Copyright © 2011 by William Allan Kritsonis/All Rights Re-served

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SOCIAL SCIENCE

INSIGHTS

1. The social sciences, chief among which are social psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, and political science, are clearly in the domain of the sciences of man.

2. Geography may also be included among the social sciences. It is a descriptive discipline concerned with facts about the earth as man’s habitation.

3. The major organizing principle of geography is place rather than time, as in history.

4. Social science deals with the world of culture and society, a world of which human beings are them-selves the architects.

5. Each of the special social sciences is concerned with somewhat different aspects of human life.

6. The subject matter of sociology is social behavior.7. Sociology is concerned with interaction among

persons, each of whom takes account of others as

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216 PART TWO: FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF MEANING

individuals with attitudes and expectations toward himself.

8. Interpretive criteria underscore the autonomy of sociology as a discipline.

216 PART TWO: FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF MEANING

9. The sociologist must make a special effort to de-vise new and more precise ways of speaking about relatively familiar matters.

10. The chief aim of sociology is to provide an array of relatively precise descriptive and explanatory cat-egories for understanding the exceedingly diverse and complicated phenomena of social behavior.

11. The subject matter studied comprises every kind of social interaction, and the basic method of in-quiry is the construction of conceptual schemes revealing the structures of social groups and the functions these structures subserve.

12. Economics differs from sociology in that it is a more specialized discipline.

13. Sociology deals with social behavior in general, while economics deals with only one department of such activity.

14. The central fact around which all economic thought and action turns is that human beings have unlimited wants but only limited resources.

15. Economics is not concerned with scarcity in any absolute sense, but only in relation to people’s de-sires, that appear to be without bounds.

16. Economic behavior pertains even to the most wealthy societies, because the degree of affluence is never such that people do not in some respect want more than they have.

17. The use of money is of far-reaching importance, for it permits economic activity to be measured mathematically.

18. Because of the quantification effected by the use of money, economics is more amenable than any other social science to the use of precise theoreti-cal models and the mathematical formulation of its principles and laws.

19. Economics as a modern policy science depends heavily upon descriptive statistics.

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Psychology is a transition field belonging both to the sciences of nature and the sciences of man. This dual membership is evident in the tension between the two main lines of psychological inquiry discussed in the pre-vious chapter. The social sciences, chiefly among which are social psychology, sociology, anthropology, eco-nomics, and political science, are clearly in the domain of the sciences of man. In these disciplines the effort to identify with the concepts of the natural sciences is no longer as evident as in psychology, and the distinctive features of the autonomous study of various types of human behavior come into view.

GEOGRAPHY INCLUDED AMONG THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Geography may also be included among the social sciences. It is a descriptive discipline concerned with facts about the earth as man’s habitation. It differs from the sciences in one major respect wherein the ideal of geographic knowledge is not generalizations and laws, but full understanding of particular peoples and places. In this respect geography on the one hand resembles the science of anthropology, with its descriptions of par-ticular cultures. On the other hand geography resem-bles the synoptic discipline of history, with its recount-ing of particular human events.

Like history, geography has wide integrative sweep, utilizing and coordinating knowledge from many other disciplines, including the physical sciences, the life sciences, the social sciences, and (in historical ge-ography) history. The major organizing principle of ge-ography is place rather than time, as in history. Geogra-phy is less synoptic than history in that the meanings integrated come largely from the empirical realm (ex-cept for historical geography) and not from the esthetic, synnoetic, and ethical realms. On balance, then, it is probably best to regard geography as essentially an empirical discipline with a strongly concrete and inte-grative emphasis.

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SOCIAL SCIENCE DEALS WITH THE WORLD

OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY

The conflict in psychology, between those who study what nature has made of man and those who study what man has made of himself, is not marked in social science. Natural science is concerned with the objective processes of nature, the science of man with the creation and creations of persons. Social science deals with the world of culture and society, a world of which human beings are themselves the architects. For this reason the kinds of abstractions that apply to the world of all material things or even of animate beings generally cannot suffice for the description of the hu-man world.

