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The social sciences are less likely than other intellectual enterprises to get credit for their accomplishments. Arguably, this is so because the theories and conceptual constructs of the social sciences are especially accessible: human intelligence apprehends truths about human affairs with particular facility. And the discoveries of the social sciences, once isolated and labeled, are quickly absorbed into conventional wisdom, whereupon they lose their distinctiveness as scientific advances.
This underappreciation of the social sciences contrasts oddly with what many see as their overutilization. Game theory is pressed into service in studies of shifting international alliances. Evaluation research is called upon to demonstrate successes or failures of social programs.Models from economics and demography become the definitive tools for examining the financial base of social security. Yet this rush into practical applications is itself quite understandable: public policy must continually be made, and policymakers rightly feel that even tentative findings and untested theories are better guides to decision-making than no findings and no theories at all.
The author is primarily concerned with
A.advocating a more modest view, and less widespread utilization, of the social sciences
B.analyzing the mechanisms for translating discoveries into applications in the social sciences
C.dissolving the air of paradox inherent in human beings studying themselves
D.explaining a peculiar dilemma that the social sciences are in
E.maintaining a strict separation between pure and applied social science
Which of the following is a social science discipline that the author mentions as being possibly overutilized?
A.Conventional theories of social change
B.Game theory
C.Decision-making theory
D.Economic theories of international alliances
E.Systems analysis
It can be inferred from the passage that, when speaking of the "overutilization" (line 17) of the social sciences, the author is referring to the
A.premature practical application of social science advances
B.habitual reliance on the social sciences even where common sense would serve equally well
C.practice of bringing a greater variety of social science disciplines to bear on a problem than the nature of the problem warrants
D.use of social science constructs by people who do not fully understand them
E.tendency on the part of social scientists to recast everyday truths in social science jargon
The author confronts the claim that the social sciences are being overutilized with
A.proof that overextensions of social science results are self-correcting
B.evidence that some public policy is made without any recourse to social science findings or theories
C.a long list of social science applications that are perfectly appropriate and extremely fruitful
D.the argument that overutilization is by and large the exception rather than the rule
E.the observation that this practice represents the lesser of two evils under existing circumstances
