Course Description
An examination of the history and philosophy of social science
research methods, including historical and current debates
about the ontology, epistemology, methodology, and aims of the
social sciences.
Athena Title
Phil Social Science Research
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in QUAL 8405E
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will be able to detail the variety of ways knowledge and science have been conceptualized through history and across disciplines.
- Students will be able to explore divergent, conflicting, and new paths in knowledge generation and translation, and consider where and how these may evolve in the future.
- Students will be able to articulate the contributions historically marginalized people have made to the nature of knowledge in general and science specifically.
- Students will be able to identify the nature of philosophical problems and solutions in social science research.
- Students will be able to describe the ways in which different philosophical approaches to science inform research design.
- Students will be able to participate in dialogue with others and develop the capacity to be more reflective in their own work.
- Students will be able to identify and share new possibilities for their own research and strengthen scholarly writing skills.
Topical Outline
- The History of the Disciplines in the Social Sciences
- The Role of History
- The Language and Role of Philosophy
- Normal Science
- Paradigm Proliferation and Scientific Communities
- Ethics
- Individualism, Holism, and Reductionism
- Causal and Non-Causal Explanations
- Rational Choice, Functional, and Structural Explanations
- Teleological and Functional Analysis
- Positivism and Postpositivism
- Interpretation
- The Crisis of Legitimation and Representation
- Responsive Knowledge Creation to Dominant Science
- Postmodernism
