МИНОБРНАУКИ РОССИИ

ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ БЮДЖЕТНОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ

ВЫСШЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ «ВОРОНЕЖСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»

(ФГБОУ ВПО «ВГУ»)

Учебно-методическое пособие для вузов

MY FUTURE PROFESSION.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Составители:

Верещагина Е.Н.

Пиевская И.М.

Фомина И.В.

Воронеж 2011

Утверждено Научно-методическим Советом факультета РГФ. Протокол

№ 6 от 14.06.2011 г.

Рецензент: канд. филол. наук. Ильичева Н.В.

Учебно-методическое пособие подготовлено на кафедре английского языка гуманитарных факультетов факультета РГФ Воронежского государственного университета.

Рекомендуется для студентов II курса исторического факультета по специальности 030201 «Социология», изучающих английский язык.

ГСЭ.Ф.01

UNIT 1

WARM UP

Make a list of words that may be connected with the topic “Social sciences”. What social sciences do you know?

READING

Read the text.

Social sciences

The social sciences are the fields of academic scholarship which explore aspects of human society. Social sciences may draw upon empirical methods and attempt to emulate the standards of conventional scientific practice. By contrast, other social scientists employ critical analysis or hermeneutic methods to study objects of enquiry they regard as inconsistent with the conventional approach.

Social science is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences. These fields include: anthropology, archaeology, comparative musicology, communication studies, cultural studies, demography, economics, history, human geography, international development, international relations, linguistics, media studies, philology, political science, and, in certain contexts, psychology. Some of these subjects may also be classified as humanities or behavioural sciences.

The term may be used, however, in the specific context of referring to the original sciences of society established in 19th century sociology. Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber are typically cited as the principal architects of modern social science by this definition. Positivist sociologists attempt to emulate the natural sciences as a model for understanding society, and so define "science" in its stricter modern sense. Antipositivists, by contrast, use social critique or symbolic interpretation rather than raw empirical observation, and thus treat "science" in its broader, classical sense. In modern academic practice theorists are often eclectic, using multiple methodologies.

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Answer the following questions:

1. What do the social sciences explore?

2. What methods and techniques are employed for social studies?

3. What fields are covered by the umbrella term ‘social science’?

4. Is Sociology referred to sciences or liberal arts?

5. When was the term sciences of society coined?

6. What did positivist sociologists try to emulate?

7. What is the difference between positivists and antipositivists?

UNIT 2

WARM UP

Answer the question:

Is social science an ancient or a modern science? Explain your point of view.

READING

Read the text.

History of the social science

Part 1.

The history of the social sciences begins in the roots of ancient philosophy. In Ancient history, there was no difference between mathematics and the study of history, poetry or politics. Significant contributions to the social sciences were made by Muslim scientists in the Islamic civilization during the Middle Ages. This unity of science as descriptive remains and deductive reasoning from axioms created a scientific framework.

The Age of Enlightenment saw a revolution within natural philosophy, changing the basic framework by which individuals understood what was "scientific". In some quarters, the accelerating trend of mathematical studies presumed a reality independent of the observer and worked by its own rules. Social sciences came forth from the moral philosophy of the time and was influenced by the Age of Revolutions, such as the Industrial revolution and the French revolution. The social sciences developed from the sciences (experimental and applied), or the systematic knowledge-bases or prescriptive practices, relating to the social improvement of a group of interacting entities.

The beginnings of the social sciences in the 18th century are reflected in various grand encyclopedia of Diderot, with articles from Rousseau and other pioneers. The growth of the social sciences is also reflected in other specialized encyclopedias. In the modern period, the term "social science" first used as a distinct conceptual field. Social science was influenced by positivism, focusing on knowledge based on actual positive sense experience and avoiding the negative; metaphysical speculation was avoided. Auguste Comte used the term "science social" to describe the field, taken from the ideas of Charles Fourier; Comte also referred to the field as social physics.

Following this period, there were five paths of development that sprang forth in the Social Sciences, influenced by Comte or other fields. One route that was taken was the rise of social research. Large statistical surveys were undertaken in various parts of the United States and Europe. Another route undertaken was initiated by Émile Durkheim, studying "social facts", and Vilfredo Pareto, opening metatheoretical ideas and individual theories. A third means developed, arising from the methodological dichotomy present, in which the social phenomena was identified with and understood; this was championed by figures such as Max Weber. The fourth route taken, based in economics, was developed and furthered economic knowledge as a hard science. The last path was the correlation of knowledge and social values; the antipositivism and verstehen sociology of Max Weber firmly demanded on this distinction. In this route, theory (description) and prescription were non-overlapping formal discussions of a subject.

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Complete the sentences:

1. There was no actual difference between mathematics and the study of history, poetry or politics in … .

2. A revolution in natural history changed the basic scientific framework during ….

3. The term ‘science social’ was coined by … .

4. Metatheoretical ideas and individual theories were initiated by … .

5. On the whole, there were … paths of development in the Social Sciences.

6. Large statistical … were carried out in Europe and the US.

7. … was avoided in the concept of Positivism.

8. The … saw a revolution within natural philosophy, which changed the basic … of social knowledge.

9. The encyclopedia of Diderot contains the beginnings of the social sciences dating back to the … century.

10. It was Max Weber who developed ‘… sociology’.

FOLLOW-UP

Discuss in pairs or in groups of three why you have chosen sociology as your future profession.

UNIT 3

WARM UP

Name the experts in social sciences you know. What are they famous for?

READING

Read the text.