Page 39 - DLIS407_INFORMATION AND LITERATURE SURVEY IN SOCIAL SCIENCES

Information and Literature Survey in Social Sciences

Notes

Did u Know? What are the key factors affecting the human behaviour?
The behaviour of human beings is influenced by biological,
psychological, socio-cultural, temporal and environmental factors.
It is difficult to see the underlying uniformities in the diversity of
complex human behaviour. A controlled experiment, which is sine
qua non of an empirical science, is generally well nigh impossible in
social sciences.

5.1 Developments of Social Science Disciplines

The history of the social science begins in the roots of ancient philosophy. In Ancient history, there was
no difference between mathematics and the study of history, poetry or politics. This unity of science as
descriptive remains and deductive reasoning from axioms created a scientific framework. The Age of
Enlightenment saw a revolution within natural philosophy, changing the basic framework by which
individuals understood what was scientific. In some quarters, the accelerating trend of mathematical
studies presumed a reality independent of the observer and worked by its own rules. social science
came forth from the moral philosophy of the time and was influenced by the age of revolutions, such
as the industrial revolution and the french revolution. The social science developed from the science
(experimental and applied), or the systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practices, relating to
the social improvement of a group of interacting entities.
The beginnings of the social science in the 18th century are reflected in various gran encyclopedia
of diderot, with articles from rousseau and other pioneers. the growth of the social sciences is also
reflected in other specialized encyclopedias. The modern period saw "social science" first use as a
distinct conceptual field. Social science was science was influenced by positive, focusing on knowledge
based on actual positive sense experience and avoiding the negative; netaphysical speculation was
avoided. Auguste comte used the term "science social" to describe the field, taken from the ideas of
charles Fourier; comte also referred to the field as social physics.
Following this period, there were five paths of development that sprang forth in the social sciences,
influenced by comte or other fields. One route that was taken was the rise of social research. large
statistical surveys were undertaken in various parts of the United states and Europe. Another route
undertaken was initiated by Emile Durkheim, studying "social facts", and vilfredo pareto, opening meta
theoretical ideas and individual theories. A third means developed, arising from the methodological
dichotomy present, in which the social phenomena was identified with and understood; theis was
championed by figures such as max weber. The fourth route taken, based in economics was developed
and furthered economic knowledge as a hard science. The last path was the correlation of knowledge
and social value; the antipositivism and verstehen sociology of Max weber firmly demanded on
this distinction. In this route, theory (description) and prescription were non-overlapping formal
discussions of a subject.
Around the turn of the 20th century, Enlightenment philosophy was challenged in various quarters.
After the use of classical theories since the end of the scientific revolution, various fields substituted
mathematics studies for experimental studies and examining equations to build a theoretical structure.
The development of social science subfields become very quantitative in methodology. Conversely,
the interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary nature of scientific inquiry into human behavior and social
and environmental factors affecting it made of the natural science interested in some aspects of social
science methodology. Examples of boundary blurring include emerging disciplines like social research

34 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY