Empirical-Critical Approaches in the Social Sciences

Marxism

Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that analyzes class relations and societal conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development and a dialectical view of social transformation. It originates from the mid-to-late 19th century works of German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.According to Marxism, economic issues are dominant in any society and it has been responsible for all major changes in history. Capitalism will eventually be replaced by a socialist system and a classless society in which there is no exploitation or private property. The state will then provide work and everything one needs to live. The previously exploited masses or proletariat will take the lead in this new society.

Marx describes the social classes in capitalist societies:

• Proletariat: "the class of modern wage labourers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labour power in order to live". As Andrei Platonov expressed "The working class is my home country and my future is linked with the proletariat." The capitalist mode of production establishes the conditions enabling the bourgeoisie to exploit the proletariat because the workers' labour generates a surplus value greater than the workers' wages.
• Bourgeoisie: those who "own the means of production" and buy labour power from the proletariat, thus exploiting the proletariat; they subdivide as bourgeoisie and the petite bourgeoisie.
• Landlords: a historically important social class whose members retain some wealth and power.
• Peasantry and farmers: a scattered class incapable of organizing and effecting socio-economic change, most of whom would enter the proletariat while some became landlords.

Communism

The ideology, based on Marxism, in which communal ownership of means of production is promoted.In a communist society, there must be no private ownership and no class structure. Each member of the community must work according to his or her abilities for the good of the whole community and they should be rewarded according to their needs. Communism must be brought about by revolution and violence, and is associated with a totalitarian Communist Party who takes total control of economic, social and political aspects.

"Karl Marx"

Feminist Theory

Feminist theory is a major branch of theory within sociology that is distinctive for how its creators shift their analytic lens, assumptions, and topical focus away from the male viewpoint and experience. In doing so, feminist theory shines light on social problems, trends, and issues that are otherwise overlooked or misidentified by the historically dominant male perspective within social theory. Key areas of focus within feminist theory include discrimination and exclusion on the basis of sex and gender, objectification, structural and economic inequality, power and oppression, and gender roles and stereotypes, among others.

Feminist theory focuses on analyzing gender inequality. 

Themes explored in feminism include: 

• Discrimination
• Objectification (especially sexual objectification)
• Oppression
• Patriarchy
• Stereotyping
• Art history
• Contemporary art
• Aesthetics

Historical-Hermeneutic Approaches in the Social Science

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis began with a young physician's search for the treatment of his patients with emotional problems. That young doctor was Sigmund Freud, and his theory was known as psychoanalytic theory. Freud theorized three levels of consciousness (conscious, pre-conscious and the unconscious mind)

• Conscious mind - is merely the tip visible above the surface, whereas the bulk of the important workings of the mind lurks mysteriously beneath the surface. 
• Pre-conscious mind - consist of memories that are not presently conscious but can easily be brought into consciousness. 
• Unconscious mind - stores primitive instinctual motives plus memories and emotions that are so threatening to the conscious mind that they have been unconsciously pushed into the unconscious mind through the process of repression. 

and three components of the personality structure (the id, ego, and the superego). The best known aspect of Freud's theory was his view that the mind is composed of the id, ego and superego. 

• The id is composed primarily of two sets of instincts, the life instincts and death instincts. 
• The ego operates according to the reality principle, this means that it holds the id in check until a safe and realistic way has been found to satisfy its motives. 
• The superego is the ethical component of the personality and provides the moral standards by which the ego operates. The superego's criticisms, prohibitions, and inhibitions form a person's conscience, and its positive aspirations and ideals represent one's idealized self-image, or “ego ideal.”

"Sigmund Freud"

Phenomonology

Phenomenology is the study of subjective experience. It is an approach to psychological subject matter that has its roots in the philosophical work of Edmund Husserl.

Hermeneutic Phenomenology is a particular type of phenomenology among a range of phenomenological methodologies, usually classified into  two camps, namely the descriptive phenomenology and the interpretive phenomenology. 

Descriptive phenomenology was developed by Edmund Husserl and interpretive or hermeneutic phenomenology by Martin Heidegger. Hermeneutic/ interpretive/ existential phenomenology is used to interpret the meaning of lived experiences and communicate the interpretation textually or symbolically. Transcendental/descriptive phenomenology is based on discovering the objective universal essences of lived experiences and communicating them through pure description. 

Descriptive and interpretive methodologies share four common features. 

• Description of phenomena is the aim of phenomenology. 
• Reduction is a process that involves suspending or bracketing the phenomena so that the 'things themselves' can be returned to. 
• Essence is the core meaning of an individuals experience that makes it what it is. 
• Intentionality refers to consciousness since individuals are always conscious to something. 

Between descriptive and hermeneutic phenomenology, hermeneutic phenomenology is more complex. As a methodology, descriptive and hermeneutic phenomenologies also vary significantly. In descriptive phenomenology one has the technique of 'bracketing off' influence around a phenomenon to get to essences. In hermeneutic phenomenology one has approaches that recommend to the researcher to interpret the meanings found in relation to phenomena.  

