Research Question and Hypothesis Exercise

Social science in entirety comprises of numerous branches that are considered as social science indlcduing but not limited to communication studies, political science, archeology, human geography, economic, linguistics, jurisprudence, public health, psychology and sociology. The topic is a research puzzle and attracts interest because of various reasons. First, the topic touches on a subject that has continued to be controversial for a long time considering that social science has attracted heated debate on whether it is scientific at all and if yes what are the characteristics that justify the assertion. There are those arguing that for any subject to be scientific it must comprise of a disciplined and systematic technique of deriving knowledge and that such knowledge must be variable. 

The topic is of interest because it creates more questions than answers considering the argument that social relationships, society and institutions cannot be subjected to scientific research and that the research techniques used to study natural science cannot be replicated to social sciences. It has been argued that the word ‘scientific’ and ‘social’ in the tittle ‘social sciences’ are not supposed to be joined together and their argument is based on the idea that anything social cannot be considered as scientific. The topic deserve to be studied because even those calling themselves social scientists often find themselves with diverse alternatives to research communications and media  that demand the recognition of the human affinity of  the social science. There are social scientists who struggle in their approaches to be scientific, while there are those who adopt or adapt models used in the natural sciences and there are those relying on insight and imagination as they perceive it by scientific equipment (Bryman & Bell, 2015).

In addition, the topic on whether resreasch on social science should be treated as scientific or not attracts increasing attention because there are those who consider it scientific due to the idea that social scientists try to derive  true knowledge of human beings and the society. The problem of its slowed advancement compared to natural science can be attributed to the fact that majority of gifted learners get diverted to natural science as opposed to social science and that the content of social science is hard to master due to its difficult to get to get down to the laws of nature (constants) that often validates knowledge. Also, social science has advanced slowly because of the introduction of the scientific valuations that are unavoidable, not self-evident and diversified. Thus, the topic generates interest because most of the findings from social researches do not stand undisputed, hence it is the duty of the social science, and psychology of science and sociology evaluate the issues relating to the existing bias in social research. Furthermore, social engineers and social scientists must be taken to task to make appropriate alterations in the whole political process.

Purpose statement

The main purpose of this paper is to determine the degree to which the studies conducted within the social science can be considered to be scientific in nature.

Research Questions

Research Question One: Why are researches conducted within social science considered to be scientific?

Research Question Two: Why are researches conducted within social science considered as being unscientific?

Research Question three: To what degree can researches conducted within social science be considered to be scientific?

Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis One

Alternative Hypothesis: Researches conducted within social science are considered scientific.

Null Hypothesis: Researches conducted within social science are not considered scientific

Hypothesis Two

Alternative Hypothesis: Determine the degree to which researches conducted within social science can be considered scientific.

Null Hypothesis: Determine the degree to which researches conducted within social science cannot be considered scientific.

Dependent Variables (DV) and Independent Variable (IV)

Independent Variable: Science in the research (Scientific versus Nonscientific).

Dependent variable: Degree of science used in the research 

Ways of measuring variables

The independent variable of the research is the science involved in the studies conducted within social science and it is either the study is scientific or nonscientific.  Scientific research is defined as the process which is logically steeped and it is critical in the investigation, expansion and acquisition of understanding of a phenomenon (Bryman, 2016).  Often, findings derived from a scientific research be demonstrated to be consistent and they can be reproduced. On the other hand, nonscientific research entails acquisition of truths and knowledge in the world through use of methods that fail to adhere to scientific technique. Basically non scientific studies are not in accordance with established methods and principles of science.

Variable are fundamental to the research because they are the concept or the symbol capable of assuming of the set values. Dependent Variable (DV) are vital in the study because they are the variables of interest to the researcher mainly because it their aim to explain or improves it. Dependent variable is critical because it is what the researcher targets at studying primarily or to derive a solution or even to improve the existing solution.

The dependent variable is vital in the study because it the one affecting, influencing or contributing to the dependent variable and it accounts for the variance of the dependent variable. Influence of the dependent variable and independent variable can either be positive or negative.

References

Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2015). Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.

Bryman, A. (2016). Social research methods. Oxford university press.