Samuel Chiltern answered
The fields of pure science and applied science make up the overall discipline of the social sciences. They are concerned with the pursuit of scientific knowledge about human society, and the social groups found within it.
Pure science is the pursuit of plainly-objective truths which are deduced from independently-observable phenomena.
Every effort is made to control for the influence of factors which are not being directly measured, including the subjective influence of the researchers involved.
Strictly speaking, pure science involves the search for scientific knowledge, without any regard for whatever the practical applications of the knowledge gained might be. Applied science is research which is conducted with a practical application in mind.
Although both pure and social sciences are considered to be scientific disciplines, social science relies more heavily upon the collection of qualitative data, whereas pure science places far more emphasis upon the collection of quantitative data.
Quantitative Data
Quantitative data is primarily concerned with the collection of empirical and objectively observable phenomena, and is typically measured in discrete quantities - for example, time or temperature.
Qualitative Data
Qualitative data is much more concerned with collecting information about the quality of things. For example, as a social scientist you might want to collect information about how individuals feel about their local school.
Pure science is the pursuit of plainly-objective truths which are deduced from independently-observable phenomena.
Every effort is made to control for the influence of factors which are not being directly measured, including the subjective influence of the researchers involved.
Strictly speaking, pure science involves the search for scientific knowledge, without any regard for whatever the practical applications of the knowledge gained might be. Applied science is research which is conducted with a practical application in mind.
Although both pure and social sciences are considered to be scientific disciplines, social science relies more heavily upon the collection of qualitative data, whereas pure science places far more emphasis upon the collection of quantitative data.
Quantitative Data
Quantitative data is primarily concerned with the collection of empirical and objectively observable phenomena, and is typically measured in discrete quantities - for example, time or temperature.
Qualitative Data
Qualitative data is much more concerned with collecting information about the quality of things. For example, as a social scientist you might want to collect information about how individuals feel about their local school.
You could also collect quantitative data on the same subject - for example by asking people how far their local school is from their home - and you could then go on to obtain qualitative data by asking them how they feel about this distance.
