Course Resources Archive

This module explores the nature of the social sciences and the natural sciences in relation to the philosophical, epistemological and ontological debates that dominate the processes of researching the human world. Debates include objectivity within the research process; the influence of facts and values in the social sciences; and whether the perturbations caused by postmodernism affect the way that human science research is (or should be) carried out.

a) The structure of scientific thought and the logic of scientific inquiry, explanation, prediction, falsifiability, theory, causation, laws and relationships.
b) Origins and scope of the social sciences: conflicting perspectives on human sciences,
c) Objectivity and value judgements in the social sciences
d) Ideology: beliefs and belief systems, sociological analysis of knowledge and knowing 
e) Understanding the social world: positivism, empiricism, idealism, relativism, post-structuralism and post-modernism.

i. Knowledge and Understanding
On completion of the module, students should have:
a) a critical understanding of the historical and contemporary debate between research and epistemology
b) the ability to explore and analyse methodological, conceptual and theoretical problems arising in the social sciences.
c) a broad understanding of epistemological and ontological approaches to understanding the social world. 
d) individual orientation towards a particular epistemological and methodological approach to understanding and obtaining knowledge about the social world.

ii. Skills
On completion of the module, students should have developed:
a) a critical approach to evaluating evidence and theories.
b) skills of applying epistemological and ontological awareness to debates on understanding the social world.

Staff / student contact: 30% (lectures, tutorials)
Student directed learning: 70%

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.