Natural sciences are the set of scientific disciplines that are in charge of studying nature and natural phenomena. Its purpose is to explain and discover the laws that govern the natural world, and to predict its behavior.
The social sciences are the set of scientific disciplines that have as their object of study human beings, society and its institutions. Its intention is to explain and understand how the social world works.
Both use the scientific method and what they propose is to expand knowledge about reality.
| Natural sciences | Social sciences | |
|---|---|---|
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Definition |
They are a set of scientific disciplines that study nature and natural phenomena. |
They are a set of scientific disciplines that study human beings, society, their behaviors, interactions and creations. |
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Purpose |
To explain and discover the laws of the natural world and how they work. | Explain and understand how the social world works, the actions and behavior of human beings and their institutions. |
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Object of study |
The world and natural phenomena. | Human being, the social world and its interactions. |
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Methods |
Mainly quantitative, experimental and supported by formal sciences, such as mathematics. | Quantitative, qualitative and mixed. |
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Characteristics |
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| Disciplines |
Astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, geology. |
History, political science, linguistics, economics, law, sociology, archeology, psychology, geography, among others. |
What are natural sciences?
The natural sciences are a set of scientific disciplines whose purpose is to object of study natural phenomena and the natural world.. They use a methodology that involves the use of observation and experimentation.
Its purpose is to increase knowledge about the natural world, as well as to explain and predict its phenomena.
They aim to develop theories and discover the laws of nature. Therefore, they exclude any explanation that is not based on observable, empirical, measurable and testable facts.
The falsifiability or refutability of theories in the natural sciences is very important: theories are not considered dogmatically true, but must be constantly tested in order for science to continue to develop.
They possess scientific rigor and try to reduce ambiguity, simplifying the studied phenomenon. This is why, in their practice, everything that does not have a direct impact on the research is left out. This makes it possible to better isolate what is being investigated.
On the other hand, they maintain a deterministic position on the knowledge of the world, with an interest in the discovery of cause-effect relationships in nature, and seek the patterns that define the behavior of natural objects and elements, in order to explain reality.
Characteristics of the natural sciences
- Deterministic: there is an interest in cause-effect explanations.
- Greater use of experimentation and mathematical models of the formal sciences.
- Nature and natural phenomena are not ambiguous and their study can be simplified.
- The quantitative method predominates.
- Neutrality: the beliefs or opinions of the researcher have little or no influence on the process and results of scientific research.
- Reproducibility and reliability of the research process and its results.
- Verification and refutation are possible through experimentation.
- They aim to discover laws, theories and general principles of the natural world.
Object of study of the natural sciences.
The natural world and its phenomena constitute the object of study of the natural sciences. Their intention is to formulate laws and theories that are capable of predicting what is going to happen.
The method used gives priority to the experimentation and is based on a hypothetico-deductive principle. That is, one starts from a problem, observes the facts, establishes a hypothesis and then tests the hypothesis through experimentation.
Thanks to the particularities of their object of study, in the natural sciences it is easier to determine and isolate the set of variables under study than in the social sciences.
Predictability and reliability in the natural sciences
Since the natural sciences attempt to discover and establish laws, theories, and principles, the behavior of natural phenomena must be predictable. What has been discovered or theories that have been reached are tested against what is or will be observed in the real world.
For science it is important to know how the natural world will behave, as long as the same physical and methodological conditions of investigation are present.
When experiments that test a theory are reproduced, and these accumulate positive results that confirm the validity of the theory, there is an increase in the reliability of its predictive capacity.
Main branches of the natural sciences
The natural sciences are divided into major groups which, in turn, are subdivided into other areas of knowledge. Although their objects of study differ from one another, there is a high degree of interaction between their various disciplines.
- Astronomystudies celestial objects (stars, planets, etc.) that have their origin outside the earth’s atmosphere.
- Chemistrystudies the composition and characteristics of substances and their interactions.
- Physicsstudies matter, energy, its forces, movements and interactions.
- BiologyBiology: considered the “science of life”, it studies the origin, function and evolution of living beings.
- Geologyis the study of the physical characteristics of the Earth.
Limitations of the natural sciences
Technological development itself can be a barrier to analyzing natural phenomena. For example, without observational tools such as the telescope or microscope, scientists would not be able to make accurate measurements of their object of study in astronomy and microbiology, respectively.
The natural sciences share ethical constraints on experimentation with the social sciences. Experimenting with humans and other living beings raises ethical debates within the scientific community and in the public and political arenas because of its potential implications.
At the bureaucratic and decision-making level, research can often be constrained by special interest groups.
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What are social sciences?
The social sciences are a set of disciplines that have as their object of study. the human beings, their behavior, interactions, creations and society.
