Social Science Issues
Social science is a discipline dealing with human behavior in its cultural and social aspects. It covers issues associated with psychology, anthology, economics, political science, and sociology. The topics above have various sub-topics that discusses in detail issues affecting social science perspectives. In this piece of work, one will discuss behaviorism, a sub-topic in psychology. Behaviorism is concerned with how external stimuli affect the behavior of an individual. Behaviorism emphasizes the importance of environmental factors in influencing a particular behavior. As outlined by Rachlin et al. (2018), behavior can be learned through learning theories such as operant and classical conditioning. Behaviorism helps in the development of desirable behaviors through learning. For example, behaviorism has been used successfully as an intervention of developing desired behaviors among autism learners. Initially, behaviorism and social science were based on logical positivism. The methodology was characterized by analytics; an individual’s behavior was only understood through a positive doctrine called verification. Verification underpinned on analytical behaviorism, thus highlighting that behavior is only achieved through associations.
The research on social science is associated with a framework of principles. One of the principles that apply to behaviorism in social science research is respect for autonomy, values, privacy, and dignity of groups and individuals during the study process (Dingwall et al., 2017). Behaviorism study involves understanding behaviors mostly among people experiencing a particular disability. Thus, the research process should be designed so that participants’ autonomy and dignity are respected and protected.
The principle of transparency, clarity, and effectiveness of the procedures used should be stated by the research team studying behavior to allow for ethical reviews and approval whenever necessary (Dingwall et al., 2017). Contemporary society is made up of diverse religions, cultures, and languages characterized by distinct ethical principles. Therefore, clarity on research procedures helps in understanding the moral code of participants.
References
Dingwall, R., Iphofen, R., Lewis, J., Oates, J., & Emmerich, N. (2017). Towards common principles for social science research ethics: A discussion document for the Academy of Social Sciences. In Finding common ground: Consensus in research ethics across the social sciences. Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-601820170000001010
Rachlin, H., Green, L., Vanderveldt, A., & Fisher, E. B. (2018). Behavioral medicine’s roots in behaviorism: Concepts and applications. Principles and Concepts of Behavioral Medicine, 241-275. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93826-4_9