For this fourth milestone, you will analyze your issue or event in diversity through the lenses of the natural and applied sciences and the social sciences. Like Milestone Two, this task provides you with an opportunity to dive deeper into your analysis of the issue or event through these two lenses.

Review the module resources.

• Policing Diversity in the Digital Age: Maintaining Order in Virtual Communities
• Size as Diversity Absent from Multicultural Textbooks
• The Sage Handbook of Aging, Work and Society, Chapter 3
• Video: Dreams From Endangered Cultures (21:58)

Diversity is often taught as a social science discipline, because the research that supports this topic is often derived from social scientists and their empirical research methodology. As you review this module’s resources, consider:

• Why is diversity often researched within this lens?
• How does this lens augment your understanding of diversity?

The Natural and Applied Sciences

The natural and applied sciences study the physical world to help us better understand ourselves and

our place in nature, and nature’s role in shaping us. The Natural Sciences include fields such as biology,

chemistry, and physics, while the Applied Sciences includes STEM-related fields such as mathematics

and technology. Together these fields explore the questions and curiosities humans have been asking

for ages, and scientists often develop questions and use a scientific process – the Scientific Method – to

describe, predict, and observe the natural world. This method of developing and researching hypotheses

can also be applied to the other lenses as a way to organize the questions one might ask to gain a

deeper understanding of our world and experiences.

View this brief video for more on the natural sciences: The Scientific Method (4:05). IDS-100: What is

Science? (2:01) IDS-100: Neil deGrasse Tyson Describes Scientific Thinking (2:52)

The Social Sciences

As people are social beings, social science is the study of society and the relationships between people.

Subjects included in this lens are psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, and

geography. This study of human behavior and interaction can sometimes “overlap” with the humanities

lens, which also studies different cultures. Studying society, culture, and human relationships will lead us

to an understanding of how people live and how to improve our lives. Social scientists use a variety of

methods to arrive at conclusions within this lens, such as interviews, participant-observation, and

primary and secondary sources. The social sciences can also intersect with the other lenses. For

instance, like the history lens, social scientists may look at the past to gain an understanding of the social

relationships that took place. How do we interact? How do we work together? Asking questions similar

to these has given us the opportunity to evaluate causes and effects related to people in our society.

Consider how the social science lens helps us interact with the world around us and uses cultural

artifacts to make changes in our lives to promote better living or promote interactions we normally

would not have with others. View this brief video for more on social science: An Animated Introduction

to Social Science (4:35).What is Social Science? Part 1 (2:50) What is Social Science? Part 2 (2:37)