HLTB15H3 Chapter 2: Chapter 2 Study Guide
Document Summary
Chapter t wo social research on health. Psychology: the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. Sociology: the study of social life and behaviour. The latter are involved in applying their knowledge to issues in health research and health services research. A wide range of qualitative and quantitative, descriptive and analytic methods are used. Social sciences have generally developed alongside the natural and physical sciences, and favour the use of scientific method and quantitative, structured approaches to measurement. This approach is based on positivism, which assumes that social phenomena can be measure objectively and analysed following the principles of scientific method in the same way as natural sciences. Some social scientists view positivism and misleading; they argue that human behaviour cannot be measured quantitatively. They adhere to the philosophy phenomenology and belong to the interpretive" school of thought, which includes branches known as ethnomethodology, social or symbolic interactionism, labelling, deviance and reactions theory.
