BEHS103 – Interdisciplinarity and the Social Sciences Social science refers to any field of study that examines human behaviors within the context of society. Included in the social sciences are the fields of anthropology, criminology, economics, geography, gerontology, history, law, political science, psychology, and sociology. Each of these fields has its own vocabulary, theories, and methodologies. Each makes sense of social problems from a disciplinary lens that is necessarily biased and limited in scope. Increasingly, social scientists recognize that social phenomena are best understood when examined from the perspectives of multiple disciplines and within the social sciences we see greater collaboration across fields as well as the borrowing of methods and terminology. At UMUC, the BEHS designator identifies courses that examine social problems from an interdisciplinary perspective. The term “interdisciplinarity” suggests that we can gain a richer and more meaningful understanding of social phenomena by incorporating the perspectives of more than one traditional discipline. In John Godfrey Saxe’s (1963) famous poem, “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” six blind men attempt to describe the characteristics of an elephant from their different vantage points. One man, feeling the elephant’s knee, describes it as a tree, while another holding onto the tail compares it to a rope. Though each man is accurate, each focuses so narrowly on one part of the elephant that none can appreciate the whole. And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong! MORAL. So oft in theologic wars, The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an ElephantNot one of them has seen! In the social sciences, there is a growing recognition that the complexities of social issues cannot be fully understood through just one disciplinary lens. Social forces exert their impact at multiple levels (e.g. individual, group, community, society), often with far-reaching consequences that are best appreciated by a sweeping assessment across disciplines. In Nissani’s (1997) classic article “Ten Cheers for Interdisciplinarity,” the advantages and pitfalls of interdisciplinary exploration are outlined. There are many reasons why interdisciplinarity is valuable, including: · Greater opportunities for creative thinking · Greater likelihood of detecting errors through the eyes of someone with different background · Greater ability to explore and understand complex social problems · Greater flexibility and branching out in research · Willingness to explore new territory · Ability to serve as translators and moderators between disciplines · Creating greater synergy between disciplines resulting in outcomes that cut across disciplines and advance science and social justice OVERVIEW OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Alth ...

1. BEHS103 – Interdisciplinarity and the Social Sciences
Social science refers to any field of study that examines human
behaviors within the context of society. Included in the social
sciences are the fields of anthropology, criminology,
economics, geography, gerontology, history, law, political
science, psychology, and sociology. Each of these fields has its
own vocabulary, theories, and methodologies. Each makes sense
of social problems from a disciplinary lens that is necessarily
biased and limited in scope. Increasingly, social scientists
recognize that social phenomena are best understood when
examined from the perspectives of multiple disciplines and
within the social sciences we see greater collaboration across
fields as well as the borrowing of methods and terminology.
At UMUC, the BEHS designator identifies courses that examine
social problems from an interdisciplinary perspective. The term
“interdisciplinarity” suggests that we can gain a richer and more
meaningful understanding of social phenomena by incorporating
the perspectives of more than one traditional discipline. In John
Godfrey Saxe’s (1963) famous poem, “The Blind Men and the
Elephant,” six blind men attempt to describe the characteristics
of an elephant from their different vantage points. One man,
feeling the elephant’s knee, describes it as a tree, while another
holding onto the tail compares it to a rope. Though each man is
accurate, each focuses so narrowly on one part of the elephant
that none can appreciate the whole.
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
MORAL.

