Social Scientists Reading Answers

Mar 8, 2024

Social Scientists Reading Answers is an academic reading topic. Social Scientists Reading Answers have a total of 5 IELTS questions in total. The specified topic generates 2 question type: Select the Correct heading and No more than two words. Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS Reading practice papers, which feature topics such as Social Scientists Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Social Scientists

In the social sciences, it is often supposed that there can be no such thing as a controlled experiment. Think again.

In the scientific pecking order, social scientists are usually looked down on by their peers in the natural sciences. Natural scientists do experiments to test their theories or, if they cannot, they try to look for natural phenomena that can act in lieu of experiments. Social scientists, it is widely thought, do not subject their own hypotheses to any such rigorous treatment. Worse, they peddle their untested hypotheses to governments and try to get them turned into policies.

Governments require sellers of new medicines to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness. The accepted gold standard of evidence is a randomized control trial, in which a new drug is compared with the best existing therapy (or with a placebo, if no treatment is available). Patients are assigned to one arm or the other of such a study at random, ensuring that the only difference between the two groups is the new treatment. The best studies also ensure that neither patient nor physician knows which patient is allocated to which therapy. Drug trials must also include enough patients to make it unlikely that chance alone may determine the result.
But few education programmes or social initiatives are evaluated in carefully conducted studies prior to their introduction. A case in point is the 'whole-language' approach to reading, which swept much of the English-speaking world in the 1970s and 1980s. The whole-language theory holds that children learn to read best by absorbing contextual clues from texts, not by breaking individual words into their component parts and reassembling them (a method known as phonics). Unfortunately, the educational theorists who pushed the whole-language notion so successfully did not wait for evidence from controlled randomised trials before advancing their claims. Had they done so, they might have concluded, as did an analysis of 52 randomised studies carried out by the US National Reading Panel in 2000, that effective reading instruction requires phonics.
To avoid the widespread adoption of misguided ideas, the sensible thing is to experiment first and make policy later. This is the idea behind a trial of restorative justice which is taking place in the English courts. The experiment will include criminals who plead guilty to robbery. Those who agree to participate will be assigned randomly either to sentencing as normal or to participation in a conference in which the offender comes face-to-face with his victim and discusses how he may make emotional and material restitution. The purpose of the trial is to assess whether such restorative justice limits re-offending. If it does, it might be adopted more widely.

The idea of experimental evidence is not quite as new to the social sciences as sneering natural scientists might believe. In fact, randomised trials and systematic reviews of evidence were introduced into the social sciences long before they became common in medicine. An apparent example of random allocation is a study carried out in 1927 of how to persuade people to vote in elections. And randomised trials in social work were begun in the 1930s and 1940s. But enthusiasm later waned. This loss of interest can be attributed, at least in part, to the fact that early experiments produced little evidence of positive outcomes. Others suggest that much of the opposition to experimental evaluation stems from a common philosophical malaise among social scientists, who doubt the validity of the natural sciences and therefore reject the potential of knowledge derived from controlled experiments. A more pragmatic factor limiting the growth of evidence-based education and social services may be limitations on the funds available for research.

Nevertheless, some 11,000 experimental studies are known in the social sciences {compared with over 250,000 in the medical literature). Randomised trials have been used to evaluate the effectiveness of driver-education programmes, job¬training schemes, classroom size, psychological counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder and increased investment in public housing. And where they are carried out, they seem to have a healthy dampening effect on otherwise rosy interpretations of the observations.

The problem for policymakers is often not too few data, but what to make of multiple and conflicting studies. This is where a body called the Campbell Collaboration comes into its own. This independent non-profit organization is designed to evaluate existing studies, in a process known as a systematic review. This means attempting to identify every relevant trial of a given question (including studies that have never been published), choosing the best ones using clearly defined criteria for quality, and combining the results in a statistically valid way. An equivalent body, the Cochrane Collaboration, has produced more than 1,004 such reviews in medical fields. The hope is that rigorous review standards will allow Campbell, like Cochrane, to become a trusted and authoritative source of information.

Section 2

Questions 27-32

You should spend about 20 minutes on questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3.
Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs A-G.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-x in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

Why some early social science methods lost popularity
The cost implications of research
Looking ahead to an unbiased assessment of research
A range of social issues that have been usefully studied
An example of a poor decision that was made too quickly
What happens when the figures are wrong
One area of research that is rigorously carried out
The changing nature of medical trials
An investigative study that may lead to a new system
Why some scientists' theories are considered second-rate

Paragraph B

Answer: vii
Supporting statement: “...... Governments require sellers of new medicines to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness. ..........”
Keywords: demonstrate, safety
Keyword Location: para B, line 1
Explanation: It is given that the government requires the seller of new medicines to show the effectiveness and safety. Hence the research is carried out in good amount.

