© 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Chapter 18 Critical Thinking in the Social Sciences THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Learning Outcomes • Identify the kinds of questions social scientists ask • Illustrate how social scientists consider participants, situations, actions, and motivation • Describe the investigative methods used in the social sciences THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Learning Outcomes • Explain the standards used to evaluate social science research • Describe social science applications in fields such as business or education THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Chapter Opening Video THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Critical Thinking Questions of Social Scientists • Thinking like a social scientist THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Thinking Like a Social Scientist • Social scientists: – Ask questions about people and human social institutions – Investigate empirically – Form a large, varied, and complex international language community THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Thinking Process of Social Scientists • • • • Think participants Think situation Think actions Think motivation THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Think Participants • Participant: Individual who performs, shares, or engages in something • Scientists are interested in identifying characteristics or factors about the participants – Used to: • Group individuals • Make generalizations about how groups behave or predict what someone will in a given situation THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Think Situation • Situation: Physical, social, and cultural circumstances that define the phenomenon of interest – Helps identify patterns between human behavior and observed circumstances – Useful to identify factors controlled by participants in a situation and which of those can be altered if necessary – Provides situational cues to participants THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Let the Question Drive the Investigatory Technique • I’m on Camera effect • Social science questions provide answers about what happens to most humans • Behavior changes when the conditions are altered –Hawthorne Effect • Observable tendency of people to exert more effort or perform better if they know they are participating in a research –Blind study - Overcomes the risk of the validity of research THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc How Social Scientists Think About Standards? • No simple explanations of complex phenomena • Proceeding with warranted confidence • Risks inherent in all human judgments THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc No Simple Explanations of Complex Phenomena • Human behavior is the product of complex personal, situational, cultural, and biological factors • Scientists not attempt to produce a final answer about human social phenomena • Empirical reasoning used in social scientific research is probabilistic THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Proceeding with Warranted Confidence • Immeasurable and uncontrollable influences affect behavior inevitably under investigation • Statistical analyses – Used to: • Answer questions about possible relationships • Describe a set of data • Compare relationships between two or more factors THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Proceeding with Warranted Confidence – Statistically significant: Probability that an obtained result has not occurred by chance • Narrative analyses – Researchers use other techniques to achieve the standard of warranted confidence in findings • Describe findings as practically significant THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Risks Inherent in all Human Judgments • Social scientists are vulnerable to: – Biased thinking – Dominance structuring – Snap judgments – Misapplication of cognitive heuristics • Critical thinking self-regulation – Maintaining an open mind and engaging in a constant process of self-checking and selfregulating is essential THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Risks Inherent in all Human Judgments • We are what we study – Social scientists must carry out their analyses carefully to draw warranted inferences – Scientists are vulnerable to errors by misunderstandings and misinterpretations about human behavior THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Risks Inherent in all Human Judgments • We affect what we study – People influence human behavior through research – Critical thinking skills and maintaining great distance from the data collection process enables one to draw warranted conclusions THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Risks Inherent in all Human Judgments • Finding what isn’t there and not finding what is there – Wrong to conclude that reliance on numerical data will eliminate human vulnerabilities • Type I errors - False positives • Type II errors - False negatives – Judicious social scientists scrutinize their methods and applications of appropriate standards to self-correct as necessary THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Risks Inherent in all Human Judgments • Integrating findings – Social scientific research is iterative and builds over time – Theories of human behavior become revised, richer, and deeper with every investigation THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Risks Inherent in all Human Judgments • Explanatory scientific theories strive to be: – Consistent – Testable – Comprehensive – Productive – Parsimonious THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Social Science Applications in the Real World • Business administration • Elementary education THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Business Administration • Goal - To gather accurate and useful evidence – Determine the methods of data collection and evaluation – Summarize the numerical and narrative responses in reports THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Elementary Education • Used in classroom management • Assists conflict resolution THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Sketchnote Video THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc ... education THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Chapter Opening Video THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Critical Thinking Questions... community THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Thinking Process of Social Scientists • • • • Think participants Think situation Think actions Think motivation THINK CRITICALLY, ... THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc Elementary Education • Used in classroom management • Assists conflict resolution THINK CRITICALLY, FACIONE & GITTENS © 2016