Dr. Stephen Baldridge introduces us to the social sciences–broadly: psychology, sociology, economic, and political science–and examines how these disciplines explore the complexity of human experiences.
For this week, keep in mind the following types of questions:
- What are the Social Sciences?
- What counts as evidence in the Social Sciences? Must the evidence always be quantifiable?
- How might insights from research in the social sciences challenge the status quo?
http://vimeo.com/71446625
Join the Conversation
If you have a question for this week’s speaker or would like to share a conclusion of your own, please post it as a comment below. We welcome off-campus voices to the public Cornerstone dialogue as long as they are respectful and contribute meaningfully to these curricular discussions. See the ACU Blogs Terms of Use or About Cornerstone for more information.
Spotlight Resources
The Heart Broken In Half
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Stephen Baldridge is an assistant professor of Social Work and the director of Bachelor of Science in Social Work (BSSW) program.
2 responses to “Exploring the Social Sciences”
The social sciences are a set of analytical tools to help us explore the complexity of human experiences. I believe that social science opens up a door to make us look at the situations in life differently than just seeing it from our perspective alone. We get more of an understanding about what is really going on. True evidence that counts in the social sciences would be for someone to go out of their own little bubble and go beyond quantitative and qualitative research; by using critical ethnography and truly challenging the status quo and actually try to understand. The social sciences truly make us think critically because it challenges us to look at situations more closely and analyze it a lot deeper to truly understand what is going on instead of just seeing it just through our perspective.
The Social Sciences includes different fields of study like Political Science, Economics, Psychology, and Sociology. These are all careers where you can study other individuals and how they interact with others in different situations.
The social sciences use quantitative science, and human behavior can be recorded and used to track progression or regression of a persons life. Humans are about stories, and if each person has a different story, then we need to focus on them to make a change in the lives of people everywhere.
In Stephen Baldridge’s spotlight session, he said that in his profession, he was not supposed to get emotionally involved with the clients that they are given. He had a harder time in doing this with children, because they have a place there in his heart. His emotions got the best of him on valentines day, when Joe starts to cry about loosing his party privileges. I think you do things that you do not expect when others that are less fortunate than you, because of the servant heart we are supposed to have. Other peoples stories shape the way our stories are also, because you may hear things that you never had to think of before. It is almost like a culture shock that challenges us to think of how things would be for us if we were in their positions. The bible say to humble ourselves and to have service and gratitude for one another. If we all did this, i think that God would be very pleased to see that humans can actually fight for one another to actually bring peace.