How does social science handle the problem of “truth”? Sociologists try to approach truth by addressing predictability and causality. Predictability is important to social scientists because if we can...

How does social science handle the problem of “truth”? Sociologists try to approach truth by addressing predictability and causality. Predictability is important to social scientists because if we can understand how variables affect behavior, attitudes, and beliefs, then we can predict how one will act, think, or feel. Predictability is never completely accurate, so sociologists speak in terms of probability. Causality refers to one event being the direct result of another event or variable. In order to have causality, you must have certain conditions. First, variable B has to come after variable A in time. Next, there must be a high correlation between variable A and variable B. Also, one must account for any possible extraneous variables that might be having an effect on variable B. Finally, one must look to see if there is an observer effect contaminating the data.