Physicists retain much of their arrogance, but have at least placed a rigid upper bound on it. The social sciences began this century with much of the nineteenth century's confidence in the application of the scientific method to social problems. Unfortunately, social institutions and arrangements are inherently difficult to study. The results of social science studies can too easily depend upon the biases and preconceptions the social scientist brings. Ben Wattenberg of PBS's Think Tank recently discussed with Seymour Lipset and James Q. Wilson, both former presidents of the American Political Science Association, the temptations potentially trapping social scientists.
Several examples serve to illustrate.
Anthropologist Margaret Mead wanted to believe that sexual taboos were the product of arbitrary social constructs in the West and sexual roles were culturally and not biologically based. Such observations would accord with the conventional wisdom of the elites at the time. Mead's findings in Coming of Age in Samoa confirmed these notions. However, Mead was not sufficiently fluent in the Samoan language and certainly far too credulous of fabulous stories told by young Samoan girls because she wanted to believe them. Consequently, Meade leaped to unfounded conclusions and at best drew a caricature of Samoan society.