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Human Sciences

Human Sciences. Part 2: Studying the human sciences, problems in human sciences, human sciences and change. The argument . Is anthropology really a science? Defend your answer. Is economics really a science? Defend your answer. See handout and discuss with others.

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Human Sciences

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  1. Human Sciences Part 2: Studying the human sciences, problems in human sciences, human sciences and change

  2. The argument • Is anthropology really a science? Defend your answer. • Is economics really a science? Defend your answer. See handout and discuss with others

  3. Milgram’s Experiment1960s Stanley Milgram experimented with authority and obedience and whether or not people would forego their morals and values if an authority figure instructed them to do so. What are the ethical ramifications of this experiment?

  4. Studying the Human Sciences What laws or rules should be applied to studies and experimentation in the human sciences? Think… Ethics Reliability Stages of development (cognitive and emotional!) **Revisit pg. 265 of textbook (blue box)

  5. Laws in Human Sciences • Laws vs. Trends • Beware of Hasty Generalizations • Fluidity: things change over time—new information…what do we do with it? • Paradigm shifts—can you think of examples? What causes paradigm shifts in the human sciences? *Revisit pg. 270 of text book

  6. Revisit these ideas! • Reductionism: pg. 274 • Reductive Fallacy: pg. 275 • Holism: pg. 275 • Verstehen position: pg. 276

  7. Measurement • What areas or concepts in the HS can be measured easily? Which cannot?

  8. Active vs. passive listening • Quantitative vs. qualitative • Behaviorism

  9. Assignment: This takes place over 2 days. You may work in pairs. Day 1: Pick a person at random (best if it’s a stranger) and observe one aspect of them. Choose something simple, like counting how many people they interact with in a given time period (lunch). Day 2: Tell this person that you will be observing them for a class. Inform them of exactly what you will be looking for. In Class: Report out your findings.

  10. Observer Effect • Is it possible to have realistic observation? • Habituation? Hidden Observer? • Inside vs. outside methods of observation • What about empathy and compassion? Can the observer remove his/her experience from observation? SHOULD he/she? (See R. Abel)

  11. Announcements • FULL DP: Load your EE onto Managebacasapfor Ms. Cordell! • Meet with EE Advisor by the 26thto go over your paper. • IB Exam Registration: Please remind your IB teachers to hand them out! Due Oct. 15! • Open House Monday Evening • TOK Due Dates Moved: • Paper Proposal Due Monday (9/23) • Global Issues Paper due next Wednesday (9/25)

  12. Problems in the Human Sciences • Ethnocentrism • “Mesh of interconnected and elaborate variables.” It is difficult to change one variable while keeping the others the same • People are not identical samples • People are independent thinkers • People respond to being tested—self-fullfilling or defeating prophecy.

  13. Placebo effect • Fulfill researchers’ or their own expectations • “Humanity” of the data • Ethical implications and ramifications limit possible experiments • Connotations of words and phrasing, language barriers, influence of social situation on what people say

  14. Problems continued • Positive self-bias (remember your self-perception rankings) • Preexisting prejudices • Indigenous knowledge systems • Genuine vs. disingenuous open-mindedness • The power of predictions • Hypotheticals vs. reality

  15. BEWARE • Fallacious conclusions • Hasty generalizations • Persuasive statistics • Ineffective sample groups (not randomized) • Flawed statistics • Baseline assumptions • Conspiracy theories

  16. Human Sciences and Change • How does time affect what we discover regarding the human sciences? • Free will vs. determinism vs. fatalism…what do you think? • How does regret fit into free will and determinism?

  17. What conclusions in the human sciences have we seen change over time? • What human sciences knowledge issues does literature and art attempt to answer?

  18. How does knowing your Myers Briggs personality affect how you “TOK”? • How does personal knowledge and collective knowledge ‘behave’ in the human sciences?

  19. The ultimate Human Sciences Questions • Why are we here? • Why do each of us understand humans differently? • How do we draw conclusions about human beings?

  20. Recommend • Freakonomics (book or film) • The Truman Show (film) • The Last Lecture (book or film)

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