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Paper prepared by Prof. Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard) DrPH (Harvard) Chairman, Institutional Review Board - KFMC
DEFINITION
• Social sciences refer to a group of closely interrelated disciplines that deal with human behavior in a social setting. The group includes: anthropology, sociology, psychology, political science, geography, economics, history, and law.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT - 1
• As formulated disciplines, social sciences are more recent than natural sciences most of them starting in the 19th century. However, their roots can be traced to the earliest human civilizations.
• Ideas of social sciences were closely related to theology and it took a long time before they acquired an independent identity.
• The church in Europe had more control over social than physical sciences. This led to a delay in the emergence of the social science disciplines.
• With the renaissance, Europeans rediscovered Greek classics and social sciences became a commentary on these classics. Cartesian rationalism also discouraged social scientists from empirical analysis of social data preferring to reason out their social positions.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT - 2
• Impetus to social science development in the 19th century N was by the industrial revolution and the many social changes it engendered. The population increased and became increasingly urbanized, the economic system changed from agrarian to industrial production based at factories, the property changed from being tangible like money to intangible property like stocks, incomes increased, but social conditions for the urban workers worsened.
• Politically there was a gradual change from the feudal authoritarian systems to more democratic ones.
• Ideologically society became divided into liberals who completely embraced the industrial and democratic revolutions and the conservatives who wanted to retain some of the elements of the old order.
• Three philosophical schools emerged and had an impact on society. Positivism emphasized empiricism as a source of knowledge.
• The theory of evolution challenged long-held views about religion, God, and the position of humans.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT - 3
• Distinct social science disciplines developed because of the specialization in universities in the 19th century. These disciplines became more developed in the 20th century because of revolutionary social changes that required study and social problems that required solutions.
• Social sciences today are largely research-based. Statistical techniques are used to collect and analyze large amounts of data. Social sciences have also become professionalized with social scientists occupying professional positions dealing with solving social problems in society.