SOCIAL SCIENCES HAVE INNER TENSIONS AND GROWING PAINS

The social sciences are not without inner tensions and growing pains. Sociology has struggled to become free of its earlier associations with social reform, just as psychology has fought free of its earlier philosophical and religious ties. Anthropology in coming of age has had to go beyond its previous largely exclusive preoc-cupation with primitives. Perhaps the most serious problem of the social scientists has been to avoid value judgments, as objective scientists are supposed to do, and yet not nullify the relevance of their knowledge to real human concerns.1 Because of the present fluid state of these fields it is particularly important to be aware of the tentative and historically conditioned char-acter of the following attempt to epitomize two repre-sentative social science disciplines.

SOCIAL SCIENCES CONCERNED WITH DIFFERENT

ASPECTS OF HUMAN LIFE

1 On the problem of vitality and relevance in social science re-search see C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination, Oxford University Press. Fair Lawn, NJ, 1959.

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Each of the special social sciences is concerned with somewhat different aspects of human life. Of the five disciplines listed above, anthropology is the most comprehensive, including studies of all aspects of the man-made world, from languages and tools to law, manners, and religion. One of its branches, physical an-thropology, properly belongs to biological science, and another, archaeology, is most closely allied to the syn-optic discipline, history. Sociology is also comprehen-sive, but more restricted in range of concepts and methods and is better suited than anthropology to illus-trate social science as a distinctive domain of inquiry. Social psychology may be regarded for our purposes as belonging to sociology. Political science is still in a highly fluid state, making it difficult to characterize briefly. Economics is relatively precise and affords an excellent illustration of a more specialized description of human behavior than is found in anthropology and sociology.

TREATMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCE FOCUSED ONLY ON SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS

On these grounds it appears reasonable to limit the present illustrative treatment of the field of social science to the two disciplines of sociology and econom-ics, brief characterizations of which will serve to indi-cate some of the modes of thought found in social sci-ence generally.

SOCIOLOGY

Sociology is a relatively young science concerned with extremely complex matters. It is not surprising, therefore, that many differences occur in ideas and techniques of investigation in the discipline and that precise and stable formulations are rare. The following sketch should be taken only as one illustration of the patterns of thought in this field.

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Children learn at an early age thatalthough humans want to expresstheir individuality, humans group themselves with those that are

perceived to have similar likenesses.Humans view themselves as they are

in large part because of the way others treat them. So, boys act like

boys,and girls like girls, because that’s the

way they are or because humans treat boys one way and girls another.

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Picture

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Sociology DefinedMax Weber defined sociology as “that science

which aims at the interpretive understanding of social behavior in order to gain an explanation of its causes, its course, and its effects.”2 In this definition two fea-tures particularly deserve comment. First, the subject matter of sociology is social behavior. For Weber, the term “behavior” is used to refer to subjectively mean-ingful action. Reflexive, instinctive, and automatic kinds of behavior are excluded. Behavior is distinctively hu-man only when a person acts consciously and deliber-ately, with purposes and ends in view, and is motivated by certain attitudes and feelings. Furthermore, the be-havior in question is “social” in the sense that it is ori-ented toward the conduct of other persons. Specifically, conduct exclusively in relation to inanimate objects or animals does not belong to sociology. Sociology is con-cerned with interaction among persons, each of whom takes account of others as individuals with attitudes and expectations toward himself. Even though the sub-ject matter is social interaction, the distinctive sociolog-ical mode of analysis is to refer to the meaningful expe-rience of individuals, that alone can yield understanding of behavior.

The second noteworthy point in Weber’s definition centers in the phrase “interpretive understanding.” The subjective intentions that determine social behavior can be understood only if the scientist by an act of imagina-tive projection puts himself intellectually and emotion-ally in the position of those whose behavior he seeks to explain. While such interpretive criteria need not be in-consistent with scientific objectivity, they are far from the elemental objectifications that make physical sci-ence data universally confirmable. Interpretive criteria underscore the autonomy of sociology as a discipline

2 Basic Concepts of Sociology, tr. by H. P. Secher, The Citadel Press, New York, 1962, p. 29. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

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with its own unique concepts, thuds, and varieties of empirical meaning.

