Characterization of social sciences. The social sciences have their own methodological problems that do not appear in the natural sciences. Within the natural sciences there is little discussion, what constitutes a natural science and what does not. However, in the social sciences there has historically been more discussion, what is genuinely a social science and what is not. In fact, some studies or social disciplines, although they involve reasoning and rational discussion, do not properly consider social sciences. Social science versus social studies. To be concrete, a science is broadly defined by the scientific methodology it uses, which are two: the inductive and the deductive. The mixed inductive method is the methodology used by the social and natural sciences, and the pure deductive method is typical of mathematics. In relation to this criterion, only philosophy and theology are part of the list of humanities. On the contrary, a study can be based on reasoning and observations even if it does not strictly conform to the scientific method, and even then it can be of interest. Many of the social scientific disciplines have had epistemological discussions about what a science is. In its beginnings, physics and other experimental natural sciences were taken as a model of a science. However, over time the particularity of the object of study has been identified, which is society, which does not fit within the methods and assumptions studied by the natural sciences. [Citation needed] In particular, social systems generally do not allow the performance of certain experiments under controlled laboratory conditions and in other cases the predicted effects are of a qualitative nature, and it is difficult to establish quantitative limits for such predictions. Between science and philosophy. The social sciences seek, from its beginnings, to reach a truly scientific stage, achieving some independence from the prevailing method in philosophy. In this coexist opposite positions with respect to some aspect of reality, while in the exact sciences, this is not possible. Hence, the humanist branches of science should try to imitate, at least in this respect, the exact sciences. William James expressed, at the end of the 19th century: "A series of mere facts, small dialogues and altercations about opinions; sparse classifications and generalizations in a merely descriptive plane ... .but not a single law such as that provided by physics; not a single proposition from which any consequence can be casually deduced ... This is not science, it is only a science project ». Remember that all science must establish objective descriptions based on observable, and therefore verifiable, aspects of reality. The laws that will constitute it will consist of causal links between the intervening variables in the description. In addition, knowledge must be organized in an axiomatic way, similar to the ethics established by Baruch de Spinoza. Such type of organization does not guarantee the veracity of a description, but it will be a necessary requirement for the social sciences to acquire the scientific character that is so sought after. Mario Bunge wrote: «Scientific researchers are expected to be guided by the scientific method, which is reduced to the following succession of steps: prior knowledge, problem, candidate for solution (hypothesis, experimental or technical design), test, evaluation of the candidate, final review of one or the other candidate for the solution, examining the procedure, prior knowledge and even the problem ». "The verification of propositions consists in testing them to check their coherence and their truth, which often turns out to be only approximate. That test can be conceptual, empirical or both. No element, except conventions and mathematical formulas, is considered exempt from empirical evidence. Nor is there any science without these, or none in which the search and use of guidelines are absent ". "As I estimate, the aforementioned summary description is valid for all sciences, regardless of differences in objects, special techniques or degrees of progress. It fits the social sciences such as sociology, as well as biosocial sciences such as psychology or anthropology, and natural sciences such as biology. If a discipline does not use the scientific method or if it does not seek or use regularities, it is proto-scientific, not scientific or pseudoscientific. " Interdisciplinarity At present, there are critics to the increasing specialization and little intercommunication between the social sciences. This would undermine a global analysis of society (see Wallerstein 1996).
