When someone says “science” what are the first disciplines that come to mind? Biology? Chemistry? Physics?
People often assume that social sciences such as sociology, communication studies, and education are not “sciences.” Physical and biological sciences go relatively unquestioned, while sociology and other social sciences are often viewed as “biased.” Take a few minutes to explore this interactive graph created by Benjamin Schmidt Gendered Language in Teaching Evaluations (Links to an external site.)
http://benschmidt.org/profGender/#%7B%22database%22%3A%22RMP%22%2C%22plotType%22%3A%22pointchart%22%2C%22method%22%3A%22return_json%22%2C%22search_limits%22%3A%7B%22word%22%3A%5B%22funny%22%5D%2C%22department__id%22%3A%7B%22%24lte%22%3A25%7D%7D%2C%22aesthetic%22%3A%7B%22x%22%3A%22WordsPerMillion%22%2C%22y%22%3A%22department%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22gender%22%7D%2C%22counttype%22%3A%5B%22WordCount%22%2C%22TotalWords%22%5D%2C%22groups%22%3A%5B%22unigram%22%5D%2C%22testGroup%22%3A%22D%22%7D
Then type in the keyword “bias” into the interactive tool to view which disciplines were perceived as biased on RateMyProfessor, and whether students viewed men or woman professors as biased.
What results did you find for the word “biased”? Please explain the results. Why do you think social sciences are viewed as biased? Also, please explain based on your chapter 2 readings, why sociology is a science.
150 word minimum
Readings from chapter 2
https://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@7.28:3jKfjHaQ@8/Introduction-to-Sociological-R
https://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@7.28:uu5Nth4o@7/Approaches-to-Sociological-Res
https://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@7.28:5y6RWnGd@12/Research-Methods
https://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@7.28:bZIscmHP/Ethical-Concerns
