CHAPTER 1
COURSE
INTRODUCTIO
N: APPLIED
WHAT IS SCIENCE?
Science comes from Latin word “Scientia” meaning
knowledge.
Science is defined as systematic and organized form of
knowledge that is acquired using the scientific method.
BRANCHES OF
SCIENCE
Science can be divided into two groups:
natural science and social science.
NATURAL SCIENCE
Natural science is the science of naturally existing
objects or phenomena such as matter, the human body,
earth and others.
This can be divided into different sub-fields such as
physical science, earth science, life science, and other
sciences.
Physical sciences consist of disciplines such as astronomy
(the science of physical objects), chemistry (the science
of matter) and physics (the science of physical objects.)
Earth science consist of disciplines such as geology (the
science of the earth). Life sciences include disciplines
such as biology (the study of life) which has two main
branches namely: Botany (the science of plants) and
Zoology (the science of animals).
SOCIAL SCIENCE
On the other hand, is the science of people or collections of people, like
groups, societies, firms, economies, and their individual or collective
behaviors.
Among the known social sciences are the following:
• Psychology - the science of human behavior and mental
processes.
• Sociology - the science of social groups.
• Economics - the science of proper management of resources.
THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN NATURAL
AND
Natural science focusesSOCIAL
on the study of the physical
world and its phenomena, such as physics, chemistry,
SCIENCES
and biology . Social science, on the other hand,
examines human behavior and society, including fields
like psychology, economics, and political science .
BASIC AND
APPLIED SOCIAL
SCIENCE
BASIC SOCIAL
SCIENCE
Simply called pure social sciences is defined as a branch of science
which deals with the study of society and the relationship of
individuals to their environment. It has many branches which
include:
Psychology Economics Sociology Law
Political Science Anthropology
Linguistics
Geography Demography
History
APPLIED SOCIAL
SCIENCES
Also called as practical social science are social sciences that
apply social scientific theories and knowledge from social sciences
to the physical environment or society.
For instance, counseling is an applied social science that applies
the theories of psychology and other helping professions to
empower individuals to make wise career choices.
Both basic or applied social science are required for human
development. However, applied social sciences cannot stand on
their right but instead, relies on basic social sciences for its
progress.
SOCIAL SCIENCE
AS AN ART
Social science is considered art when it is practiced and
applied to the real world. For instance, Psychology is an
art for it involves the application of its theories and
concepts in describing, controlling, prediction and
explain human behavior.
RESEARCH
METHODS IN SOCIAL
Since social science is a science, social scientists need to
conduct researchSCIENCE
on behavior, culture, and societies.
Regardless, of its objectives and field, the research must be
scientific and must use the scientific method in answering the
problem they have with their research.
The scientific method is a systematic way of solving a problem. It
uses various process to understand and answer the questions in a
scientific way.
THE RESEARCH
PROCESS
The research process in the basic or applied science consists of
systematic steps which we call a scientific method to answer a
problem scientifically. The first thing in a scientific way of doing
research starts with an;
• Observation - As a social scientist it is important to be keen to details
and observant.
• Identifying the problem - Once the problem is identified, it will lead
to the formulation of their hypothesis.
• Hypothesis - is an educated guess that can be an answer to the
following research problem.
• Testing Hypothesis - You can use theories to explain things which
we will test in the data gathering phase which is also testing of
hypothesis.
VARIABLES
We use variables which will vary among the participants in the
research. There is an independent variable and dependent
variable.
• Independent variable (cause variable) - this is the variable that
the researchers usually manipulate.
• Dependent variable (effect variable) - is the variable that the
researcher is explaining and the variable that is measuring.
RESEARCH
METHODS
Since social science is a science, it is therefore based on the
research. Though people may often be guided by their
common intuition, sometimes this leads them astray.
That is why a social science major, should have an
understanding of research methods used in the field that they
choose.
EXPERIMENT
When we say experiment, this refers to a study that is
conducted in a contrived environment. This provides more
safety and can identify cause-and-effect relationship.
For that experiment that uses variables that we unable to
manipulate or not randomized, we call it quasi-experiment.
QUESTIONNAIRE
/ SURVEY
For descriptive purposes and to gather a huge amount of data,
researchers uses questionnaires or survey to obtain data on
attitudes/behaviors in many forms such as;
• Telephone • mail and other electronically programs that
• Google Forms can generate information.
NATURALISTIC
OBSERVATION
Naturalistic observation refers to observing overt behavior over
time thru systematic sampling at various times and
representative sample. It is very beneficial in generating a
hypothesis, however, this has been found to have the following
disadvantages:
• Experimenter bias • Frequency of behavior occurring.
• Obtrusiveness
CASE STUDY
It is an in-depth review of past events using interviews and
archival records. One of its benefits is that it is a detailed
account of why a particular event occurred but on the other
side, it lacks generalizability to other situations and
respondents.
RESEARCH
ETHICS
Since social science research involve human
subjects they must meet the following
standards to make their research ethical and
align with the standards:
• No coercion - Participation in the research should be
voluntary.
• Informed consent - Participants must know that they
are participating / involved in research and give their
consent. If the participants are deceived in any way
about the nature of the study, the deception must
not be so extreme as to invalidate the informed
consent.
• Anonymity or Confidentiality - Participants have the
right to decide to whom they reveal confidential
information. By ensuring confidentiality, researchers
may be able to obtain more honest response.
• Risk - Research participants cannot be placed at
significant mental and physical risk.
• Debriefing - After the study, the researchers should
be told the purpose of the survey and provide ways
to contact the researchers about the results. When
it involves deception, it is critical to conduct a
thorough debriefing.
THANK YOU!
End of Chapter 1.