Some people mistakenly assume
that economics, marketing, human resources, management, etc., which are
categorized as social science, are not real science because they seem
vague, undefined, and not meticulous. There are many classifications of
science, as mentioned in various papers and handbooks. The most common
classifications are: 1) Natural Science, which study nature in the
broadest sense, such as physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geology,
etc; 2) Social Science, which study people and societies such as
psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, history, political
science, etc.; and 3) Formal Science, which study abstract concepts,
such as mathematics, logic, computer science, etc. For simplicity, we
can group these into two major pillars: Natural and Social Science.
As
my recent studies have been in business and management (social
science), I believe that social science is not vague when compared to
natural science. Generally, natural science defines specific input(s),
and when these input(s) interact inside a system(s), a defined output(s)
is produced — as in chemical reactions (A+B → C+D) or in mathematics
(1+1=2). Based on my engineering background, I contend that, social
science operates similarly, as illustrated in the figure; inputs
interact inside systems to generate outputs. The main difference is that
social science involves many inputs or variables, diverse systems and
dynamic contexts resulting in multiple complex outputs with high
uncertainty.
This complexity makes it difficult to identify
consistent outputs, unlike in the natural science. Consequently, social
science theories are generalized to predict outcomes, which we commonly
refer to as recognized and generally accepted good practices — or best
practices — due to the inherent variability and complexity of systems,
like human system, as an example. However, I argue that if the inputs
and systems in the social science were fully defined (which is rarely
applicable), then outputs could be predicted with greater certainty,
similar to natural science.
Article By Amr H. Abayazeed - May 02, 2025.
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