Academic Disciplines

UCOLL 300 - Unit III - Academic Focus

There are many academic disciplines - all of which fit into one of the three academic branches.  Disciplines that share the same academic branch approach research in similar ways, and share many of the same assumptions.  For example, we learned that the branch of Science considers the building of knowledge an incremental process.  That holds true whether you are looking at material within biology, computer science, physics, or oceanography.

The Social Sciences, a second branch of academics, value a positivistic (scientific) approach to building knowledge, but they also employ more qualitative research methods such as field studies, surveys, interviews, and case studies.

The Humanities are least interested in a positivistic approach to building information.  Perception, imagination, language, music, and literature are all essential components of research in the humanities.  You will often find humanities research focusing on national traits, themes, genres, or time period.