Hard vs. Soft Sciences Part 2

How did the NAS need to change in the early 1970s?

The NAS needed to change in the early '70s due to the fact that they hadn't included social scientists in the NAS, and this was needed due to the expanding field that the majority of people did consider to be a science. It was decided that they needed to start to admit social scientists.

What are the problems in “operationalizing” a concept?
The problems that are inherent in operationalizing a concept lies in the fact that you have to come up a way to measure something that is intangible, and there is no way to verify that the units they us are correct and if they are the right ones to be used. Also the issue of how to measure these comes up, and to operationalize, you need to come up with a way to measure something intangible.

Briefly describe how Diamond illustrates operationalizing in:
· Mathematics-

If you only had two root numbers in your number system, it would prove to be hard to simulate larger numbers, operationalize them, and it creates confusion.

· Chemistry
In Chemistry ancient scientists had to operationalize the concepts of the elements as they were unable to determine the actual elements.
· Ecology
In Ecology it is evident that there are more birds in the rain forest than in a marsh, and its suspected that this has something to do with the habitat, but how do you operationalize the habitat?
· Psychology
In psychology, it was operationalizing the aspect of the attitude of doctors toward cancer.
What were Huntington’s operationalized concepts that provoked the wrath of Lang?
He tried to operationalize the concept of social frustration, which Lang felt was not possible, at least not the way Huntington did.
Why is the task of operationalizing more difficult and less exact in the soft sciences? Why does it lead to the ridicule of the soft sciences?
Because there is no exact units in the social sciences.
Why does Diamond believe that Lang might be ignorant of the measurements taken by social scientists like Huntington?
Because Lang doesn't have familiarity with the social sciences as Huntington is.
Does Diamond believe the labels associated with the sciences be replaced? Explain.
Yes, he believe that it could be replaced with hard and easy sciences, easy being the hard, and hard being the soft.
Does Diamond believe the soft sciences to be more valuable than hard sciences? Do you agree? Explain.
Yes, because he feels that the soft sciences, because they investigate human nature, are more valuable due to the fact they give insight into humans. I believe that they are equally important; one to understand nature and one to understand humans.