The Science of Politics: Relevance to African Social Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmudat Olawunmi Muhibbu-Din
Keyword(s):  
Pure Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Scientific Approach ◽  
Socially Relevant

ABSTRACT The paper examines the debate on science of politics and its relevance to African social formations. The scientific approach as applied in the natural science experiments is not replicable in the study of social phenomena. Scientific study of social phenomenon is limited and not generalizable like the pure sciences such as mathematics or engineering. This work examines the theoretical debate around the possibility or otherwise of a universally valid social science, the tyranny of Western social sciences and African social reality, and the imperative of developing independent African scholarship responsive to local social realities. Historical and explorative qualitative research design is used. Findings show statistical approach and comparative methods have made significant contribution to the scientific study of social reality. Nevertheless, the nature of what is studied is rooted in cultural peculiarities, and cannot be universal. Western social science theories are Eurocentric and teleological. African scholarship needs socially relevant theories for advancing precepts, theories with cultural imprint relevant to local social realities.

Philosophy of the Social Sciences

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Guala
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Scientific Explanation ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Scientific Investigation ◽  
Constitutive Rule ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Entities

Naturalism is still facing a strong opposition in the philosophy of social science from influential scholars who argue that philosophical analysis must be autonomous from scientific investigation. The opposition exploits philosophers’ traditional diffidence toward social science and fuels the ambition to provide new foundations for social research. A classic anti-naturalist strategy is to identify a feature of social reality that prevents scientific explanation and prediction. An all-time favorite is the dependence of social phenomena on human representation. This article examines two prominent versions of the dependence thesis and concludes that they both fail. Contemporary social science is capable of accounting for the causal dependence of social reality on representation, and there is no reason to believe that social entities are ontologically dependent on the collective acceptance of a constitutive rule.

scholarly journals Fundamentos de la explicación en ciencias sociales: revisitando el constructivismo de Niklas Luhmann (20 años después)

2021 ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Jorge Gibert Galassi ◽  
Juan Pablo Venables
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Niklas Luhmann ◽  
Logical Foundation ◽  
Factual Content

In this work, it is argued that one of the foundations of NiklasLuhmann’s theory of social systems, namely that it has no ontology, would prevent the elaboration of explanations in sociology. Because the theory has a formal-logical foundation, which does not presuppose ontology, there are insurmountable obstacles to achieving this objective. For this reason, it is valid to wonder about the merit of a theory that, after 20 years, insists on not aligning itself with ontological premises in a robust way and suggests, therefore, a refusal to integrate sociology within the set of factual sciences. However, we think that the richness of Luhmann’s work allows a dialogue with the mainstream of contemporary theoretical practice. Three rules about what “should not be done” are revalidated from this analysis to philosophically base a theory in sociology and a key suggestion to overcome the problem of explanation in Luhmann’s sociology: social science seeks and directs its activity towards discovery and the use of substantive, real distinctions that also enrich the factual content of statements about social reality.

“We Speak the Truth!”

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-80
Author(s):  
Sari Hanafi
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Science ◽  
The Political ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
The Social ◽  
Academic Qualifications

This study investigates the preachers and their Friday sermons in Lebanon, raising the following questions: What are the profiles of preachers in Lebanon and their academic qualifications? What are the topics evoked in their sermons? In instances where they diagnosis and analyze the political and the social, what kind of arguments are used to persuade their audiences? What kind of contact do they have with the social sciences? It draws on forty-two semi-structured interviews with preachers and content analysis of 210 preachers’ Friday sermons, all conducted between 2012 and 2015 among Sunni and Shia mosques. Drawing from Max Weber’s typology, the analysis of Friday sermons shows that most of the preachers represent both the saint and the traditional, but rarely the scholar. While they are dealing extensively with political and social phenomena, rarely do they have knowledge of social science

Using crystallization to understand loneliness in later life: integrating social science and creative narratives in sensitive qualitative research

2021 ◽  
pp. 146879412110059
Author(s):  
Barbara Barbosa Neves ◽  
Josephine Wilson ◽  
Alexandra Sanders ◽  
Renata Kokanović
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Creative Writing ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Older People ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Care Homes ◽  
Social Phenomena

This article draws on crystallization, a qualitative framework developed by Laurel Richardson and Laura Ellingson, to show the potential of using sociological narratives and creative writing to better analyze and represent the lived experiences of loneliness among older people living in Australian care homes. Crystallization uses a multi-genre approach to study and present social phenomena. At its core is a concern for the ethics of representation, which is critical when engaging with vulnerable populations. We use two case studies from research on loneliness to illustrate an application of crystallization through different narrative types. To supplement our sociological narratives, we invited author Josephine Wilson to write creative narratives based on the case studies. Josephine was awarded the prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2017 for Extinctions, a novel exploring themes such as later life and loneliness. By contrasting the two approaches—sociological and creative narratives—we discuss the implications of crystallization for qualitative research.