Paragraph C

Answer: v
Supporting statement: “.......Unfortunately, the educational theorists who pushed the whole-language notion so successfully did not wait for evidence from controlled randomized trials before advancing their claims.........”
Keywords: randomized, advancing
Keyword Location: para C,line 6
Explanation: It is given that the theorists who claimed that new whole language notion did not wait for evidence. Hence the outcome was very poor for the society.

Paragraph D

Answer: ix
Supporting statement: “.......To avoid the widespread adoption of misguided ideas, the sensible thing is to experiment first and make policy later..........”
Keywords: sensible, experiment
Keyword Location: para D, line 1
Explanation: To stop the spread of false claims a new system was about to be developed. Hence the idea of experiment first and policy in the later part was established.

Paragraph E

Answer: i
Supporting statement: “......In fact, randomized trials and systematic reviews of evidence were introduced into the social sciences long before they became common in medicine...........”
Keywords: evidence, medicine
Keyword Location: para E, line 2
Explanation: It is given that the randomized trials and systematic review of evidence said that the spread of wrong information was more into the social science methods. Hence they lost their popularity.

Paragraph F

Answer: iv
Supporting statement: “.........Randomised trials have been used to evaluate the effectiveness of driver-education programmes, job¬training schemes, classroom size, psychological counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder .......”
Keywords: effectiveness, schemes
Keyword Location: para F, line 3
Explanation: It is given that a lot of social issues such as job training schemes, classroom size, psychological counseling, etc were studied by experts.

Paragraph G

Answer: iii
Supporting statement: “........This independent non-profit organization is designed to evaluate existing studies, in a process known as a systematic review. This means attempting to identify every relevant trial of a given question........”
Keywords: evaluate, identify
Keyword Location: para G, line 3
Explanation: It is given that a NGO was designed to evaluate existing studies. It was done in a systematic manner. Hence iii is the correct choice for the title.

Questions 33-36

Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

Some criminals in England are agreeing to take part in a trial designed to help reduce their chances of 33....................... . The idea is that while one group of randomly selected criminals undergoes the usual 34....................... the other group will discuss the possibility of making some repayment for the crime by meeting the 35 ........................ It is yet to be seen whether this system, known as 36 ....................... will work.

Answer: re-offending
Supporting statement: “.......The purpose of the trial is to assess whether such restorative justice limits re-offending. If it does, it might be adopted more widely..........”
Keywords: restorative, justice
Keyword Location: para D, line 7
Explanation: It is given that the purpose of the trial was only to assess the re offending limits. Hence the correct word for the answer will be reoffending.

Answer: sentencing
Supporting statement: “........Those who agree to participate will be assigned randomly either to sentencing as normal or to participation in a conference in which the offender comes ........”
Keywords: sentencing, conference
Keyword Location: para D, line 4
Explanation: It is given that the people will be assigned randomly between sentencing as a normal person or participate in a conference with the offender.

Answer: victim
Supporting statement: “........normal or to participation in a conference in which the offender comes face-to-face with his victim and discusses how he may make emotional and material........”
Keywords: participation, material
Keyword Location: para D, line 5
Explanation: It is given that in the second option when the person is sitting in the conference in front of the victim then it becomes emotional.

Answer: restorative justice
Supporting statement: “.......The purpose of the trial is to assess whether such restorative justice limits re-offending. If it does, it might be adopted more widely..........”
Keywords: restorative, adopted
Keyword Location: para D, line 7
Explanation: It is given that the purpose of the trial is to implement a restorative justice method. It is a far better way than the old methods.

Questions 37-40

Classify the following characteristics as relating to

Social Science

Medical Science

Both Social Science and Medical Science

Neither Social Science nor Medical Science

Write the correct letter A, B, C or D in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

a tendency for negative results in early trials

Answer: A
Supporting statement: “.........In fact, randomized trials and systematic reviews of evidence were introduced into the social sciences long before they became common in medicine.......”
Keywords: evidence, sciences
Keyword Location: para E, line 3
Explanation: It is given in the case of social science it is more common to get wrong results in the first place. But after a systematic review the actual results can be known.

the desire to submit results for independent assessment

Answer: C
Supporting statement: “........In fact, randomised trials and systematic reviews of evidence were introduced into the social sciences long before they became common in medicine. ........”
Keywords: evidence, medicine
Keyword Location: para E, line 2
Explanation: It is given that both social science and medical science research have a desire for getting independent assessment.

the prioritization of research areas to meet government needs

Answer: D
Explanation: There is nowhere given in the passage where the prioritization of research areas are there to meet the government needs.

the widespread use of studies that investigate the quality of new products

Answer: B
Supporting statement: “......choosing the best ones using clearly defined criteria for quality, and combining the results in a statistically valid way..........”
Keywords: quality, results
Keyword Location: para G, line 6
Explanation: It is given that the widespread studies are used to check the quality of new products in medical science.

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