"Reflexivity "is a person's reflection upon or examination of a situation or experience. Reflexivity describe the process in which their questions, methods, and subject position might impact on the data or the psychological knowledge produced in a study. Reflexivity is often mentioned in hermeneutic phenomenology. The influence of descriptive and hermeneutic phenomenology is visible within the field of qualitative investigate methods. However, Hermeneutic  or interpretive phenomenology is more prominent being listed as one of various qualitative methodologies of the social science. It is also applied to many sorts of qualitative studies in the human science.   

"Edmund Husserl"

Empirical-Analytical Approaches in the Social Sciences (Interdisciplinary)

Human-environment system approach

The HES approach conceptualizes a mutualism between human and environmental systems. The human and the environmental system are conceived as two different systems that exist in essential dependencies and reciprocal endorsement. The term human systems, meaning social systems  ranging from society to individuals, has been used since the time of the ancient Greeks. These systems are supposed to have a memory, language, foresight, consciousness etc. In contrast to the concept of human or social systems, the term environmental systems arose late in the early 19th century, even though Hippocrates had  already dealt with environmental impacts on human health in  early medicine in 420 BC.

In the history of  environmental sciences at large, the  relationship between  human (H) and environmental (E) systems was dealt with  from different perspectives. The HE impact chain was initially examined from the human perspective. In the early 18th century, forest engineers investigated how legal or economic restrictions  affect the texture of forests agricultural,  forest. Resource economics evolved in the early 18th century and focused on the question of how  agricultural and forest yields can  be  sustainably or  most efficiently obtained (Goodwin, 1977). From  the environmental  research perspective, the H  impact chain has quite a different focus, namely how human activities affect the environment or environmental equilibrium and how these impacts can be mitigated.

The HES approach presented below separates human and environmental systems and studies their mutualism. Note that the concept of environment emerged in the early 19th century, a time when the upcoming industrial age unmistakably revealed the interaction and mutual dependency between these two  systems. Mutual dependency, reciprocity, and the H impact chains can be approached from the environmental as well as from the human perspective. The former looks at optimizing environmental quality by integrating human models into ecosystem analysis. The latter investigates the impact of regulatory mechanisms on the state of the environment when taking an anthropogenic perspective.

Six basic principles, which begins from six basic assumptions from the modeling of  HES

1. Conceive human and environmental systems as two different, complementary, interrelated systems with human action and “immediate environmental reaction” being part of both systems. 
2. Consider a hierarchy of human systems with related environmental systems. 
3. Construct a ‘state of the art’ model of the environmental system and its long-term dynamics.
4. Provide a decision theoretic conceptualization of the human system with the components goal formation, strategy formation, strategy selection and action.
5. Characterize and conceptualize different types of environmental awareness in each component of 4. 
6. Distinguish and model primary and secondary feedback loops with respect to human action. 

Empirical-Analytical Approaches in the Social Sciences (Macrolevel)

Structural Functionalism

Structural functionalism is "a framework for building a theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability". Such parts of the whole system may vary in terms of functions but they are all related to each other. lnterdependent as they are, they all have one goal and that is to maintain or keep the whole system, at least in its present form. lt follows therefore that the working of one part would have effects on the other parts.

Structural functionalism was developed by Talcott Parsons in the 1930s under the influence of the works of Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. lt emphasizes social structure, "any relatively stable pattern of social behavior'' and social functions, "the consequences of any social pattern for the operation of society as a whole". Examples of social structure are the family, government, religion;education, and economy. Social structure shapes our lives in various contexts such as the family, the workplace, classroom, and community; and all social structure functions to keep society going, at least in its present form.

Robert Merton (1910-2003) expanded the concept of social function by arguing that any social structure may have many functions. He distinguished between manifest functions, "the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern" and latent functions, the unrecognized and unirrtended consequences of any social pattern." Merton recognized that the effects or outcomes of social structure are not all necessarily good and not necessarily good for everyone. He coined the term "social dysfunction."

"Robert Merton"

A social dysfunction is "any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society"

The structural-functional approach built on the following premises:

1. Within every social structure or system--politics, family, organizations--each member of the system has a specific function.
2. Those functions can be small or substantial, are dynamic in nature (i.e., they can change), and work toward the same purpose: to keep the system operational within its environment.
3. Change is evident within any society or system; however for the system to survive, it must adapt to that change in order to maintain its equilibrium.

To maintain the equilibrium of the system, Parsons identified four imperatives for societies to survive, which he called the AGIL model, the acronym stands for the first letter of each of these four imperatives. These are:

• Adaptation: acquiring and mobilizing sufficient resources so that the system can survive.
• Goal Attainment: setting and implementing goals
• Integration: maintaining solidarity or coordination among the subunits of the system
• Latency: creating, preserving, and transmitting the system's distinctive culture and values.

Institutionalism

The institutional approach can be understood as a subject matter, as a method, and as a theory. As a subject matter, the study of political institutions is central to the identity of the discipline of political science. 

