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SCS 2150 Midterm (1)
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SCS 2150 MidtermWhy does methodology matter? - ANS-- You must base decisions in daily life based on facts
-Statistics can greatly affect policies and decisions
-Ex: Quebec having increase of mother-tongue being English error
What is Theory? - ANS-- An explanation of observed regularities or patterns
- 3 common components of a theory:
1. Definitions- key terms in the theory mean
2. Descriptions- outlines the characteristics of the phenomena of interest
3. Relational statements- connects- connects two or more variables
- Deterministic- two variables always go together in a particular way
- Probabilistic- two variables go together with some degree of regularity, but the relationship is
not inevitable
Theories of the middle range vs. Grand theories - ANS-- more limited in scope and can be
tested directly by gathering empirical evidence
- general and abstract. Include theories as structural-functionalism, symbolic interactionism,
critical theory, structuralism, feminism and so on. Provides ways to look at the world
Theory vs. Research/ Relationships between theory and research - ANS-- Theory can guide
research, on how the collection and analysis of data can be used to test theories.
- Research is 'theory testing'
Deductive Approach - ANS-- most common in social science research
- Theory, Hypothesis, Data Collection, Findings (Understand specific phenomenon through
background research),3 Hypotheses confirmed or rejected
- Revision of theory
- Start again at Hypotheses
Inductive approaches - ANS-- Data are gathered not to test a theory, but to come up with the
information required to construct a theory or interpretation
- Observations/ Findings
- Theory
Grounded Theory: - ANS-- Deriving theory from observations
Don't come up with your own theory and impose it
- Used by qualitative researchers
Epistemology - ANS-- How do we know the world
- How does knowledge become acquired
, Three broad position on knowing the world - ANS-- Positivism
- Interpretivism
- Critical approaches
Positivism - ANS-- One epistemological position that affirms the importance of the following the
natural sciences
- Uses the principal of empiricism. Only phenomena confirmed by sense (sight, hearing,
taste,etc_)
- A key purpose of theory is to generate hypotheses that can be tested and thereby allow
explanations of observed laws and principles to be assessed
- Knowledge can also be arrived at through the gathering of facts that provide the basis for
generalization or laws
- There is a clear distinction between scientific statements, which describe how and why certain
social phenomena operate the way they do, and normative statements, which outline whether
certain acts or social conditions are morally acceptable
- Uses deduction
Interpretivism - ANS-- Critique of positivism and provides an alternative to the sort of social
science typically done by positivists
- Goal is to grasp the subjective meaning of people's lives
People interpret the reality of their own lives (social construction of reality)
- Interpretivists claim that it is the job of the social scientist to gain access to the
"common-sense thinking" of the people they study and hence to understand people's actions
and their social world form the point of view of other actors
- Views the social world from the point of the social actor: Empathetic understanding +
Interpretation of existence
Critical Approaches to Social Science - ANS-- Critical theories are critiques of positivism, too
- Critical researcher use many kind of research methods
- Both deductive and indictive approaches
- Reject "value-free" science
- Anti-oppressive in practice and political in nature
- Ex: Karl Marx and conflict theory
- Involves praxis: putting one's theoretical position into proactive
Ontological Considerations - ANS-1. Objectivist perspective: social phenomena have an
objective reality, independent of our perceptions. Most likely a positivist
2. Constructionist perspective:
- Constructionist (hard): Reality is merely a set of mental constructions, There are no "facts",
only interpretations
- Constructionist (soft): more middle ground
There is an objective social reality that is marred by human interpretation (critical realism)
- Why does ontology matter?
- Because ontological assumptions about reality affect:
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