What is the difference between social and

natural sciences?
Doctoral Seminar on Research Methodology | Topic 3/26
ETH Zurich | University of St. Gallen | Fall Semester 2013
Jan Ossenbrink (ETH, MTEC)
Annegret Stephan (ETH, MTEC)

Doctoral Seminar Research Methodology Fall Semester 2013

What is the difference between natural and social science?

| 10/25/2013 |

Agenda
1.

Introduction

2.

Natural Sciences

3.

Social Sciences

4.

Comparison

5.

Implications

Doctoral Seminar Research Methodology Fall Semester 2013

What is the difference between natural and social science?

Jan Ossenbrink
| 10/25/2013 |
Annegret Stephan

1. Introduction
Different branches of science
Natural
Physical
Chemical
Biological

Social
Economics
Sociology

Creational
Engineering
Technological

Formal
Mathematics
Logic

Doctoral Seminar Research Methodology Fall Semester 2013

What is the difference between natural and social science?

Humanities
Economics
Sociology

Jan Ossenbrink
| 10/25/2013 |
Annegret Stephan

2. Natural Sciences
Definition

Development of the Field

Natural sciences are the disciplines that study

objects or processes of the physical nature by
means of scientific methods.

Dichotomy between formalism and world view

could not be developed until the renaissance era
coined by several famous universal geniuses.

Natural Sciences

Physics

Chemistry

Biology
L. da Vinci

N. Copernicus

G. Galilei

I. Newton

1452 - 1519

1473 - 1543

1564 - 1642

1642 - 1712

Goal

Limitation

Understanding phenomena of the physical world

by developing predictive models (formalisms) and
testing them through scientific observations.

Generalizability of results
Infallibility vs. law of big N

Doctoral Seminar Research Methodology Fall Semester 2013

What is the difference between natural and social science?

Jan Ossenbrink
| 10/25/2013 |
Annegret Stephan

3. Social Sciences
Definition

Development of the Field

Social science deals with human society, social

groups, individuals in their social relationship,
institutions of society, as well as material and
cultural goods as expression of the coexistence of
human being
Social Sciences

The origins can be traced back to the age of

enlightenment including the founding fathers of
modern social sciences.

Economics

Sociology

Politics

A. Comte

K. Marx

. Durkheim

M. Weber

1798 - 1857

1818 - 1883

1858 - 1917

1884 - 1920

Goal

Limitations

Recognizing patterns of collective action to which

individuals contribute through their independent
actions.

Constitutive vs. explanatory opinions

Theories with low predictability

Doctoral Seminar Research Methodology Fall Semester 2013

What is the difference between natural and social science?

Jan Ossenbrink
| 10/25/2013 |
Annegret Stephan

4. Comparison
Natural Sciences

Social Sciences

Ontological
approach

Discovering natural laws of

phenomena in the physical world

Understanding the social aspect in

human interaction

Epistemological
approach

Analytic
Complex system single elements

Synthetic
Individuals complex system

Object of study

Nature

Social actors

Inductive generation of theories

Empirical testing mainly quantitatively

Inductive generation of theories

Empirical testing qualitatively and
quantitatively

Scientific
outcome

Fallable and infallable theories

Gradual improvements of formalism
Stepwise evolution of world views

Fallable and infallable theories

Heuristics

Predictive Power

High

Low

Methodological
Approaches

Doctoral Seminar Research Methodology Fall Semester 2013

What is the difference between natural and social science?

Jan Ossenbrink
| 10/25/2013 |
Annegret Stephan

5. Implications
Situation

Implication

Both trained industrial

engineers

We have experienced what the

differences between scholars from
both fields mean in real life

Both study technology and its

importance for catalyzing
innovation in the energy sector

We need both lenses, natural and

social sciences, to understand the
phenomena in a comprehensive way

Graduate Studies

PhD Studies

Doctoral Seminar Research Methodology Fall Semester 2013

What is the difference between natural and social science?

Jan Ossenbrink
| 10/25/2013 |
Annegret Stephan

References

Babbie, E., 2010. The Practice of Social Research 12th ed., Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bayer, O., Stlting, E. & Seiffert, H., 1992. Sozialwissenschaften. In H. Seiffert & G. Radnitzky, eds. Handlexikon der
Wissenschaftstheorie. Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, pp. 302313.

Bchel, W., 1992. Naturwissenschaften. In H. Seiffert & G. Radnitzky, eds. Handlexikon der Wissenschaftstheorie.
Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, pp. 222231.

Creswell, J., 2009. Research Design - Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches 3rd ed. V. Knight & S.
Connelly, eds., Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Hansson, S.O., 2008. Science and Pseudo-Science. In E. N. Zalta, ed. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-science/.

Von Hayek, F.A., 1979. The Individualist and Compositive Method of the Social Sciences. In The Counter-Revolution
of Science Studies on the Abuse of Reason. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., pp. 6176.

Kuhn, T.S., 1962. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press.

Ledoux, S.F., 2002. Defining Natural Sciences. Behaviorology Today, 5(1), pp.3436.

Mitcham, C. & Schatzberg, E., 2009. Defining Technology and the Engineering Sciences. In A. Meijers, ed. Philosophy
of Technology and Engineering Sciences. Elsevier B.V., pp. 2763. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-44451667-1.50006-9.

Pelmter, A., 2008. Experimentierfeld des Seinknnens, Dichtung als Versuchssttte: zur Rolle des Experiments im
Werk Robert Musils, Knigshausen & Neumann.

Van de Ven, A.H., 2007. Engaged Scholarship, New York: Oxford University Press.

Weyl, H., 1949. Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science Reprint 20. F. Wilzczek, ed., Princeton University
Press.

Yogeshwar, R. et al., 2013. Quarks und Co - Auf Teilchenjagd, Germany, Switzerland: WDR Fernsehen. Available at:
http://www.wdr.de/tv/quarks/.

Doctoral Seminar Research Methodology Fall Semester 2013

What is the difference between natural and social science?

Jan Ossenbrink
| 25.10.2013 |
Annegret Stephan