Suchergebnisse

Singer, Milton (U of Chicago, I11), THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IN NON-WESTERN STUDIES, A. Amer. Acad. Polit. Soc. Sci., 1964, 356, Nov, 30-44. The involvement of the soc sci's in non-Western studies has been growing despite instit'al & intellectual conflicts between area & disciplinary studies. The process of instit'al adaptation is illustrated by the postwar development of nonWestern studies. The intellectual conflict springs from the fact that the definitions & classifications of major world areas do not correspond to the definitions & classifications in any soc sci discipline. The several disciplines have a diff'1 proneness to area studies, & the problem of integrating them for study of a particular area has no simple, uniform solution. Evidence is presented to show how the study of non-Western societies & civilizations is generating new & fertile hybrid disciplines in anthrop & is giving a comparitive & internat'al dimension to the other soc sci's. AA.

We seek to provide an overview of the relationship between the English-language study of Taiwan & the social science disciplines, focusing primarily on political science, yet touching also on sociology, developmental studies, & economics. We identify three main periods in the evolution of Taiwan studies: (1) that from the end of WWII to the late 1970s saw the marginalization of Taiwan studies vis-a-vis China studies; (2) that of the early 1980s to the late 1990s, when, due to Taiwan's rising economic strength & democratic transition, Taiwan studies began to rise to fame, to become well-integrated with the social sciences: & (3) that since 2000, with Taiwan studies now facing both challenges & opportunities as it tries to remain integrated with the social sciences. We close with a comparison of the different research environments in both the US & Taiwan, discuss their respective roles in influencing the overall development of Taiwan studies, & suggest ways in which the social science research conducted in these two major venues for Taiwan research can be integrated more closely. 125 References. Adapted from the source document.

Policy studies or policy analysis can be broadly defined as the study of the nature, causes, & effects of alternative public policies. All fields of scientific knowledge, but especially the social sciences, are relevant to such a study. Sociology, for example, has developed a substantial amount of factual knowledge & theory in broad fields, eg, social control, socialization, & social change, that can be helpful in understanding the effects of alternative policies & the behavior of policymakers & appliers. Economics has developed sophisticated mathematical models for synthesizing normative & empirical premises in order to deduce means-ends policy recommendations. Psychology has developed techniques of statistical inference, cross-tabulation, survey research, & multivariate analysis. Anthropology, geography, & history provide a broader perspective over space & time than the other social sciences do. Philosophy provides direction to policy studies. Mathematics offer quantitative & computer science tools, while the physical & biological sciences provide models to emulate in the development of mathematically scientific laws. Political science is turning more toward the analysis of specific policy problem areas. More interdisciplinary research teams & more interaction among policy-oriented people from different disciplines may be needed. Modified AA