BEHS103 – Interdisciplinarity and the Social Sciences
BEHS103 – Interdisciplinarity and the Social Sciences essay assignment
BEHS103 – Interdisciplinarity and the Social Sciences essay assignment
Social science refers to any field of study that examines human behaviors within the context of society. Included in the social sciences are the fields of anthropology, criminology, economics, geography, gerontology, history, law, political science, psychology, and sociology. Each of these fields has its own vocabulary, theories, and methodologies. Each makes sense of social problems from a disciplinary lens that is necessarily biased and limited in scope. Increasingly, social scientists recognize that social phenomena are best understood when examined from the perspectives of multiple disciplines and within the social sciences we see greater collaboration across fields as well as the borrowing of methods and terminology.
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At UMUC, the BEHS designator identifies courses that examine social problems from an interdisciplinary perspective. The term “interdisciplinarity” suggests that we can gain a richer and more meaningful understanding of social phenomena by incorporating the perspectives of more than one traditional discipline. In John Godfrey Saxe’s (1963) famous poem, “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” six blind men attempt to describe the characteristics of an elephant from their different vantage points. One man, feeling the elephant’s knee, describes it as a tree, while another holding onto the tail compares it to a rope. Though each man is accurate, each focuses so narrowly on one part of the elephant that none can appreciate the whole.
And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong! MORAL.
So oft in theologic wars, The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen!
In the social sciences, there is a growing recognition that the complexities of social issues cannot be fully understood through just one disciplinary lens. Social forces exert their impact at multiple levels (e.g. individual, group, community, society), often with far-reaching consequences that are best appreciated by a sweeping assessment across disciplines.
In Nissani’s (1997) classic article “ Ten Cheers for Interdisciplinarity ,” the advantages and pitfalls of interdisciplinary exploration are outlined. There are many reasons why interdisciplinarity is valuable, including:
· Greater opportunities for creative thinking
· Greater likelihood of detecting errors through the eyes of someone with different background
· Greater ability to explore and understand complex social problems
· Greater flexibility and branching out in research
· Willingness to explore new territory
· Ability to serve as translators and moderators between disciplines
· Creating greater synergy between disciplines resulting in outcomes that cut across disciplines and advance science and social justice
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OVERVIEW OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Although there are many fields that fall within the umbrella of social science, we focus here on four: anthropology, gerontology, psychology, and sociology.
ANTHROPOLOGY
Source: Supin & DeCorse (2012)
Anthropology is the study of man or humankind. The discipline of anthropology consists of “four fields” that explore human nature in a manner that bridges the natural and social sciences. The fields include physical anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology and cultural anthropology.
Physical anthropologists are interested in humans as biological species and are particularly interested in human evolution and human variation. In recent years, physical anthropologists have become interested in the role played by genetics in evolution and variation.
Archaeologists explore the culture (the shared values, believes and norms) of civilizations by studying artifacts, which are materials left behind by former and present societies. These materials can range from precious treasures like jewelry and ceremonial riches to more mundane finds such as trash piles (middens) and shards of broken household items.
Linguistic anthropologists study the relationship between language and culture. Structural linguists examine how language influences thought, brain development, and life experience. For example, in cultures that emphasize social order, there may be several words for “I” or “you” that reflect the relationship between the speaker and the referent. In Thailand, there are thirteen words meaning “I.” The word used depends on whether the speaker is talking with a peer, an elder, a child, or someone of the opposite sex. Historical linguists examine how language changes over time both in structure and in sound. Language is heavily influenced by migration patterns and more recently, by the influence of the media which is readily disseminated through modern technology.
Cultural anthropologists (sometimes called ethnologists) study modern cultures around the world to understand the practices, norms, and values of different societies around the world. Often, cultural anthropologists gather information about cultures through a fieldwork method called “participant observation” in which they immerse themselves in a culture to learn the language and practices of the people they are studying. Anthropologists are cognizant of the fact that while participant observation provides important information about the society being studied, they are still outsiders, and therefore may not be granted full access into the behaviors and thoughts of the people they study. The end product of participant observation is a richly detailed report called an ethnography. A famous example of an ethnography is Geertz’s “ Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight .”
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Increasingly, some anthropologists have been recognizing the emergence of a fifth field of anthropology – applied anthropology. Although trained in one of the traditional four fields, applied anthropologists use their knowledge to better understand modern problems.
GERONTOLOGY
Gerontology is the study of aging and the aged. Despite its focus on aging and older adults, gerontology is a relatively new discipline, emerging only about 50 years ago as researchers and policy makers began to recognize that substantial increases in lifespan would have significant implications for health, work, housing, caregiving, family dynamics, social networking, the economy, and technology as a potential vehicle for well-being.
Because an aging population has a pervasive social impact, gerontologists are trained to be interdisciplinary, relying on a variety of research methods to answer important scientific questions about aging. You may see a gerontologist use surveys to get opinions from large groups of older adults to gather information about demographics, attitudes, and feelings on a large number of topics ranging from health to leisure activities to housing. Gerontologists also use qualitative methods like unstructured interviews and observation to better understand the experience of aging from the perspective of an older adult. Gerontologists interested in health outcomes may take physical and behavioral measurements like blood serum levels, bone density, walking speed, grip strength and so forth. Usually these types of studies follow participants over time to see whether there are changes associated with age or whether an intervention (e.g. medication, treatment) is effective.
Because gerontologists are interested in the process of aging, researchers in gerontology are very concerned with the role that time plays in aging. Longitudinal studies that take place over an extended period of time allow researchers to follow participants and to detect any changes that take place over time. The challenge for gerontologists is then to determine whether any changes are due to cohort effects, period effects or age effects.
Cohort effects are differences between older and younger age groups that are due to the time period in which people are born and raised. For example, an African-American person born in 1900 (prior to the Civil Rights movement) would be influenced and shaped by social factors that are very different from an African-American person born in 1980 and we would expect this to impact how people age.
Period effects are difference between age groups that are attributable to a historic event or time period. As an example, if we noticed that U.S. alcohol consumption in people 50 and older increased dramatically between 1930 and 1940, we might draw the conclusion that as people get older, they drink more; however, if we remember that Prohibition ended in 1933, we might draw a very different conclusion. That is, the reason people seemed to drink more as they got older is that the ban on alcohol ended during the time period of interest.
Age effects are changes that occur due to getting older. Certainly there are physiological changes that inevitably occur with age. For example, nearly all of us will have some degree of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) as we get older and in most people, all five senses tend to become less sharp with age, but what are the psychosocial and behavioral changes that occur that are attributable simply to getting older? One example of a true aging effect is that of criminal behavior. Across many generations and time periods, it has been shown that criminality is highest among teens and young adults and that as people age, the less likely they are to commit crimes. This seems to be due to the increased responsibilities that come with age.
Gerontologists rely heavily on research designs that follow participants through time. Longitudinal studies (aka “panel studies”) collect data repeatedly from the same participants over an extended period of time. This differs from cross-sectional studies that gather data across groups at only one point in time and tell researchers little about whether differences in age groups are due to age, period or cohort effects. One research design that is popular with gerontologists is the cohort sequential design, a longitudinal design that follows multiple cohorts across time. This design is especially useful because it allows researchers to differentiate between age, period and cohort effects. The primary disadvantage of this type of research is that it is expensive, labor-intensive, and takes a long time to complete.