Puru DubeyAIR 86 · CSE 2025 · 159 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening · a definition
Scientific method refers to a systematic, method of study of social phenomena which aims to produce objective picture of reality.
However, social world poses various limitations on application of scientific method.
Body · points
Plurality of cause and effect and their intermixture: It is difficult to single out causes and separate causes from effect. ex: Violence & Poverty can cause each other.
Lack of experimentation: social world is not amenable to experiments like the natural world. ex: Ecological validity issue crops up if people become aware that they are part of experiment.
(3) Meanings & Motives are important part of social reality which scientific methods fail to measure. ex: Durkheim's suicide statistics fail to account for meanings.
(4) Multi-paradigmatic: Thomas Kuhn argues that scientific method are themselves paradigm based and hence can never study reality objectively.
Close · a way forward
While there are difficulties in rigid application of scientific method, one may practice value-relevance, conduct descriptive studies to understand phenomena in a better manner.