Its intention is to explain and understand how the social world works. To this end, the social sciences use different methodological approaches, both quantitative and qualitative, to collect and analyze data. Even if their predictive capacity is limited, they can establish parameters that increase the probability of predicting certain social phenomena.
It is very difficult for social scientists to conduct experiments in an environment that allows them to evaluate, control and measure all possible variables. Therefore, one of its great limitations is the difficulty of discovering and establishing general laws and theories.
Characteristics of the social sciences
- Its object and subject of study are the human being, society and its creations.
- It is common for the analysis to focus on particular cases, within specific contexts.
- Neutrality is not always possible.
- Difficulty in experimenting and testing the results of an investigation.
- Poor predictive ability (leading to reliability problems).
- Difficulty in producing generalizations and in proposing laws and theories.
- Increased debate within the community (different interpretations of the same phenomena are common).
- Use of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods.
- Its variables are attributes and are obtained through observation, surveys, questionnaires and analysis of different media, among others.
Object of study of the social sciences.
The social sciences study human beings, their creations and interactions.. Its purpose is linked to the understanding of the human social world.
Just as in the natural sciences, the social sciences distance themselves from explanations of reality involving metaphysical or mystical presuppositions, preferring to base themselves on observable facts.
Furthermore, it is important to recognize any value judgments, personal opinions and biases in research work. This is because the work of the social sciences involves the subjectivity of the researcher and the world under investigation.
Quantitative and qualitative methods in the social sciences.
The social sciences use both quantitative and qualitative methods, or both together (mixed method), in research work.
The qualitative approach focuses on understanding and explaining social reality from the data collected and their analysis. It is interested in specific contexts, generally events that have their own particularities and whose explanation does not apply to other social contexts.
This approach may be best for conducting research work on topics in which there is no previous research.
Interviews, observation without interference, analysis of historical and bibliographic documents and other media (photographs, video, sound recordings), are some of the techniques used in this method.
The quantitative approach focuses on analyzing the results of measurements made with instruments that reduce the possibility of error or invalidity of the data, as well as generalizing findings.
This method follows the action parameter of the natural sciences and aims to make discoveries to broaden the field of knowledge.
It is recommended when there is a previous body of studies, theories and works already carried out in the area to be investigated.
Cross-sectional studies, closed and opinion surveys, questionnaires, structured interviews and experiments are some examples of the techniques used in this method.
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Paradigms of the social sciences
The social sciences have different paradigms from which research work is conducted, such as positivism, interpretivism and critical social science.
Positivism
One of the great paradigms of the social sciences is. the positivist. This research perspective follows the methodological line of the natural sciences, which is why it considers that methodological rigor and the search for validity are the keys to knowledge.
It originated with Auguste Comte (1798-1857) in the 19th century. According to positivism, the human world is reducible to reason and its actions are observable, measurable and predictable.
In it, a quantitative, logical and deductive approach is preferred, in addition to the testing of hypotheses, whenever possible. Its purpose is to explain social reality, causes and consequences of events, and to discover its laws.
Interpretivism
In contrast to positivism, one finds. interpretivismwhich originated largely from the sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) at the end of the 19th century.
According to this paradigm, subjectivity, both of the researcher and of social acts and individuals, makes it impossible to generalize human reality, contrary to what happens in the natural sciences. The important thing is to explain and understand human actions in their different specific contexts.
The use of observation and in-depth interviews is preferred in order to know the details of the specific subjects of study, as well as how they give meaning to their own experience.
Critical social science
The critical social science is opposed to positivism for abandoning humanism and ignoring the subjective aspects of the social sciences, as well as to interpretivism, for focusing on a reduced space of reality, without proposing social transformations. This approach was born around the thinking of the Frankfurt School in the twentieth century.
According to this paradigm, it is possible to observe reality, but these observations are always influenced by the subjectivity of the researcher. Moreover, it considers that social sciences should result in social changes that improve society.
Methodological problems of the social sciences
Social science research is conducted on human subjects, and this can lead to ethical problems. The process, the experimentation (if conducted), and the results of research can have important implications.
In addition, the study in the social field is open to its results being interpreted differently by institutions, researchers, and the general public.
On the other hand, the difficulty of controlling research variables and conditions limits the reproducibility of the research.
It is complicated to establish laws and produce scientific theories that are universally valid. Most of the results in social sciences focus on very specific and contextualized aspects of reality. The probability of something happening can be estimated, but it is very difficult to avoid uncertainty.
The difficulty of disproving the validity of a theory is something that entails debates and interpretations. This raises criticism about the level of scientificity and generalization of the knowledge produced in the social sciences.
Main disciplines of the social sciences
- History
- Political Science
- Linguistics
- Law
- Sociology
- Economics
- Geography
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Psychology
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