The Role of Social Logistics for the National, Economic and Social Security

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (39) ◽  
pp. 54-69
Author(s):  
Vanya Banabakova
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Social Security ◽  
National Security ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
System Approach ◽  
Human Factor ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
National Economic

Logistics continuously expands its application areas. In modern conditions, there is a need to apply logistics in areas not related to its traditional applications such as military and business spheres, resulting in the identification of a third area with the name social logistics. Social logistics aims to introduce a social (human) factor into the systems and to apply logistic principles and methods in solving the problems of society. Social logistics can be defined as a set of actions that ensure the effective functioning of social systems (such as a set of social phenomena, processes and subjects), applying the principles of logistics. For the purposes of this paper, a number of scientific approaches and methods have been applied, such as system approach, comparative analysis, critical analysis, synthesis and others. Social logistics plays an important role in national security, including economic and social security. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of social logistics in enhancing national security, including economic and social security.

scholarly journals Idolatry, indifference, and the scientific study of religion: two new Humean arguments

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 488-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL LINFORD ◽  
JASON MEGILL
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Religious Activity ◽  
Classical Theism ◽  
Science Of Religion

AbstractWe utilize contemporary cognitive and social science of religion to defend a controversial thesis: the human cognitive apparatus gratuitously inclines humans to religious activity oriented around entities other than the God of classical theism. Using this thesis, we update and defend two arguments drawn from David Hume: (i) the argument from idolatry, which argues that the God of classical theism does not exist, and (ii) the argument from indifference, which argues that if the God of classical theism exists, God is indifferent to our religious activity.

Evolutionary Social Science and Transcultural Psychiatry

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Paris
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Biopsychosocial Model ◽  
Transcultural Psychiatry ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Cultural Variations ◽  
Human Social Behaviour

Evolutionary principles can explain many aspects of human social behaviour. Despite important contro versies concerning the theory of sociobiology, evol utionary models offer cogent explanations for social phenomena such as altruism and parental investment. Evolutionary social science also has an important relevance for transcultural psychiatry, in that it is consistent with a biopsychosocial model for the etiology of psychiatric disorders, and points to the universals which underlie cultural variations in psychopathology.

scholarly journals Causal complexity demands community coordination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beau Sievers ◽  
Evan DeFilippis
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Scientific Communities ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Modeling Practices ◽  
Causal Complexity

Yarkoni’s argument risks skepticism about the very possibility of social science: If social phenomena are too causally complex, normal scientific methods could not possibly untangle them. We argue that the problem of causal complexity is best approached at the level of scientific communities and institutions, not the modeling practices of individual scientists.

scholarly journals Positioning Myself Between West and East

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
Xinnan Shi
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
The Public ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
Holding Back

Why would communications scholars want to present their positionality to the public? This was the first question I asked myself when I came across the term "positionality". Throughout my studies, I have approached communication as social science, and I have thought about communications researchers as scientists. I certainly understand that the objects of research in social science are social phenomena such as social relations and institutions, and that these are difficult to explain with quantitative data most of the time. But for me, being a scientist means holding back personal emotions and being objective in the production of knowledge about society. I believe that even a single case study should offer explanations not just of its immediate context, but also of broader social problems or phenomena.

scholarly journals Samfundsforskning og tekst - det skotske tilfælde som metodisk problem

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Henrik Halkier
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Post Graduate ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Relationship

The present paper explores some possible links between linguistics and social science, departing from an example of textual analysis originating in research in progress. Particular attention is paid to the characteristics of historical textual analysis and to the relationship between social phenomena and the concepts employed by social scientists. It is argued that the presence of common theoretical problems and shared methodologies provides an interesting starting point for future interdisciplinary research and for up-to-date teaching of post-graduate students.

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