Sources of Knowledge in Social Science

This article discusses the various sources of knowledge in social science and examines why some methods are valued while others are not. It covers logical reasoning, authoritative knowledge, scientific inquiry, and the limitations of trial and error, sensorial perception, and intuition. The importance of credible and universally applicable knowledge is emphasized.

Sources of Knowledge in Social Science 1
Sources of Knowledge in Social Science
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Sources of Knowledge Valued in Social Science
Human beings require nutritious and healthy diets for optimal health status. In the
same way, our minds are nourished by knowledge. There lacks a universal definition of
knowledge. The most common definition of knowledge was developed by Plato. He defined
knowledge as true beliefs that is justified. There are several sources of knowledge that are
valued in the social sciences. One of these is logical reasoning. Logical reasoning is a
knowledge acquisition method that employs both inductive and deductive reasoning. In
logical reasoning, it is important for an individual to form true premises so that they can
come up with a valid conclusion. The other important source of knowledge is authority.
Authoritative knowledge refers to information that has been verified by a relevant authority.
Let us take an example. If a person wanted to know the rate of dropouts in a certain school, it
would be imperative to have a look at the school records. Such information is authoritative.
Scientific inquiry is another method of acquiring knowledge that is valued in social science.
In fact, this is the most valued. According to Kaplan (2017), scientific inquiry involves using
the scientific method to test a hypothesis, collect data and arrive at conclusions. Official
websites are also valued as sources of knowledge in social science (Thompson 2017)
Sources of Information not Valued in Social Science
One of the sources of knowledge that is not valued in social science is trial and error.
This method was established by Thorndike, a famous psychologist. It involves a series of
actions that involve trying and making errors. Sensorial perception is another knowledge
acquisition method that is not valued in the social sciences. This approach uses the five
senses to acquire information. This means that a person may acquire information through
seeing, listening, tasting, feeling, etc. Another source of knowledge that is not valued in the
social sciences is intuition. This is a method that uses insight as a way of acquiring

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knowledge. Most methods that are not scientific in nature are not valued in social sciences
(Card 2015).
Why some Methods are Valued and Others are not
Logical reasoning is valued because it uses verified premises to arrive at a credible
conclusion. Since the conclusion is credible, it can be universally applied. This method does
not allow for bias or subjectivity. It, therefore, leads to knowledge that can be verified and
reproduced by different people. Authoritative information is provided by official
organizations or entities. For instance, the ministry of housing and planning would provide
important data on demographics and population. Scientific inquiry is the most widely
accepted way of acquiring knowledge (Baronov 2015). It arrives at conclusions that are tested
and verified using a standard procedure. Official websites contain credible and verified
information
Trial and error is not an effective way of gaining knowledge since it may be time-
consuming. In addition, it may not lead to credible conclusions. Sensorial perception is prone
to subjectivity and bias (Martin 2018). Use of intuition is not effective because the
knowledge acquired may not be universally applicable. In a nutshell, most of the methods
that are not valued lack universality.

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References
Baronov, D., 2015. Conceptual foundations of social research methods. 2nd ed. New York:
Routledge.
Card, N. A. (2015). Applied meta-analysis for social science research. 2nd ed. Boston:
Guilford Publications.
Kaplan, A., 2017. The conduct of inquiry: Methodology for behavioral science. 3rd ed. New
York: Routledge.
Martin, M., 2018. Verstehen: The uses of understanding in the social sciences. 2nd ed. New
York: Routledge.
Thompson, J. D. (2017). Organizations in action: Social science bases of administrative
theory. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.