Science, Social Research, and the Scientific Approach

Understanding the world is a complex but interesting exercise. Science, as a method of enquiry, offers a unique approach in exploring the world. Many who have towed the path of scientific enquiry attest to its unrivalled rigour and its ability to produce reliable knowledge and solutions to social problems. As such, science becomes the guiding principle of any serious investigation or research. Given the nature of the cosmos, science splits its investigative adventure into two – the natural and social scientific enquiries. This categorisation allows for in-depth scientific inquiry in each of the realms. This paper examines the scientific underpinnings of social research via a critical examination of the scientific approach. The paper utilises secondary research design where materials were assembled and filtered for use from exsiting literature on social research and scientific approach. Content analysis was used to extract the relevant aspects of each material utilised for the study. The paper argues that, essentially, social research deals with human behaviour. As such, it differs from the natural science research which deals with the cosmos. Social research is classified using five different criteria, each of which gives rise to various other types of social research. The type of research being executed dictates what method is to be adopted in the process of data collection and analysis. In the concluding part, the paper examined the scientific method of conducting social research and concurrently uses the work of Homey, Osgood and Marshall to buttress each step of the scientific method.