Creation of Sociological Conceptual CategoriesAn essential part of any scientific inquiry is the

creation of conceptual categories suitable to the subject matter investigated. In sociology most of what is stud-ied is familiar to everyone in everyday experience, for example, social relationships, customs, values, and in-stitutions. In this regard sociology differs from most other sciences, which are largely concerned with un-usual and unfamiliar phenomena. The sociologist must therefore make a special effort to devise new and more precise ways of speaking about relatively familiar mat-ters.

The Method of Precise Sociological DefinitionBy way of illustrating the method of precise socio-

logical definition of otherwise commonsense ideas, three of Weber’s definitions may be cited.

A social relationship . . . will be known as “open” to those on the outside, if, and insofar as, partici-pation in the mutually oriented social conduct, rel-evant to its subjective meaning, is, according to its system of authority, not denied to anyone who is inclined to participate and is actually in a position to do so.3

A “corporate organization” is an aggregative social relationship characterized by an administrative staff whose activity is oriented exclusively and continuously to achieving the goals of the organi-zation.4

3 Ibid., p. 97, Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

4 Ibid., p. 115. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

224 PART TWO: FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF MEANING

By “power” is meant that opportunity existing within a social relationship which permits one to carry out one’s own will even against resistance and regardless of the basis on which this opportu-nity rests.5

In commenting on the definition process (as he would not feel obliged to do in physics or biology, for exam-ple) Weber remarks: “The apparently ‘laborious’ defini-tion of these concepts is an example that what is ‘self-evident’ is rarely thought out clearly, for the very reason that it appears obvious.”6

Major Concepts in Sociological AnalysisSome of the major concepts in sociological analy-

sis are indicated in the italicized words of the following summary statement:

Social Group. A social group is a system of social interaction, whose members cooperate toward common goals and recognize certain social norms specifying rules of behavior, rights, and obligations, violation of which brings sanctions in the form of loss of coopera-tion, diminished prestige, and specific penalties. Social structure, which refers to the relatively stable modes of human interrelation, is determined by differentiated so-cial positions, to which attach certain roles (obligations within the social system) and status (rights and privi-leges relating to authority, remuneration, immunities, and prestige). A reference group is a group the concep-tion of which is part of the individual’s basis for apprais-ing his own social situation and expectations. Reference groups are an important factor in determining subjec-tive meanings, intentions, and consequently social be-havior.

Institutionalization. Social norms are institution-alized when they are accepted by a large proportion of 5 Ibid., p. 117. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

6 Ibid., p. 98. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

SOCIAL SCIENCE 225

the members of the social system, are internalized, and sanctioned. A social institution (e.g., marriage or the system of exchange) is a complex of institutionalized norms. These norms are the basis for ensuring conform-ity and social control, and they also measure social de-viation.

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Much of how people interpret theirsocial position when they are young iscarried on for life. Rarely does group-

ingundergo substantial change.

How important is it to continually regroup students to expose them to new views and social situations with-

out allowing them to become complacent?

What happens to the young student who

expends all of his energy on one par-ticular

activity throughout his schooling and finds that he will not become a

professional athlete?

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228 PART TWO: FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF MEANING

Picture

SOCIAL SCIENCE 229

Society. A society is a social group that occupies a definite territory, is perpetuated largely by sexual re-production within the group, possesses a comprehen-sive culture (including characteristic thought forms, be-liefs, values, norms, customs, institutions, and symbolic systems), and does not form a subgroup of any other group (i.e., is independent). Every society has various subsystems that exist to meet basic functional needs, for example, the family for social self-perpetuation, the economy for adaptation to the material environment, the polity for the attainment of social ends, and such systems as the press, courts, and religious organiza-tions for the integration of the society.

Function or Dysfunction. Any social structure or partial structure (mechanism) may be analyzed as to function or dysfunction, by which is meant the degree to which it does or does not fulfill social needs. Func-tions are manifest or latent depending on whether they are intended and recognized or not. Sociological inquiry in large part consists in the analysis of the functions and dysfunctions of various social structures and mech-anisms. Particularly important is the study of such ma-jor social subsystems as kinship groups, economic orga-nizations, political structures, and religious associa-tions.

