Main methodological and epistemological differences between social and natural sciences ?

Answer 1

I would say that in the long run there are no differences. But for the time being, the differences are quite significant.

Let's start with name calling. Some equate social science with a 'soft science' as opposed to the 'hard sciences' which are all natural sciences. Nor is there no reason for it - right now there is no way to measure directly much of what social sciences WANT to measure.

To name a few: ideas (psychology), motivations and rewards (economics), learning (education), decision-making (politics), and so on and so on. The real core of what these scientists want to measure is inside a human mind, and right now even how the mind works (neurology... a hard science, mind you) is not entirely clear.

So the name calling is justified, to an extent. Social scientists are forced to use poorly adapted tools and very circuitous means to try and dig at the many things they are interested in. I personally admire their dedication to fields which can't possibly be as directly certain or perhaps even as rewarding as reading some number off a scale.

Fortunately for them, there's no reason to believe this will always continue to be so. Understanding of neural processes is growing by leaps and bounds, as well as the tracking, interpretive ability, and unobtrusiveness of computer tools which might aid a social scientist's search for truth. It's not hard to envision a time when a person's thoughts might be measured as easily as the wavelengths of light coming off his shirt, and all this talk of 'hard' and 'soft' sciences will be only of interest to historians.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

The methodological or method and epistomological or nature of knowldege of social sciences are not static. It involves a lot of variables and factors bo be considered in order to fully understand. it involves behavior, mannerisms, norms, and societies standards. and reasonings. Natural sciences on the other hand can't be interpreted any other way. it's factual ,static, it's either black or white, no middle grounds. Such as Zoology, Biology, Botany,etc. it's just so; one can't dance around that one.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Good luck on getting an answer for that one dude! That one is flying so high over my head it has icicles on it, hahaha