1. Human Sciences

2. Looking at human activities using the methods of science Observation Measurement Experiments Laws

3. Observation How do we observe? Problems of observing humans: – Watching - Observer effect People act differently when others watch/record People can act how you label them/copy others Do not know why people act, only what they do – Ask questions/questionnaires When answering questions, people are bad at self-judgement/knowing their motives Questions can be ‘loaded’ (“how well/badly…”) Questionnaire can badly designed (“don’t knows”) Samples can be small (“a majority/60%/6 in 10”)

4. Measurement How do we measure humans? Problems when measuring human emotions/motives/attributes/achievements – Eg How many happy thoughts do you have a day? What is happy? What is a thought? Is there a unit of thought? –Can we observe the effects/behaviour instead of the emotion/motive etc…itself? –Is it true? Are genes true? Are electrons true? – Eg Who won the 100 th Olympics in 1996?

5. Medals RankCountryMedals total 1USA101 2Germany65 3Russia63 4China50 11Canada22

6. Type of Medals CountryGoldSilverBronze Medals total USA443225101 Germany20182765 Russia26211663 China16221250 Canada311822

7. Interpreted results (gold=3, silver=2, bronze=1) CountryGoldSilverBronzePoints USA443225221 Germany201827123 Russia262116136 China162212104 Canada311839

8. Interpreted results CountryGoldSilverBronzePoints USA443225221 Russia262116136 Germany201827123 China162212104 Canada311839

9. Interpreted results (population) RankCountry Points per million 1Tonga20 2Bahamas6.6 3Cuba4.6 25Canada1.3 37USA0.9

10. Measurement How do we measure humans? Problems with ethical considerations –What is the value of a human life? –When do we need a $$$ value? –Are we all equally valuable? Eg Who gets treatment in a pandemic?

11. Measurement Which of these human properties are easy to measure? How would you measure them? Weight Brand loyalty Temperature Social class Inflation Intelligence Sadness Reading ability Progress Age