--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The social sciences, I thought, needed…" description: "\"The social sciences, I thought, needed the same kind of rigor and the same mathematical underpinnings that had made the 'hard' sciences so brilliantly ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/255/herbert-simon-15495_hard_the-social-sciences-i-thought-needed-the_2224089.png" --- # The social sciences, I thought, needed the same kind of… ![“The social sciences, I thought, needed the same kind of rigor and the same mathematical underpinnings that had made the 'hard' sciences so brilliantly successful.” quote by Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/255/herbert-simon-15495_hard_the-social-sciences-i-thought-needed-the_2224089.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/255/herbert-simon-15495_hard_the-social-sciences-i-thought-needed-the_2224089.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/255/herbert-simon-15495_hard_the-social-sciences-i-thought-needed-the_2224089.png) > “The social sciences, I thought, needed the same kind of rigor and the same mathematical underpinnings that had made the 'hard' sciences so brilliantly successful.” [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calls for social sciences to adopt rigorous, mathematical methods akin to natural sciences for credibility. **In simple terms:** Apply scientific rigor to social studies. Key Takeaway Strengthen social research methods. Themes methodology rigor interdisciplinary science Mood analytical critical Type academic methodological When to use this quote - Policy analysis - economic forecasting - education research Key Concepts Quantitative modeling epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What are the limits of quantitative methods in social science? - How can qualitative insights complement rigor? A Different Perspective Complex human behavior may resist simplification. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hard Sciences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-sciences-1898910/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Mathematical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematical/) [Mathematical Underpinnings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematical-underpinnings-4976289/) [Needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needed/) [Rigor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rigor/) [Rigor Mathematical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rigor-mathematical-794029/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Sciences Brilliantly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sciences-brilliantly-4976288/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social sciences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-sciences/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Underpinnings Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underpinnings-hard-4976290/) ## Related quotes > [The circumstances of human society are too complicated to be submitted to the rigor of mathematical calculation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-custine/the-circumstances-of-human-society-are-too-complicated-to-be/) [Marquis de Custine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-custine/) > [ They \[the mathematicians of the Enlightenment\] defined their terms vaguely and used their methods loosely, and the logic of their arguments was made to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-dantzig/they-the-mathematicians-of-the-enlightenment-defined-their-terms/) [Tobias Dantzig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-dantzig/) > [Hard sciences are successful because they deal with the soft problems; soft sciences are struggling because they deal with the hard problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/hard-sciences-are-successful-because-they-deal-with-the-soft-problems/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Social progress is a big thing for me. 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Cleon Skousen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-cleon-skousen/) > [The social sciences, like much of biology but unlike most fields of the physical sciences, have to deal with structures of essential complexity, i.e.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-social-sciences-like-much-of-biology-but-unlike-most-fields-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [“The theories of the social sciences do not consist of “laws” in the sense of empirical rules about the behavior of objects definable in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-a-von-hayek/the-theories-of-the-social-sciences-do-not-consist-of-laws-in-the/) [Friedrich A. von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-a-von-hayek/) > [“As indicated by our example, methodological nominalism is nowadays fairly generally accepted in the natural sciences. The problems of the social sciences, on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/as-indicated-by-our-example-methodological-nominalism-is-nowadays/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [I got my masters in social sciences and education at Stanford, and initially - this is back in 2002 or 2003 when I graduated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mendoza/i-got-my-masters-in-social-sciences-and-education-at-stanford-and/) [Jessica Mendoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mendoza/) ## More by Herbert Simon > [Engineering, medicine, business, architecture and painting are concerned not with the necessary but with the contingent - not with how things are but with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/engineering-medicine-business-architecture-and-painting-are-concerned/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [Technology may create a condition, but the questions are what do we do about ourselves. 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