2. So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an ElephantNot one of them has seen!
In the social sciences, there is a growing recognition that the
complexities of social issues cannot be fully understood through
just one disciplinary lens. Social forces exert their impact at
multiple levels (e.g. individual, group, community, society),
often with far-reaching consequences that are best appreciated
by a sweeping assessment across disciplines.
In Nissani’s (1997) classic article “Ten Cheers for
Interdisciplinarity,” the advantages and pitfalls of
interdisciplinary exploration are outlined. There are many
reasons why interdisciplinarity is valuable, including:
· Greater opportunities for creative thinking
· Greater likelihood of detecting errors through the eyes of
someone with different background
· Greater ability to explore and understand complex social
problems
· Greater flexibility and branching out in research
· Willingness to explore new territory
· Ability to serve as translators and moderators between
disciplines
· Creating greater synergy between disciplines resulting in
outcomes that cut across disciplines and advance science and
social justice
OVERVIEW OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Although there are many fields that fall within the umbrella of

3. social science, we focus here on four: anthropology,
gerontology, psychology, and sociology.
ANTHROPOLOGY
Source: Supin & DeCorse (2012)
Anthropology is the study of man or humankind. The discipline
of anthropology consists of “four fields” that explore human
nature in a manner that bridges the natural and social sciences.
The fields include physical anthropology, archaeology,
linguistic anthropology and cultural anthropology.
Physical anthropologists are interested in humans as biological
species and are particularly interested in human evolution and
human variation. In recent years, physical anthropologists have
become interested in the role played by genetics in evolution
and variation.
Archaeologists explore the culture (the shared values, believes
and norms) of civilizations by studying artifacts, which are
materials left behind by former and present societies. These
materials can range from precious treasures like jewelry and
ceremonial riches to more mundane finds such as trash piles
(middens) and shards of broken household items.
Linguistic anthropologists study the relationship between
language and culture. Structurallinguists examine how language
influences thought, brain development, and life experience. For
example, in cultures that emphasize social order, there may be
several words for “I” or “you” that reflect the relationship
between the speaker and the referent. In Thailand, there are
thirteen words meaning “I.” The word used depends on whether
the speaker is talking with a peer, an elder, a child, or someone
of the opposite sex. Historical linguists examine how language
changes over time both in structure and in sound. Language is
heavily influenced by migration patterns and more recently, by
the influence of the media which is readily disseminated
through modern technology.
Cultural anthropologists (sometimes called ethnologists) study
modern cultures around the world to understand the practices,
norms, and values of different societies around the world.

4. Often, cultural anthropologists gather information about
cultures through a fieldwork method called “participant
observation” in which they immerse themselves in a culture to
learn the language and practices of the people they are studying.
Anthropologists are cognizant of the fact that while participant
observation provides important information about the society
being studied, they are still outsiders, and therefore may not be
granted full access into the behaviors and thoughts of the people
they study. The end product of participant observation is a
richly detailed report called an ethnography. A famous example
of an ethnography is Geertz’s “Deep Play: Notes on the
Balinese Cockfight.”
Increasingly, some anthropologists have been recognizing the
emergence of a fifth field of anthropology – applied
anthropology. Although trained in one of the traditional four
fields, applied anthropologists use their knowledge to better
understand modern problems.
GERONTOLOGY
Gerontology is the study of aging and the aged. Despite its
focus on aging and older adults, gerontology is a relatively new
discipline, emerging only about 50 years ago as researchers and
policy makers began to recognize that substantial increases in
lifespan would have significant implications for health, work,
housing, caregiving, family dynamics, social networking, the
economy, and technology as a potential vehicle for well-being.
Because an aging population has a pervasive social impact,
gerontologists are trained to be interdisciplinary, relying on a
variety of research methods to answer important scientific
questions about aging. You may see a gerontologist use surveys
to get opinions from large groups of older adults to gather
information about demographics, attitudes, and feelings on a
large number of topics ranging from health to leisure activities
to housing. Gerontologists also use qualitative methods like
unstructured interviews and observation to better understand the
experience of aging from the perspective of an older adult.

