SOCL 2211 Chapter : Social Regularities And SPSS
Document Summary
Social science theory has to do with what is, not with what should be. For many centuries, however, social theory has combined these two orientations. Social philosophers liberally mix their observations of what happened around them, their speculations about why, and their ideas about how things ought to be. Although modern social scientists may do the same from time to time, realize that social science has to do with how things are and why. This means that scientific theory (a systematic explanation for the observations that relate to a particular aspect of life) and science itself cannot settle debates on value. People seldom agree on criteria for determining issues of value, so science is seldom useful in settling such debates. In fact, questions like these are so much a matter of opinion and belief that scientific inquiry is often viewed as a threat to what is already known. Social science, then, can help us only what is and why.
