Science and Social Science

Taylor & Francis

Will help students of social sciences understand how the disciplines evolved, and why and where the models of natural science started being used to help inform the study of society and social behaviour. > Is social science really a science at all, and if so in what sense? This is the first question that any course on the philosophy of the social sciences must tackle. In this brief introduction, Malcolm Williams gives students the grounding that will enable them to discuss the issues involved with confidence. He looks at:* The historical development of natural science and its distinctive methodology* the case in favour of an objective science of the social which follows the same rules* The arguments of social constructionists, interpretative sociologists and others against objectivity and even science itself* recent developments in natural science - for instance the rise of complexity theory and the increased questioning of positivism - which bring it closer to some of the key argu.