Can the Scientific Method be Applied to Social Science?
Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 2:51 pm
In the the thread dedicated to the Ukraine and the war there resulted in the emergence in my mind of this question. I will start with this explanation of the scientific process:
https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/the ... c-process
One complication when being applied to the "social sciences":
In the case of the war in the Ukraine, there would be the question of "military science." There again, "natural world" would need to be expanded to included "modern technology of warfare." This would not only include the technology itself, but the relative efficacy of different weapons in the theater of war. An evolving problem in that adversaries may develop countermeasures of varying efficacy.
That should get the conversation started. We can proceed with comments or questions on either the scientific process as described in the link, or comments and questions regarding my discussion of complications.
Of course, how much further I proceed will depend somewhat on the responses I receive to this thread. If no further interest is shown, I may decide not to proceed. There are a couple of other comments that I want to make that I may end up adding "for the record."
In any event, stay tuned if there is any interest at all in this topic.
https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/the ... c-process
One complication when being applied to the "social sciences":
"Natural world" would need to be expanded to include "human behavior."Scientists can gather their data by observing the natural world, performing an experiment in a laboratory, or by running a model.
In the case of the war in the Ukraine, there would be the question of "military science." There again, "natural world" would need to be expanded to included "modern technology of warfare." This would not only include the technology itself, but the relative efficacy of different weapons in the theater of war. An evolving problem in that adversaries may develop countermeasures of varying efficacy.
That should get the conversation started. We can proceed with comments or questions on either the scientific process as described in the link, or comments and questions regarding my discussion of complications.
Of course, how much further I proceed will depend somewhat on the responses I receive to this thread. If no further interest is shown, I may decide not to proceed. There are a couple of other comments that I want to make that I may end up adding "for the record."
In any event, stay tuned if there is any interest at all in this topic.