Socialization. The process of learning a culture, called “socialization,” takes place by social interaction, through which internalized objects are built up. In-cluded among these internalizations are the many roles that define the system of duties toward others, and these enter into the structure of the developing social self.

Rank Orders. The members of any social system are generally assigned implicitly or explicitly to certain rank orders on the basis of qualities, relations, and per-formance. A group of families among whom intermar-riage is generally regarded as appropriate, whose pres-tige ranking is about the same, and who interact so-cially on the basis of equality, comprise a social class.

230 PART TWO: FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF MEANING

Occupational, ethnic, and religious groups may also be ranked as to prestige levels. A variety of instruments have been developed for measuring and predicting prestige levels in any given society. The various forms of social stratification may be analyzed as to their func-tions and dysfunctions. Of importance also is the study of social conflict and integration in intergroup relations and of social mobility, by which a person’s social rank may change, either as a result of personal performance or by the establishment of new social relationships.Social Change. Finally, social change can be analyzed in terms of the concepts of structure, function, and so-cial needs. While no exact laws of social behavior have yet been formulated, some insights may be gained into the basis for individual conformity and deviation and for the transformations that take place in cultures, institu-tions, norms, roles, and rankings as a result of internal stresses, environmental factors, or external pressures.

Chief Aim of Sociology. The chief aim of sociol-ogy is to provide an array of relatively precise descrip-tive and explanatory categories for understanding the exceedingly diverse and complicated phenomena of so-cial behavior. The subject matter studied comprises ev-ery kind of social interaction, and the basic method of inquiry is the construction of conceptual schemes re-vealing the structures of social groups and the func-tions these structures subserve.

Sociology Deals With Social Behavior in Gen-eral. From sociology we turn to economics as a second illustration of the social science domain. Economics dif-fers from sociology in that it is a more specialized disci-pline. Sociology deals with social behavior in general, while economics deals with only one department of such activity. The special concepts and methods apply-ing to economics are a consequence of this limitation of subject matter.

ECONOMICS

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Economics DefinedPaul A. Samuelson defines economics as “the

study of how man and society choose, with or without the use of money, to employ scarce productive re-sources to produce various commodities over time and distribute them for consumption, now and in the future, among various people and groups in society.”7 The cen-tral fact around which all economic thought and action turns is that human beings have unlimited wants but only limited resources. From this disparity arises the problem of scarcity of goods and services, that is, of things that people want. Economics is not concerned with scarcity in any absolute sense, but only in relation to people’s desires, that appear to be without bounds. Economic behavior therefore pertains even to the most wealthy societies, because the degree of affluence is never such that people do not in some respect want more than they have.

Choice and Comparative MethodsThe fact of scarcity necessitates acts of choice as

to what and how much shall be produced, by whom, with what resources, and by what methods, and to whom the products shall be distributed. These are the fundamental economic problems in any society, and different economic systems are devised to deal with them. Many different economic arrangements are possi-ble, and the decision as to what system of production and distribution is used depends upon many considera-tions, including historical precedents, cultural patterns, geography and natural resources, population, intellec-tual, scientific, and technical development, religious be-liefs, and political factors. For the most part the facts and generalizations of economics apply to particular kinds of economic systems and not to economic behav-7 Economics: An Introductory Analysis, 5th ea., McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1961, p. 6. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

232 PART TWO: FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF MEANING

ior in general. A comprehensive understanding of the subject requires the use of comparative methods, in which similarities and differences between economic systems (e.g., primitive, feudal, capitalist, and commu-nist) are analyzed.

A Policy ScienceBecause economic activity is a consequence of de-

cision concerning matters of public importance, eco-nomics is called a “policy science.” That is to say, it deals with problems belonging in the realm of social policy. This does not mean, however, that the econo-mist as such makes recommendations or decisions re-garding public policy, for the meanings characteristic of his discipline are descriptive and not normative, i.e., they disclose what is, what can be, and how any goal may be reached, not what ought to be done (the latter pertains to the field of ethics).

