How Scientific are the Social Sciences?

The social sciences are scientific in the sense that we seek true knowledge of man and his society. Why then does progress in the social sciences seem slow in comparison to the natural sciences? To some extent perhaps there is selective recruitment of the most gifted students away from the social sciences, but more crucial is the fact that the problems we deal with are more difficult to master; the social scientist can never get down to constants (laws of nature) and thus to a generally valid knowledge. Another cause of difficulty is the unavoidable intrusion of the scientist's valuations, which are diversified and not self-evident. Consequently relatively little stands as undisputed truth in our findings. It should be the task of the sociology and social psychology of science to examine the problem of bias in social research. Social scientists and social engineers additionally must take responsibility for inducing necessary changes in the political process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]