Philosophy of Social Science - 3 ECTS

What makes good social science? What are its methods, values, or goals – if any? This question is notoriously difficult, and even the presupposition of a distinction between “good” and “bad” science can be contested. Yet, we cannot avoid the question entirely, as vast swathes of public policy and corporate R&D take their lead from the theories and evidence provided by social science research.

The goal of this training aims to give participants the conceptual tools to reflect about what makes good social science, especially regarding their own work. Through a mixture of lectures and guided exercises, participants are introduced to core ideas and frameworks in the philosophy of science regarding the methodology, goals, and values of science.

As social science comprises a wide variety of fields and subfields, the exact content of the course will vary according to the background of the participants. Through dialogue with the lecturers, participants are guided towards developing a personal vision of what makes good social science.  

General information:

Dates:	13, 20 and 27 November, 2026
Contact person content:	Ludger van Dijk
Contact person logistics	Marcella Haan
Credits:	3 ECTS
Venue:	Wageningen Campus

Target group and min/max number of participants

WASS-PhD’s, 10/20 participants

Assumed prior knowledge

non

Learning Outcomes

• Participants learn about some of the major views in the philosophy of science regarding methodology, explanation, and the goals of science, and understand how these apply to social science.
• Participants learn to deliberate about what constitutes good social science.
• Participants can identify habits, incentives, and values that are highlighted in their research environment and hold these against ideals of good science.
• Participants formulate a vision on what good social science means.

Preparation

1. For session 1: draft 1/2 page on your vision on what "good" social science means.
2. For session 2: do 3 core readings, and add these to your vision on good social science.
3. For session 3:
   • Identify on example of good and one example of bad research in your field
   • Redraft your vision on good social science into 3-5 pages.

Programme

Session 1	13 November	12.00-15.00h
Session 2	20 November	12.00-15.00h
Session 3	27 November	12.00-15.00h

Structure

The course is organized into three sessions, with the first two having a more theoretical emphasis and the third a strongly practical emphasis, where participants’ philosophical views are developed.

Session 1 (methodology):

• What difference is there, if any, between “real” and “pseudo” science? What makes social science “scientific”? Who and/or what decides this difference?
• What is the relation between theory and observation? What types of inference are there, what is the logic of hypothesis testing, including related to causal hypotheses?
• What is at stake when social scientists argue over the relative merits of quantitative and qualitative methods?
• What are the goals of social science? What does “progress” in social science mean? Or is “progress” not applicable to some domains of social science?

Session 2 (values):

• What types of value influence scientific work?
• How do values differently influence the various phases of scientific research (proposal writing, topic selection, data collection, analysis, inference, communication)?
• Should political, moral or social values influence research in social science?
• What does it mean to design an “evidence-based policy” or to “trust (social) science”?

Session 3:

• Peer feedback and group discussion of the selected examples of good and bad social science, as well as of the personal visions of good social science.

Course fee 

WGS PhD candidates with TSP	€ 215
a) All other PhD candidates b) Postdocs and staff of the above mentioned Graduate Schools	€ 470
All others	€ 645

Cancellation conditions

The participants can cancel their registration free of charge 1 month before the course starts. A cancellation fee of 100% applies if a participant cancels his/her registration less than 1 month prior to the start of the course.

The organisers have the right to cancel the course no later than one month before the planned course start date in the case that the number of registrations does not reach the minimum.

The participants will be notified of any changes at their e-mail addresses.