Theories in Science and Social Science

• Theories in Natural Science
  • Ideal notion of theory (deductive-nomological)
  • Hawking's view of theory is of this type.

Reductionism or not? (If not, then ideal notion of theory is not applicable)

• Theories in Biological Science
  • Evolutionary biology is non-experimental so its theories do not fit ideal theories
• Theories in Social Science
  • Historical adherence to ideal theories
  • Historical lack of success in discovering laws of nature (i.e., like gravity, relativity.
• Types of Social Science Theories (Mjøset)
  • Law oriented-middle range theories in specific contexts (Merton). These theories must avoid broad generalizations and thus, limit themselves to narrower domains.
  • Idealizing-theories that only apply to limited and ideal sets of conditions, i.e., mathematical modeling, rational choice theory. Idealizing theories suffer from lack of external validity. Their theories assume perfect knowledge of the ideal situations, thus when deviations from those ideal situations occur, theoretical predictions suffer mightily.
  • Constructivist-rejects deductive-nomological ideal. Everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge are closer and the barrier between them is fuzzy. This is because scientists are humans too and have created a scientific community. In this view, scientists create their own traditions and socializing events. Cognitive Science is good example of constructivism, as is anthropology (thick description, a qualitative method). Analogies are allowed as explanatory mechanisms for observation, but within fuzzy limits. Theories in this area are not parsimonious.
  • Critical Theory-"Social science is defined not by its stock of universal laws, but by its commitment to universal ethical principles." (Mjøset, 2002, p. 15646) Critical theory also rejects deductive-nomological ideal, but unlike constructivism, seeks a universal, an ethical foundation. Allows that emergent social movements (labor, suffrage, racial equality, feminism, etc.) are examples of unfolding psychological and sociological truths and that the status quo is not a good predictor or source of theory. This theory gives us a nice entry into next chapter (Ethics)
• Reference
  • Mjøset, L. (2001). Theory: Conceptions in the social sciences. In N.J. Smelser & P.B. Baltes, (eds.), International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences. 23, 15641-15647