothetic approach of the natural sciences, research in the social sciences are based on idiographic approach. The focus here is towards description,analysis and interpretation rather than drawing definite causal explanations as social scientists are more predisposed towards finding differences and uniqueness between the varied social and cultural groups.