To Quote Rhodes, "If there is any subject matter at all that political scientist can claim exclusively for their own, a subject matter that does not require acquisition of the analytical tools of sister fields and that sustains their claim to autonomous existence, it is, of course, formal-legal political structure". 

Public administration, a sub-discipline within political science, has the study of institutions as its key characteristics. William Robson, describes the dominant approach in public administration as institutional. As a method, the traditional or classic institutional approach is "descriptive, inductive, formal-legal, and historical-comparative". As a theory, the  traditional or classic institutional approach does not only make statements about the causes and consequences of political institutions. 

• Roy Macridis, a comparativist in political science, critiques the approach's subject matter and method while focusing on the study of comparative government. The historical methods and legal analysis of the classic institutional approach are inadequate. 
• David Easton, the most influential critic of the traditional study of politics, found the classic institutional approach wanting on two grounds.

• First, the analysis of law and institutions could not explain policy or power because it did not cover all the relevant variables. Second, 'hyperfactualism', or reverence for the fact, meant that the political scientist suffered from 'theoretical malnutrition', neglecting 'the general framework within which these facts could acquire meaning. 

• Other critics noted that the approach was concerned with the institutions of government, and yet operated with a restricted understanding of its subject matter.

By the 1980s,   the traditional or classic institutional approach has declined in its importance in political science. In contrast to the traditional or classic institutional approach, now referred to as the "old institutionalism", new institutionalism has a much broader, yet sophisticated definition of its subject matter.

Empirical-Analytical Approaches in the Social Sciences (Microlevel)

Rational Choice Theory (RCT)

Rational choice theory (RCT) is a powerful tool in making sense of why people act or behave in the way they do. Nonetheless, it is not a comprehensive theory that can fully account for one's behavior or action. According to Elster 1989 (in Ward2002,65), "(t)he essence of rational choice theory is that 'when faced with several courses of action, people usually do what they believe is likely to have the best overall outcome." lndividuals' actions are based on their preferences, beliefs, and feasible strategies (Ward 2002).

The RCT has become a dominant approach to political science at least in the US. But while it traces its beginnings to the behavioral movement, "rational choice theory draws on the methodology of economics in contrast to behavioralists who drew on sociology or psychology" (Ward 2002, 65). Using similar methods as in standard microeconomics, it is the economists who carried out largely early work in rational choice theory.The most important tool used is the game theory. Central to the game theory is strategic interdependence, a situation where others'choice of strategy affects an individual's best.choice and vice versa (Ward 1995).

Rational choice theorists'explanations of individual actions and the outcomes they lead to are anchored on three pillars, namely:

1. strategies or courses of action open and available to them.
2. their preferences over the end-states to which combinations of actions chosen by the various players lead.
3. their beliefs about important parameters such as others' preferences.

Nonetheless,RCT has been the target of criticisms not only from political science but also from other disciplines in the social sciences. Ward grouped these criticisms into four modes, namely, 

1. the heretics' critique who wish to emphasize bounded rationality; 
2. the sociologists' critique of RCT's tendency to play down social structure and holistic modes of explanations; 
3. the psychologists'critique of RCT's main assumption that individuals often act rationally
4. critique from mainstream political science on the basis of the implausibility of the assumptions made and the predictive failures of the model.

Simon believes that individuals use standard operating procedures as a heuristic device and as a shorthand guide to rational action. For Simon, an action is procedurally rational if it is based on beliefs that are reasonable given the context the actor is in.

"Herbert Simon"

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is a sociological framework that focuses on the different meanings individuals attach to objects, peoples, and interactions as well as the corresponding behaviors that reflect those meanings and/or interpretations. 

George Herbert Mead was an influential figure in the field of symbolic interactionism. Gestures, according to him, are important in communication. Mead's central concept is the self, "the part of an individual's personality composed of self-awareness and self-image".

"George Herbert Mead"

There are three  overarching premises that constitute symbolic interactionism: 

• The first assumes that meaning is an important element of human existence. 
• A second premise asserts that people identify and mold their unique symbolic reference through the process of socialization.  
• The third tenet of symbolic interactionism affirms that there is a cultural dimension that intertwines the symbolic "educational" development. 

Symbolic interaction has both "insider" and "outsider" critics. lnsiders' criticism focus on the method, and the central concepts of symbolic interactionism, particularly the ambiguity of major concepts used particularly the concept of the "self." These criticisms attack the utility of symbolic interactionism in the production of cumulative and generalizable knowledge. Outsiders'critique, on the other hand, highlights the astructural bias in symbolic interactionism. This bias refers to the claim that symbolic interactionism's perspective is a historical, noneconomic, and a limited view of social power and social organization.

Four of the most prominent contemporary varieties of symbolic interactionism include: 

• the Chicago School
• the Iowa school
• the dramaturgical approach'
• ethnomethodology

All these four schools of thought or orientations share the view that human beings construct their realities in a process of social interaction, and agree on the methodological implication of such, that is, the necessity of "getting inside" the reality of the actor in order to understand what is going on.