Social Sciences Concerned With Artifacts of Cul-ture

To some extent all the social sciences are policy sciences since all are concerned in some way with the deliberate artifacts of culture (e.g., social institutions) rather than with the given facts of nature. In this re-spect meanings in the social sciences are similar to those in the realm of symbolics, and the empirical and symbolic domains overlap. As we have seen, languages are cultural artifacts designed for effective communica-tion. Languages are instruments for social coordination, just as are the various social inventions (including those of economic life) studied in the social sciences. It has already been mentioned that linguistics is a branch of anthropology and that the only difference between the study of language and of linguistics is that language is directed at the effective practical mastery of particular symbolic systems, while linguistics is concerned primar-ily with generalizations, comparisons, and theoretical explanations about language. Of all the sciences, eco-

SOCIAL SCIENCE 233

nomics is perhaps the most like language in that con-siderable emphasis is placed on studying the structure of particular conventional systems of production and exchange rather than on the general theory of such systems.

Economic Life is Subject to Social DeterminationThe nature of the meanings in a field can be of

great practical importance and not only of speculative interest is well illustrated in the history of economic thought. Classical economics was conceived after the fashion of a natural science, in the belief that the laws of exchange were laws of nature and that the economic destinies of man were guided by forces beyond his making or control. This physiocratic position underlay a laissez-faire approach to economic life, which eventu-ally proved unrealistic and socially disastrous. it is now widely recognized that economic systems are human constructs, that economic life is subject to social deter-mination, and that economic problems can be solved by deliberate policy decisions. This shift in economic the-ory from the status of a natural science to that of a pol-icy science has had profound and far-reaching effects on the organization of production and distribution in the modern world.

Considerations of EconomicsThe starting point for all consideration of econom-

ics is natural recourses (land) and population. All mate-rial wealth is drawn from the bounty of the earth and is appropriated by the people who inhabit the earth. The raw materials of the land are extracted and trans-formed for human use by means of labor. The produc-tivity of labor is greatly increased by specialization of function and the division of labor among the various specialists. The products of labor are the goods and ser-vices that people need and want. Goods are of two broad kinds: consumer goods (like food and clothing), that are directly used for the satisfaction of wants, and

234 PART TWO: FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF MEANING

capital goods (like machinery and houses), that are used to sustain or increase productivity. An increase in capital goods requires a temporary sacrifice of con-sumer goods, but in the long run the larger capital out-lay should make possible a considerably higher output of consumer goods.

Division of Labor CharacteristicsEvery person needs many kinds of goods and ser-

vices, and not only those that he himself produces. The division of labor characteristic of all developed societies requires some system of exchange by which the pro-duction of each worker may be distributed to many oth-ers in return for a share in their products. The most in-fluential social invention yet devised for effecting this exchange is the market system, in which the distribu-tion of goods and services is determined by factors of supply and demand. Goods and services in the market are assigned prices, which under conditions of perfect competition are determined by the intersection of the two curves relating supply to price and demand to price, respectively. Different forms of analysis apply to situations of imperfect competition, of which the ex-treme case is complete monopoly. In the market sys-tem prices are assigned not only to commodities, but also to labor as wages, to the use of land and capital goods as rent, and to invested funds as interest, the rates of each being determined by and supply and de-mand factors just as in the case of commodities.

The Use of MoneyThe conduct of the market may be greatly facili-

tated by the use of money, that provides a convenient medium of exchange (all goods and services being thus reducible to a common standard of value), a unit of ac-counting, a “store of value,” and a standard for de-ferred payment. Money may be in the form of commodi-ties (e.g., gold or other metals), or more conveniently in various kinds of paper notes.

SOCIAL SCIENCE 235

Economic Analysis and ReasoningFrom the standpoint of understanding and control,

the use of money is of far-reaching importance, for it permits economic activity to be measured mathemati-cally. Because of the money system, qualitative prefer-ences can be quantitatively assessed, and the powerful resources of mathematical computation can be brought to bear on the study and management of economic pro-cesses. The methods of economic analysis are at many points comparable to those of physics, where measure-ment and quantification are also of the essence. A con-siderable part of economic reasoning consists in the construction of ideal models, on the basis of certain simplifying assumptions (e.g., perfect competition), and the deduction of expected consequences, which can than be compared with observed economic behavior. If the observations do not agree with predictions, the the-oretical model may be abandoned, or it may be refined and new testable predictions determined, or its range of applicability may simply be circumscribed. Because of the quantification effected by the use of money, eco-nomics is more amenable than any other social science to the use of precise theoretical models and the mathe-matical formulation of its principles and laws.

