Identifying the cogitative skills and developing it most important for the social scientific thinking. I clearly take a position that every discussion should engage with the contest over knowledge and thus forming a valid point in discussion.

1. Nithin K
Research Scholar
School of Social Sciences
How to generate a topic of discussion in the midst of social
scientific thinking

2. Social Science realm
Human Society

3. Social Scientific Thinking
“ A ladder to understand problems of society (world reality)”

4. Ultimate aim of research
Knowledge
Experience
New Knowledge
Debate / Discussion / Questioning

5. Rational thinking were not allowed in
early period

6. •Rational Thinking
•Critical Thinking

7. 7
Unscientific Methods of Problem Solving
• Tenacity
• Intuition
• Authority
• The rationalistic
method
• The empirical method
“Why some people remain in poverty?

8. 8
Scientific Method of Problem Solving
• Step 1: develop the problem (define and
delimit it)
– identify independent and dependent variables
• Step 2: formulate the hypotheses
– the anticipated outcome
• Step 3: gather data
– maximize internal and external validity
• Step 4(5): analyze and interpret results

9. Discussion enables ideas

10. Enabling Factors
• Curiosity
• Skepticism
• Objectivity

11. “The more you ask the more you get”

12. Phases of scientific investigation
• Inquiry
• Analysis
• Inference
• Argument

13. Critical Thinking cycle
Reasoning
Evaluating
Problem
Solving
Decision
Making
Analyzing

14. A framework for understanding the
steps of scientific inquiry
• Initial question, problem, idea, or issue
• Specific purpose, question, or
prooblamatisation
• Data collection – what data are collected?
From whom?
• Analysis of data
• Discussion and interpretation
• Conclusion – answers to research questions,
limitations, and generalizability

15. Reference
• Gorton, W. A. (n.d.). The Philosophy of Social Science.
Internet Encylopedia of Social Science. Retrieved March
26, 2014, from http://www.iep.utm.edu/soc-sci/
• Hoover, K. R. (1976). The elements of social scientific
thinking. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Klahr, D. (2000). Exploring science the cognition and
development of discovery processes. Cambridge, Mass.:
MIT Press.
• Kuhn, D. (2003). What is Scientific Thinking and How
Does it Develop. Blackwell handbook of childhood
cognitive development (pp. 126-145). Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishers.

16. • Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The structure of scientific
revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
• Kuper, A. (2004). The social science encyclopedia
(3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
• Mill, J. S. (1961). Auguste Comte and positivism.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
• Morgan, D. L. (2007). Paradigms Lost And
Pragmatism Regained: Methodological
Implications Of Combining Qualitative And
Quantitative Methods. Journal of Mixed Methods
Research, 1(1), 48-76.