Self-Awareness: Measuring

There is a quote from scientist Lord Kelvin, “if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” It is actually used for positive sciences. How can it be adapted to social sciences?  The difficulty is how to measure it because of subjectivity in social sciences. Scientifically, if you buy something from a market, you can measure it, by kg. If you measure how long you walked, you can measure it by meters, etc. For example, after not seeing your friend for a long time, he says that you look fatter, and you can prove the reality scientifically. Then, you can take steps toward what you need to do to be better.

Nevertheless, in social science, measuring psychological emotions, feelings, and abilities is very difficult because of subjectivity. For example, if your friend says that you are more patient,  more helpful, or more responsible, it is not easy and possible to measure or prove it scientifically. There is no concrete result. It is not objective. Since your other friend could say you are getting angry more quickly, not helpful, etc. Everybody says their own perception and observation and compares you subjectively to your previous actions and reactions. Sometimes, people compare others with themselves and then make their decisions about you.

Measuring personal emotions, feelings and abilities not only helps self-awareness but also performing the requirements of personal development.  

In this respect, most classification could be a solution to measure in social sciences. Classification of self-evaluation and others’ evaluations based on social and emotional characteristics could be helpful to measure in social sciences.