Can social science justify itself?

Unfathomable writing laced with jargon and an intolerance of non-scholars has created an impression that academics in the arts, humanities and social sciences are outdated and extraneous according to Kate Roach, PhD student at the Institute for Science and Society, in a recent piece for The Guardian.

Kate, who is also the Public Engagement Officer for the Campaign for Social Science, suggests however, that whilst academics may not be the best popular communicators in the world, they are needed now more than ever.

'One of the things that social science does for us is to ask whether the assumptions that we make are really true’ says Kate. To illustrate the point she cites the example of popular beliefs that unhealthy diets stem from the lost culture of family mealtimes or that mosquito nets prevent malaria infection, by asking the question ‘Is it really so?’.

Read the full article on The Guardian website