1. AOK 3 HUMAN SCIENCES
Essential Learning Summary
(2 lessons with optional
extension)

2. Lesson 1 - Key Questions
• What are ‘Human Sciences’?
• Why are they important?
• Why are they ‘Sciences’?
• How do they differ from ‘Natural Sciences’?
• How do Human Scientists investigate the world?

3. What are ‘Human Sciences’ and why are
they important?
Research this then watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcEfzHB08
What insights did your research give you in
relation to this clip?

4. Why are they ‘Sciences’ and how do
they differ from ‘Natural Sciences’?
What similarities and differences can you
find out about;
•Systems of enquiry?
•Research methodologies?
•Subject matter?

5. How do Human Scientists investigate the
world?
3 main approaches to research;
1) Positivist
– Scientific method (can be studied in the same
way as the Natural Sciences)
– Quantitative (counting and measuring)
– Objective
– Reproduceable experiments
– Seeking ‘truth’, ‘laws’, ‘models’ & ‘prediction’

6. 2) Interpretivist
• The process of interpretation
• Human Sciences are more complex than Natural
Sciences
• Qualitative (interviews, photographs…)
• Subjective
• The importance of ‘context’
• Seeking ‘insight’ and ‘understanding’

7. 3) Critical Theory
• Looking for underlying patterns / themes
• Human Sciences can only be understood if we
look for underlying meaning
• Structuralism
• The importance of politics
• Seeking ‘explanation’ through studying events
as part of a wider process and pattern

8. Task
1. Match each of the following 3 paragraphs
with the correct Human Science approach.
3. Briefly explain your decision.

9. Hong Kong (1)
Since the colonial power left Hong Kong in
1997 it has been able to overcome the post
colonial challenges it faced and develop a
more equal and productive economy and
society. Its success is due to the enterprise
and attitudes of the local people. Further
development is threatened by its lack of
democracy and Chinese interference but the
liberal society allows the community to
flourish. Hong Kong is a great place to live.

10. Hong Kong (2)
In recent years the GDP of Hong Kong
has grown rapidly (on average by x % per
annum ) and been based on growth in the
financial sector (Hang Seng rose from y to
z between 1997 and 2008) and trade. As
a result, average incomes have risen by p
% and the standard of living is now q%
higher. Homeless numbers have dropped
by r% in the last 10 years. Hong Kong is a
great place to live.

11. Hong Kong (3)
The Chief Executive’s report shows us
how much progress has been made in
recent years in both the economy and
society. He argues that the careful, light
touch approach of his Government is
working very well. We interviewed 10
Hong Kongers who told us that they were
happy and that their lives had improved in
recent years. Hong Kong is a great place
to live.

12. Follow-up task
For one of the following issues, attempt to
write a paragraph from each philosophical
standpoint;
•The growth of cities
•The recent financial crash
•The situation in Palestine

13. Homework
Investigate the Stanford Prison Experiment
http://www.prisonexp.org/slide-2.htm
Consider the reasons that these ordinary
people behaved in this way. How could the
findings be used to benefit society?

14. Lesson 2 – Key Questions
• Why/when are the theories ‘convincing’?
• Why/when are the theories ‘less convincing’?
• Why might a Natural Scientist be deeply critical
of Human Science/Scientists?
• What dilemmas are presented through pursuing
qualitative and quantitative approaches in
research?

15. Why / when are the theories convincing /
less convincing?
• Focus on 1 or 2 specific theories in this context.
• What about the nature of ‘being convinced’
itself?
• Does this serve to undermine the value of
Human Sciences for some people?
• What do you think about this and why?

16. Why might a Natural Scientist be deeply critical
of Human Science/Scientists?
There is often a perceived battle for acceptance
between the Natural and Human Sciences!
Caltech Professor of Theoretical Physics, Richard
Feynman was an internationally renowned Nobel
Prize winner who ‘championed’ Natural Science
and was deeply critical of Human Sciences /
Scientists.

17. His opinions about Social Sciences
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaO69CF5mb
Summarise some reasons for his opinions.
Why might Feynman be biased?

18. Quantitative vs Qualitative
Quantitative = of or pertaining to the
describing or measuring of quantity.
Qualitative = pertaining to or concerned
with quality or qualities.
Why does this tend to put Social Sciences ‘in
conflict’ with Natural Sciences?

19. Problems with Qualitative research methods
Question
Questioner Interviewee
design
For each of the ‘characters’ involved in qualitative research, list as many
possible sources of error or bias as you can - you can do the first few as a
group

20. Are you a racist?
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/Study?tid=-1
What do the findings suggest about you?
How might this affect society?
Does it matter?

21. Task
In groups of 3 or 4 design an experiment to
test;
People’s responses to being instructed to
inflict pain on others
(You will need to present your ideas to the
class)

22. Questions to consider.....
• How can you be sure that your research is
fair’?
• What data could your experiment
produce?
• In what ways is this type of experiment
different to a Natural Science experiment?

23. The Milgram Experiment
• Subjects were “employed” to help
out at a psychology experiment.
• As “Teacher” (T) they were
instructed to administer electric
shocks to a Learner (L) on the
command of the Experimenter (E)
• Shocks increased up to 450 volts
(more than enough to kill a
person) and the shocks were
labelled – T knew what they were
doing was dangerous and painful
– a recording of shouting and
distress, eventually leading to
silence was heard from the other
side of the wall.
How would you react? How do you
know?

24. Results
• Is this what you would
expect?
• 26 out of the 40
subjects were willing
to deliver a fatal
shock
• REMEMBER that
each shock was met
with different
feedback from the
Learner

25. How would you react to these
sounds?
Learner responses:
200V - blood-curdling
screams
300 - refuses to answer,
mumbles something
about a heart condition
+330 - silence
Where would you stop?

26. So what?
• How would the findings of your experiment be
useful?
• In many States in the U.S. the death penalty is
used as the ultimate punishment. How might
these findings inform your opinions of the death
sentence?

27. Extension Material
If different methods of study produce
contrasting results, how can we decide
which is correct?
In what ways is the Stanford Experiment
an example of positivist method?
Justify whether the complexity of studying
Human Sciences make them a ‘richer’ area
for research or just a ‘harder’ one ?

28. Use evidence from discussions and your
wider understanding to explain why it is
important to study the Human Sciences.
What are the Human Sciences able to
contribute to knowledge?
What are the main difficulties with this AOK?

29. “Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal
suspended in webs of significance he himself has
spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the
analysis of it to be, therefore, not an experimental
science in search of laws but an interpretive one in
search of meaning” Clifford Geertz
8. Put Geertz’s quotation into your own words.
9. Do you agree? Explain.