![]() ![]() ![]() For instance, you will not find many disagreements among natural scientists on the speed of light or the speed of the earth around the sun, but you will find numerous disagreements among social scientists on how to solve a social problem such as reduce global terrorism or rescue an economy from a recession. In other words, there is a high degree of measurement error in the social sciences and there is considerable uncertainty and little agreement on social science policy decisions. Hence, one instrument may calibrate a person as being “more happy” while a second instrument may find that the same person is “less happy” at the same instant in time. Furthermore, there is not a single instrument or metric that can accurately measure a person’s happiness. One’s happiness may vary depending on the news that person received that day or on the events that transpired earlier during that day. For instance, if you measure a person’s happiness using a hypothetical instrument, you may find that the same person is more happy or less happy (or sad) on different days and sometimes, at different times on the same day. However, the same cannot be said for the social sciences, which tend to be less accurate, deterministic, or unambiguous. If two students conducting the same physics experiment obtain two different values of these physical properties, then it generally means that one or both of those students must be in error. For instance, a scientific experiment in physics, such as measuring the speed of sound through a certain media or the refractive index of water, should always yield the exact same results, irrespective of the time or place of the experiment, or the person conducting the experiment. The natural sciences are very precise, accurate, deterministic, and independent of the person m aking the scientific observations. The natural sciences are different from the social sciences in several respects. Social sciences can be classified into disciplines such as psychology (the science of human behaviors), sociology (the science of social groups), and economics (the science of firms, markets, and economies). In contrast, social science is the science of people or collections of people, such as groups, firms, societies, or economies, and their individual or collective behaviors. Life sciences include disciplines such as biology (the science of human bodies) and botany (the science of plants). Earth sciences consist of disciplines such as geology (the science of the earth). Physical sciences consist of disciplines such as physics (the science of physical objects), chemistry (the science of matter), and astronomy (the science of celestial objects). Natural sciences can be further classified into physical sciences, earth sciences, life sciences, and others. ![]() Natural science is the science of naturally occurring objects or phenomena, such as light, objects, matter, earth, celestial bodies, or the human body. Science can be grouped into two broad categories: natural science and social science. Science refers to a systematic and organized body of knowledge in any area of inquiry that is acquired using “the scientific method” (the scientific method is described further below). Etymologically, the word “science” is derived from the Latin word scientia meaning knowledge. To others, science is a craft practiced by scientists in white coats using specialized equipment in their laboratories. What is science? To some, science refers to difficult high school or college-level courses such as physics, chemistry, and biology meant only for the brightest students. This chapter will examine what these terms mean. However, none of the above can be considered “scientific research” unless: (1) it contributes to a body of science, and (2) it follows the scientific method. Businesses and consultants research different potential solutions to remedy organizational problems such as a supply chain bottleneck or to identify customer purchase patterns. Graduate students working on research projects for a professor may see research as collecting or analyzing data related to their project. Undergraduate students research the Internet to find the information they need to complete assigned projects or term papers. Television news channels supposedly conduct research in the form of viewer polls on topics of public interest such as forthcoming elections or government-funded projects. Some people will say that they routinely research different online websites to find the best place to buy goods or services they want. What is research? Depending on who you ask, you will likely get very different answers to this seemingly innocuous question. ![]()
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