Learning notes: Limitations on scientific methods in social sciences
Wang Yuang, April 19, 2004
Natural scientific research methods are not necessarily able to work in the field of social sciences, mainly because of social science research objects are not simple things, but complex people and human society. For example, natural science pays attention to the reproducibility of experiments, can be difficult to repeat social science experiments - how to find exactly the same sample population? Even if you do two experiments on the same group, the second experiment will have the experience of the previous experiment. How can their actions may be exactly the same as the first experiment?
The limitations of scientific methods in social sciences, S. J. Baran and D. K. Davis gives four basic reasons. I am based on my own understanding, and I am not translated (not translation), and change the examples related to social sciences into colleagues on CBSBLOG more familiar sales issues:
1. Most human behavior methods are difficult to measure. We can easily measure the temperature of the water. Using well-designed, complex technical means, we can even measure the atomic weight or the speed of expansion of the universe. But we are difficult to accurately calculate, in the potential readers of a certain magazine, there is a few months of magazines for this month. Perhaps, a potential reader does not have the reason for the current issue of the magazine just a strong criticism of his girlfriend to his grand magazine and light love. The same truth, if there is only one article in the forum, it is full of the venue of the owner, and there is more than three hundred criticisms and even curse posts, you can accurately say that Which article is more attractive to readers, is its attraction than another big one percent?
2, human behavior is too complicated. We are difficult to find a clear causal relationship in human behavior. It is much simpler than the reason why you want to find your girlfriend. We can guarantee that under a certain temperature and atmospheric pressure conditions, we will definitely boil, but you can guarantee the magazine advertisement after 30 days of broadcasting in the TV, will magazine will save more than 100,000 months next month? Through the survey, we don't have to list some factors that affect magazine sales, such as readers' income, industry boom, articles quality, number of magazines, online related information, etc., but we can list between these factors and magazine sales Mathematical relationship? Can we find a change in the winner of these factors and increase the sales of magazines?
3, people have their own behavioral goals, all of themselves (Self-Reflexive, referring to people are vulnerable to self). We rarely respond to things that have happened, but they often take the initiative to implement some acts for our hopes or expected things. Also, we often fix our goals and judge whether they can be implemented in a very subjective manner. As long as heating, the water will boil, but the water does not have any thoughts about boiling, and it will change its behavior characteristics because of tiredness during heating. However, when the reader moved to the kiosk, when he liked the magazine he like, he will change his purchase plan because there is a beauty around you - buy a "wealth" obviously better than buying a "reader" to attract beauty. Note. Another example is that if we distribute a questionnaire to the potential reader through the network, how can you guarantee that the reader does not have other purposes when filling in the questionnaire (such as the journalism to exchange free gifts, or painful magazine Online name?
4. When we apply basic understanding of causality to us itself, things sometimes become worse. For example, in the sea level, water is heated to 100 degrees Celsius, and the water will definitely boil, where we clearly know what is caused, what is fruit, and it is never doubtful. But what about our own? We often look at the intense arguments of the forum on the forum, "said these people who have no brain, and they are doing the water here every day, it is better to work hard, don't work, I still send a post. Education education these angry! "Why do our behavior (posts) and our thoughts (do practical things)? There is a famous third-person effect law in communication: We all believe that we will not be affected by media or advertising, and we all believe that others are very easy to affected. For example, I look at a magazine because my own learning needs, and others look at the magazine is purely listening to the rumors or the versatile style; I said an article is good because I am alive, and others say this article is good. It is because the packaging and promotion of the text catering their low-level fun. That is to say, most of the social science theory is successful on the basis of breaking through the above four limitations.