Economics ActivityEconomic activity is not, however, controlled sim-

ply an automatic market mechanism constituting an in-teractive system similar to the matter-energy configu-rations of physics. The economy is part of a larger so-cial system, and economic man is an abstraction from the more complex reality of social man. Economics in-cludes the study of (a) business organizations, including proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations, with their various systems of capitalization, ownership and control, (b) labor unions and the processes of determin-ing wages, hours, and conditions of work through col-lective bargaining, strikes, and other procedures, and c)

236 PART TWO: FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF MEANING

government, with its power to control economic life through (a) direct government expenditures, (b) taxa-tion, (c) money and credit control using the banking system (Federal Reserve open market operations, dis-count rate policies, reserve requirements), (d) wage and price controls, (e) subsidies, (f) regulation of manu-facturing, investment, transportation, and trade, (g) so-cial security provisions, and (h) international economic policy (tariffs, foreign aid, trade agreements, and coop-eration with world or regional organizations).

Social Context of Economic BehaviorThe most distinctive feature of contemporary eco-

nomics, in comparison with earlier economic thought (prior to about 1930), is this recognition of the whole social context in which economic behavior occurs. The classical study of market mechanisms (microeco-nomics) is being complemented by the analysis of total economic patterns (macro-economics), using such con-cepts as national income, national product (gross or net), price level, wage level, rates of saving and invest-ment, and rates of economic growth. These concerns that originally came to the forefront in attempting to control the business cycle have now been incorporated in a comprehensive system of economic thinking that recognizes the possibility of deliberate social control of production and distribution in accordance with appropri-ate public policies regarding security, stability, free-dom, and justice.

Economics Depends on Descriptive StatisticsMethodologically, it should be added that econom-

ics as a modern policy science depends heavily upon descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics provides a picture of population trends, prices and inventories of various commodities, volume of trade, wages for vari-ous types of work and distribution of workers by occu-pation, levels of interest, rent, income, saving and in-vestment, money in circulation, and all the other data

SOCIAL SCIENCE 237

required to make wise decisions, whether individually, in private associations, or in government.

ECONOMICS COMBINES MANY REALMS

In summary, the field of economics provides a fit-ting conclusion to our discussion of science as a realm of meaning. The study of economic processes combines the mathematical and mechanistic considerations of the physical sciences, the organismic ideas of the life sciences, and the distinctive human factors of the hu-man sciences. Finally, as conventional schemes, eco-nomic systems are related to the basic symbolic forms, while as social inventions, they are related to the cre-ated forms of the esthetic realm, to which we turn next.

WAYS OF KNOWING

1. Why is geography included among the social sciences?

2. Why are the social sciences concerned with the world of culture and society?

3. What are some of the social sciences’ inner ten-sions and growing pains?

4. What is one of the most serious problems facing social scientists?

5. How would you explain to others what sociology aims to accomplish?

6. What is an essential part of any scientific in-quiry?

7. How does a sociology differ from most other sci-ences?

8. Why are the creation of sociology conceptual categories important?

9. Why is the method of precise sociological defini-tion important?

10. What are some of the major concepts on socio-logical analysis?

11. What is the chief aim of sociology?12. How would you accurately define economics?

238 PART TWO: FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF MEANING

13. What is the central fact around which all eco-nomic thought emerges?

14. What are some fundamental economic prob-lems facing any society?

15. Why is economics called a “policy science”?16. How is economic life subject to social determi-

nation?17. What are some considerations of economics?18. Why is the division of labor important to eco-

nomics?19. How is the conduct of the market greatly facili-

tated by the use of money?20. Why is money important?21. What is economic analysis?22. What is economic reasoning?23. What is economic activity?24. Economics includes the study of what?25. What is the most distinctive feature of contem-

porary economics?26. Why does economics depend heavily on de-

scriptive statistics?27. How are economic systems related to the basic

symbolic forms, while as social conventions, they are related to the creative forms of the esthetic realm?