The proper study of mankind is man.

Alexander Pope

ANTHROPOLOGY

the study of human beings, study of their physical

character, evolutionary history, racial

classification, historical and present day

geographic distribution, group relationships, and

cultural history

GEOGRAPHY

the study of the location and distribution of living

things and the physical environment in which they

live

SOCIOLOGY

the study of social customs, structures and

institutions and of the effects on individuals of

participation in groups and organisations

PSYCHOLOGY

the study of mental processes and behaviour

through the observation and recording of how

people relate to one another and the environment

POLITICAL SCIENCE

the study of the functions performed by

governments as well as patterns in the behaviour

of voters, political parties, pressure groups etc

ECONOMICS

the study of the process through which people

make a living, the production and distribution of

goods, the organization of industries, banking,

trade, and the use of resources

Related to Human Sciences

Linguistics

Criminology

International

relations

Business and

management studies

Religious studies

Archaeology

History

Some aims of Human Sciences

Knowledge about human behaviour and

interaction in society

Understanding of influences on human behaviour

Explain underlying patterns

Understanding how decisions are made

Predicting human behaviour

Informing decisions

Particularity of human sciences Man is the subject and the student Compare Martian as student

The car engines

malfunction when

the lights go red!

Wir verstehen!

Claims about Human and Social Sciences

Human sciences permeated with values

Concepts in social sciences are vague and

imprecise

Unavoidable interaction between the scientist

and what he studies

Human scientist cannot state and verify

hypotheses with precision and universality

No social scientist can predict with any

assurance

METHODOGLOGY

Questionnaires and surveys

Interviews

Observation

Gathering and interpretation of statistics

Study of written sources (official records, books …)

Study of artefacts

Experiments

Issues in observation Surveys

Scope and scale

Sample size and choice

Question(er) bias / loaded questions

Quality of answers

Issues in observation

Are you in favour of bringing back National Service?

Issues in Experimentation

People as the subject / Interaction

between scientist and subject

Behaviour of people being observed

Margaret Mead Case (the

observed respond to the

expectations of the observer)

Hawthorne Effect (presence of

observers produces a bias and

unduly affects the outcome of the

experiment)

Issues in Experimentation

Controlled or repeat experiments (impossible in

almost all cases)

Issues in Experimentation

Ethical Problems

Milgram experiment

Zimbardo experiment at Stanford University

Measurement and interpretation

Can everything be measured satisfactorily?

Thought in a child?

Happiness?

Economic data?

The use of numbers and data

Statistics

Models

Isaac Newton: “I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of crowds”

The Model 1 - The Credit Crunch

"It was the failure to properly price …. risky assets that

precipitated the crisis. In recent decades, a vast risk

management and pricing system has evolved, combining

the best insights of mathematicians and finance experts

supported by major advances in computer and

communications technology. A Nobel Prize was awarded for

the discovery of the pricing model that underpins much of

the advance in derivatives markets. This modern risk

management paradigm held sway for decades. The whole

intellectual edifice, however, collapsed in the summer of last

year because the data inputted into the risk

management models generally covered only the past

two decades, a period of euphoria.“

Dr. Alan Greenspan, US House of Representatives Committee on Government Oversight and Reform,

October 23, 2008

Measurement and interpretation Correlation v. Causation

The Phillips curve

When in the 1970s this failed to explain stagflation, Milton Friedman argued that there were a series of different Phillips curves for each level of expected inflation. If people expected inflation to occur, then they would anticipate and expect a correspondingly higher wage rise.

Correlation v. Causation Facebook users have lower overall grades than

non-users, according to a survey of college students

Students who supplement their studies with interactive, game like computer animations retain a much better understanding of a scientific concept than those who don't.

Men with deep voices tend to have more children than those who speak at a higher pitch, scientists say.

Causation and social policy

Tony Blair: 'tough on crime and tough on the

causes of crime' Feeding children a diet rich in fish could

prevent violent and anti-social behaviour in their teens, according to research ….. which suggests the root causes of crime may be biological rather than social. The study raises major questions over the extent to which criminals exercise free will, as well as fuelling fresh debate over whether simple childhood interventions might be more use in preventing crime than blaming parents or organising draconian crackdowns on crime.

The Observer, Sunday 14 September 2003

Free Will - C’est écrit là-haut! How did they meet? By chance, like everyone

else. What were they called? What does that matter to you? Where were they coming from? From the nearest place. Where were they going? Who knows where they were going? What were they saying? The master was silent and Jacques was saying that his captain in the army used say that all the good and bad that happens to us down here on earth was already written up there.

Oedipus He knew (because of a

prophecy) theat he would kill his father and marry his mother

To what extent did his knowledge of the prophecy affect his behaviour and choices?

Why does he punish himself?

Why does he blind himself as a punishment?

The Oedipus effect.

“ …… the oracle played a most important role in

the sequence of events which led to the fulfilment

of its prophecy. … For a time I thought that the

existence of the Oedipus effect distinguished the

social from the natural sciences. But in biology,

too—even in molecular biology—expectations

often play a role in bringing about what has been

expected. ”

Karl Popper

Self fulfilling prophecy - psychology. A person who expects people to be friendly, may

smile more and thus receive more smiles

A person expecting to be lucky, may enter many more competitions and thus increase their chances of winning.

Children randomly allocated to a group labelled ‘bright’ did better in an experiment than a similar group labelled ‘less bright’

BUT you may also do your utmost to ensure a prediction made by a psychologist does not happen!

Self fulfilling prophecy - Economics Told that a bank was in trouble, people rushed to

take out their money thereby causing the bank to fail.

Bear and Bull markets – expectations of market rises and falls tend to make them rise or fall.

Predictions of depression make people behave in a way which (at least) hastens it

Placebo and Nocebo

A patient given a pill expects it to make him

better (placebo) and often does

In a classic nocebo experiment conducted in the

early 1980s volunteers were told that a mild

electrical current would pass through their head,

and although no electrical current was used, two-

thirds of the volunteers complained of a headache

after the experiment.

The Purposes of Human Sciences

Understanding of how people and societies work

To make people or societies work better (or how

we think they should work)

Involve predictions on the basis of which we make

Personal choices

Economic and social policy

Business and management decisions

BUT are Human Sciences able to produce reliable Laws?

… some of the reasons

Confirmation bias

Question(er) bias

Difficulties in measurement

Observation of people may affect their

behaviour

.. and more reasons?

Problem of (no) controlled experiments

Human sciences often affected by moral issues

Limitations on willingness or ability to

experiment

Human science suggests the ‘probable’

Uncomfortable with falsification