5. Gerontologists interested in health outcomes may take physical
and behavioral measurements like blood serum levels, bone
density, walking speed, grip strength and so forth. Usually these
types of studies follow participants over time to see whether
there are changes associated with age or whether an intervention
(e.g. medication, treatment) is effective.
Because gerontologists are interested in the process of aging,
researchers in gerontology are very concerned with the role that
time plays in aging. Longitudinal studies that take place over an
extended period of time allow researchers to follow participants
and to detect any changes that take place over time. The
challenge for gerontologists is then to determine whether any
changes are due to cohort effects, period effects or age effects.
Cohort effects are differences between older and younger age
groups that are due to the time period in which people are born
and raised. For example, an African-American person born in
1900 (prior to the Civil Rights movement) would be influenced
and shaped by social factors that are very different from an
African-American person born in 1980 and we would expect
this to impact how people age.
Period effects are difference between age groups that are
attributable to a historic event or time period. As an example, if
we noticed that U.S. alcohol consumption in people 50 and
older increased dramatically between 1930 and 1940, we might
draw the conclusion that as people get older, they drink more;
however, if we remember that Prohibition ended in 1933, we
might draw a very different conclusion. That is, the reason
people seemed to drink more as they got older is that the ban on
alcohol ended during the time period of interest.
Age effects are changes that occur due to getting older.
Certainly there are physiological changes that inevitably occur
with age. For example, nearly all of us will have some degree of
atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) as we get older and in

6. most people, all five senses tend to become less sharp with age,
but what are the psychosocial and behavioral changes that occur
that are attributable simply to getting older? One example of a
true aging effect is that of criminal behavior. Across many
generations and time periods, it has been shown that criminality
is highest among teens and young adults and that as people age,
the less likely they are to commit crimes. This seems to be due
to the increased responsibilities that come with age.
Gerontologists rely heavily on research designs that follow
participants through time. Longitudinal studies (aka “panel
studies”) collect data repeatedly from the same participants over
an extended period of time. This differs from cross-sectional
studies that gather data across groups at only one point in time
and tell researchers little about whether differences in age
groups are due to age, period or cohort effects. One research
design that is popular with gerontologists is the cohort
sequential design, a longitudinal design that follows multiple
cohorts across time. This design is especially useful because it
allows researchers to differentiate between age, period and
cohort effects. The primary disadvantage of this type of
research is that it is expensive, labor-intensive, and takes a long
time to complete.
PSYCHOLOGY
Source: Kosslyn & Rosenberg (2007)
Psychology is the study of mental processes and behavior. It
began as a branch of philosophy and was concerned with the
nature of thought and mental states, but in 1879, William Wundt
established the first psychological research lab in Leipzig,
Germany, giving rise to the field of experimental psychology.
The first experimental psychologists were interested in
neurological functioning, sensation and perception and
conducted tightly controlled experiments that allowed
researchers to draw conclusions about cause and effect.

7. As psychologists became interested in questions about human
behavior that could not be answered in the laboratory, they
relied heavily on correlational research which examines the
relationship between variables that occur in real life without
making attributions of cause and effect.
Psychologists are also known for descriptive research which
describes the characteristics of a population or phenomenon of
interest. Through the use of descriptive statistics such as
averages, frequencies and ranges, researchers can make
observations about the prevalence of certain variables and can
make comparisons between groups.
Because psychologists are interested in measurement of
behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs, they are very adept at
developing instruments that capture important constructs. The
development of advanced statistical software and user-friendly
data management tools has allowed researchers to study
complex problems using statistical tools that were not available
until recent years.
In addition, advances in medical technology now allow
psychologists to study the brain and its functionality in
exquisite detail through the use of scanning equipment such as
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron
emission tomography (PET). Psychologists have always been
interested in cognition (how the brain processes information),
but until the advent of MRI and PET scans, cognitive processes
could only be inferred through performance on psychological
tests.
SOCIOLOGY
Source: Henslin (2012)
Sociology is the study of society and human behavior and arose
as a discipline during the mid-1800’s in midst of great social
conflict and reform. During this time, the natural sciences were
turning to the scientific method (detailed below) to answer
questions about the physical world. The scientific method is a

