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Free course

The social in social science

Free statement of participation on completion
The social in social science

In a complex and rapidly changing world, social scientific study examines how we produce things, communicate, govern ourselves and understand our environments, and how to solve the problems we face in the organisation of social relations and processes. This free course, The social in social science, provides a basic overview of how social science contains deeply embedded cultural assumptions, and outlines the important relationship between philosophical thinking and practical research methods in social sciences.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

  • describe why and how we study social phenomena
  • outline how theory can help us to deal with complex evidence
  • give examples of the most appropriate theory
  • identify which concepts are most useful for the task
  • explain how hypotheses are generated.

First Published: 10/08/2012

Updated: 14/06/2019

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