Chapter 6 Human Science

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Chapter 6 Human Science
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Lesson 1What Is Human Science?
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What human science wants to know

• Why people interact with the environment the way
  they do
• What the reality of being human is

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Knowledge in human science comes from

• ConsensusThere is a consensus about the
  standards for what is considered acceptable to be
  considered a knowledge claim.
• Observation
• Interpretation of the observations

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A Problem with knowledge claims in Human Science

• The study of human science is itself a human
  activity and the researcher must have an
  awareness of human behaviour to be able to avoid
  biasing or slanting results.
• The researcher is an active part of the knowledge
  claims being made. Subsequently, it becomes hard
  for a researcher to escape human subjectivity in
  order to view human behaviour objectively. In the
  natural sciences, the researcher studies a
  subject other than him or her self.

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Subjective biasing

• Can skew observations
• Can alter the way an experiment is done
• Can skew interpretation of results
• Does have an effect on knowledge claims

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The Human-scientific method

• Observe some phenomenon regarding human behaviour
  
• Invent a tentative description or answer, called
  a hypothesis, which is consistent with what has
  been observed
• Use the hypothesis to make predictions
• Validation of the hypothesis

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How human science works

• Statistical methods
• Phenomenological methods
• Holistic analysis

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Special problems of knowledge within human
science

• Holistic nature
• Imprecise elements
• Unfinished work
• Accessibility

Edvard Munch. The Scream
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Lesson 2 Humans and Science Is Predictability
Equal to Knowledge?

• This lesson is comprised of three different
  scenarios to be read and discussed in a classroom
  setting.

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Lesson 3 Can Psychology give us Knowledge?
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Psychological knowledge is about

• Understanding human behavour
• Predicting human behaviour
• Controlling human behaviour

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Psychology explains human behaviour from
different perspectives. These perspectives affect

• How behaviour is understood
• How behaviour is approached
• How behaviour is treated
• Knowledge about human behaviour

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Different perspectives create different knowledge

• Biological perspective explains behaviour in
  terms of biological predisposition
• Cognitive psychology explains behaviour in terms
  of how an mental processes affect an individuals
  understanding of the world
• The learning perspective explains behaviour as
  being something we have learned
• Each perspective means that knowledge about
  behaviour will be different depending on the
  perspective from which one examines the
  behaviour.
• Can psychology really give knowledge about
  behaviour then?

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Why do we like sweets?Explanations from two
different perspectives.
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Biological perspective

• Evolution is assumed to be a fact
• Some ancestors could palate sweet foods and some
  could not
• The ability to eat high energy sweet food was a
  useful trait which facilitated survival
• Hard times such as famine or drought came

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Biological perspective contd.

• Those who ate sweet food were able to find enough
  energy to survive
• Consequently their genes were passed on
• After many generations, everyone was able to eat
  sweet, high-energy food
• Do we really even like sweet food?

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Learning perspective

• We are all born as blank slates (tabula rasa)
• First sweet taste of mothers milk associated
  with warmth and security
• Throughout growing up sweets always associated
  with something positive
• We are conditioned to like sweets

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Proof?

• Perhaps it is never possible to know for sure
  what causes human behaviour
• The knowledge is based on faith in the
  assumptions of a perspective
• Consensus also creates knowledge. People agree on
  reasonable interpretations
• Consensus, faith, and reason all important
  concepts in human science

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Lesson 4 Lying with Statistics

• There are three kinds of lieslies,
• damned lies and statistics.
• Mark Twain quoting Benjamin Disraeli

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Statistics is an invaluable tool for human science

• They reveal information about the behaviour and
  attitudes of large groups
• They help to make clear relationships between
  factors
• They are useful as empirical support for
  interpretations
• However there are many pitfalls in statistics and
  much opportunity to mislead a population

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Larry Liars Easy Steps to Learning how to Lie
with Statistics
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Methods of Duping

• Intentional deceit (Larrys favorite)
• Selective data-use (Do Not Report On All The
  Data)
• Faulty assumptions (Do not leave the thinking
  for the audience. We have to do the thinking for
  them).
• Creative graphics
• Incompetence

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Learn to Sample Correctly

• Choosing which sample to use
• Carefully choose the size of your sample
• Random sampling

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The three best ways to lie with sampling are

• Not only should you ignore any possible biases in
  your sampling method, you should actively seek to
  find samples which will give you the answers you
  want.
• Always claim everything has been done randomly.
  It is expected of you!
• Do Not Elaborate!!

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Trickery with Averages

• Ambiguity is a statisticians best
  friendAntonius Stewartius

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Pick the average that suits you best

• There are three measures of central tendency. All
  three of them can conveniently be called the
  average in statistics
• Mean (the sum of all values divided by number of
  values)
• Median (the middle value)
• Mode (the most common value)

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Heres an example of how it can work in real life
Number of armed robberies per county 1996

• Mean 51
• Median 26
• Mode 16
• Pick your favourite and use it to support the
  claim you want to make

County Numbers of Robberies
Pine 264
Maple 82
Birch 75
Fir 56
Alder 51
Teak 43
Oak 26
Beech 16
Walnut 16
Chestnut 16
Sandalwood 16
Driftwood 8
Neverwould 1
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Graphs and Charts

• Confusing Graphics Leave information out and let
  the image do the talking.
• When lying with statistics, image is everything

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Choose a scale any scale

• Alter the Y-axis to make the graphs look like you
  think they should
• Make them show what you say they show

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Manipulation of colours and pictures

• Pick colors that will accentuate the message you
  are trying to make
• Dark and drab colors for sad statistics, bright
  and cheerful colors happy statistics

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Important points to remember about using graphs

• Use Confusing and Vague Graphs
• Choose a scale which suits your needs best
• Manipulate colors and pictures to create a tone
  which is to your advantage

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Concluding Hints

• Be sure to use loaded questions
• Confuse correlation with causation
• Try and try Again. If the sample does not give
  you the result you want, just get a new sample

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Lesson 5 Free will vs. determinism
Titan. Adam and Eve. Ca. 1550
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Free will is an illusion

• We do not decide the things we do because
  something predisposes us to behave in a certain
  way
• Our biology dictates our choices. We all have a
  selfish gene
• Societal conditioning dictates our choices

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We are masters of our own destiny

• We are free to do as we wish. When we decide what
  we want to do, it is our conscious mind that
  makes the decision
• Our tastes and preferences are chosen by us. They
  reflect our individuality and freedom to choose
• Life is but a long line of choices

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The debate is important to human science because

• Human science wants to understand the motives
  behind human behaviour
• If our behaviour is determined by our biology, it
  is crucial for the human scientist to understand
  how biology affects human behaviour
• If behaviour is determined by our social
  environment, the human scientist would look at
  environmental factors to explain why people
  behave the way they do

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The debate is important to human science because
(contd.)

• If behaviour is on account of free will, is the
  consciousness even accessible?
• Can anyone access the individual consciousness to
  a degree that will allow an outsider to
  understand the inner motivations of another human
  being?

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Final thoughts

• To the human scientist, knowing human behaviour
  is, in part, being able to predict human
  behaviour
• If behaviour is the result of free will, then
  this makes predicting behaviour nearly impossible
• The human scientist wants to understand why
  people behave the way they do. Free will makes it
  hard for a human scientist to do this