8. series of prescribed steps used to systematically identity, test,
and validate scientific questions. The first researcher to coin the
phrase “sociology” and to suggest that the scientific method be
applied to the study of social problems was August Comte
(1798-1857), but beyond merely answering scientific questions
about the nature of society, Comte proposed that sociologists
use research to improve social conditions and make the world a
better place. In contrast, Social Darwinists such as Herbert
Spencer (1820-1903) believed that societies evolve just as
species do, and that those who are the fittest not only succeed,
but make societies stronger; therefore, Social Darwinists
believe that it is misguided to use social research for purposes
of intervention and aiding those who are less socially fit.
Interestingly, it was Spencer who coined the famous phrase
“survival of the fittest,” though history credits Charles Darwin.
No discussion of sociology is complete without mention of the
influence of three sociological pioneers: Marx, Durkheim, and
Weber. Karl Marx (1818-1883) posited that society is inherently
in conflict because of the economic competition between two
social classes, the bourgeoisie (owners of land and capital) and
the proletariat (workers). By nature, the class in power serves
its own needs by oppressing those in the lower class until
conditions become so intolerable that revolution is inevitable.
Marx suggested that an ideal society is one in which the playing
field is level and people work according to their abilities,
receiving goods and services according to needs.
Emile Durkheim (1958-1917) is famous for his work that
demonstrated that social factors are important underlying
factors in suicide rates. He reported that males, Protestants, and
unmarried people were more likely to commit suicide than
females, Catholics, or married people. Based on these
observations, Durkheim concluded that poor social integration –
the degree of connectedness to social groups – can be a
contributing factor to suicide. The significance of Durkheim’s
work lies in the fact that it illustrated that individual human
behaviors cannot be understood in a vacuum. Rather, individual

9. behaviors are to some extent rooted in social realities.
Max Weber (1864-1920) is credited with developing the term
the “Protestant ethic” and suggested that religion was the basis
for social change. He observed that Protestant teachings
compelled people to believe that economic prosperity was a sign
of God’s favor. Frugality and investment were practiced in
order to retain God’s favor. Weber credits this ethic as the
driving force behind capitalism. Indeed, he found that
capitalism prospered more in Protestant than Catholic countries.
In addition to the aforementioned pioneers, sociology is also
known for three key schools of thought. Symbolic
interactionism suggests that society is defined by the meanings
that we attach to symbols. Symbols can be objects, but are more
often words and ideas. The meanings attached to these symbols
can change over time. For example, the term “divorce” used to
be heavily associated with failure and stigma, but as life spans
have increased and family structures have changed, divorce has
become more prevalent and has come to represent ideas other
than failure, such as freedom, new beginnings, and female
empowerment. Symbolic interactionists are interested in how
the meanings of symbols arise and change over time.
A second famous school of sociological thought is
functionalism. Functionalists believe that society as a whole
operates as an interrelated unit, with each component of society
having its own separate function or role. When these roles work
cooperatively and harmoniously, society functions smoothly,
but when part or all of society fails, there can be serious
consequences at the individual, family, community, or societal
level.
The third major school of thought in sociology is conflict theory
which was developed by Karl Marx. The driving concept of
conflict theory is that social groups are inherently in conflict
with one another. This can occur at the individual level
(teenager versus parents) or on a broader scale (labor versus

10. management; male versus female). Conflict is always rooted in
the struggle to gain power.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
The scientific method is a method of inquiry that was originally
developed to answer questions in the natural sciences. The
scientific method uses systematic observation and measurement
to confirm or disconfirm hypotheses which most often are
derived from an underlying theory. When hypotheses are
confirmed, they lend support to the theory. When they are
consistently not confirmed, researchers must reformulate the
theory and come up with other explanations which account for
their findings. Scientists most often share their findings by
presenting their results at conferences or in peer-reviewed
journals.
Sharing results with the research world is an important part of
the scientific method because science is iterative. This means
that researchers build upon the work of others to advance the
field.
Natural scientists often rely on experimentation to confirm or
reject hypotheses. Experimentation is a research method in
which conditions are tightly controlled in order to determine
“cause and effect.”
In understanding human behavior, social scientists arguably
have a greater challenge. Because we cannot exert complete
control over most human behavior, it is often not possible to
conduct true experiments. This makes it difficult to determine
“cause and effect.” For example, if we are interested in knowing
why poor people have poorer health outcomes – a problem that
has significant implications for service providers, policy
makers, and poor people themselves- we would need to take into
account all of the factors (or variables) besides poverty that
might explain any disparities between groups. In addition,

11. because we cannot control for every facet of human behavior,
we cannot easily make conclusions that one variable causes
another. Instead, social scientists often make “best guesses” or
predictions based on associations (or correlations) found in
research data.
The scientific method has a series of prescribed steps.
Step 1: Formulate a research question
· What are you interested in knowing?
Step 2:Conduct a literature review
· What does the existing body of research tell you?
· What do we know already and where are the gaps in our
knowledge?
Step 3: State your hypothesis
· What do you predict you will find based on prevailing theory
and existing research?
· Make sure your variables are measurable.
Step 4: Conduct your research
· Consider your sample (who are your participants?)
· Consider your methods and materials (how will you measure
your variables?)
Step 5: Analyze your results
· Consider the best way to analyze your results (which
statistical method is best?)

12. · Draw conclusions about your results – is your hypothesis
confirmed or rejected?
· What do your results mean and why are they important?
Step 6: Report your results
· Researchers share their results for the benefit of the entire
scientific community by publishing their results in peer-
reviewed scholarly journals or by presenting their results at a
conference with other research scientists.
· Reporting results allows other researchers to benefit from the
work you have done and allows the field of scientific inquiry to
progress by building on previous work rather than repeating
what has already been done.
TERMS
Natural sciences explore the rules and principles that govern the
natural world. The natural sciences include physics, chemistry,
biology as well astronomy and the earth sciences (geology,
oceanography).
A hypothesis is a testable expectation that follows from a more
general proposition or theory.1
A theory is a set of principles and postulates that explain
natural or social phenomena.
A variable is any phenomenon of interest that is expected to
predictably change in the presence of another variable. In
scientific research, an independent variable is one that is
expected to cause a change in another variable, called the
dependent variable.
A correlation is a statistical method that demonstrates the
relationship between two variables. In a positive correlation, an
increase in one variable is associated with an increase in the
other variable. In a negative correlation, an increase in one
variable is associated with a decrease in the other variable. The
correlation coefficient is a measure of the strength of the

13. relationship and ranges from -1 to +1. The closer the coefficient
is to +1, the stronger the association. A correlation coefficient
of 0 means that there is no relationship between the variables.
REFERENCES
Babbie, E. (2011). The basics of social research (5th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Geertz, C. (1973). Notes on the Balinese cockfight.
TheInterpretation of Cultures. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Retrieved from:
http://webhome.idirect.com/~boweevil/BaliCockGeertz.html
Henslin, J.M. (2012). The sociological perspective. Sociology:
A Down-to-Earth Approach Core Conetps, Census Update (4th
ed). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Kosslin, S.M. & Rosenberg R.S. (2007). Fundamentals of
psychology in context (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
Education.
Morgan, L.A., & Kunkel, S.R. (2011). Aging, society, and the
life course (4th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
Nissani, M. (1997). Ten cheers for interdisciplinarity: The case
for interdisciplinary knowledge and research. Social Science
Journal, 34 (2): 201-216. Retrieved from:
http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/PAGEPUB/10CHEERS.HTM
Saxe, J.G. (1963). The blind men and the elephant: John
Godfrey Saxe's version of the famous Indian legend. New York,
NY:Whittlesey House.
Scupin, R. & DeCorse, C.R. (2012). Introduction to
anthropology. Anthropology: A Global Perspective (7th ed).
Boston, MA: Pearson Education.