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Economic Sociology - Summary
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Chapter one: Sociology’s StatusScience and pseudoscience
When we think about sciences, our head immediately goes to physics, mathematics and biology. When we
think about the spinoffs of science (medicine as an example), science has had an impressive success in
understanding and controlling material and biological reality.
In the mid 16th century-late 17th century, we have the development of new insights such as Newton’s
breakthroughs,In this period, a number of fundamental insights emerged so that we understand reality
much better.
What distinguishes science and pseudoscience? There isn’t a natural way to distinguish between these
two, and there are many controversial debates.
Science is not distinguished from pseudoscience because science is right and pseudoscience is wrong.
Being wrong is an indistinguishable part of science, and therefore being wrong does not equate to
being unscientific.
Definition of Science:Science is a set of mechanisms and rules that allows us to find the mistakes we
make, and to create something we can call scientific progress. It diminishes the number of errors we make,
but not a machine that does not make errors.
Pseudoscience is vague, not very precise , and are not very easily proved wrong.If you cannot prove
something is wrong/right with confidence, it is most likely a pseudoscience.
(Note:Reduction of errors can be called scientific progress).
Distinctions between science and pseudoscience:
1.Internal consistency:
The first condition to be able to conduct science is that one should strive to make consistent statements.
These consistent statements do not mean that you need to be right.
Internal consistency includes not having logical errors, contradictions, having conceptual clarity and
openness to falsification. An example of a science with good internal consistency is mathematics, which is
why using mathematical language is conducive to consistency. It is very important because it allows us to
make a statement relating to its consistency and validity.
Making statements that are openness to falsification is crucial. Furthermore, internal consistency is the
base of theory.
2.Evidence:
Sciences in general need to be confronted with data and facts. Not just good theory is enough(besides in
mathematics), but you need to confront it with the “reality”.
In natural science, this evidence is attained primarily through experiments.
The scientific cycle consist of a and b in a continual confrontation.
The cycle is a depiction of how science works and it argues
that there is a continuous back and fourth between theory and
evidence.
This cycle teaches us that science never ends, and it is a
continuous cycle.
Science does not mean irrevocable truth.
Inductive approach: evidence->forming a theory
Deductive approach: theory->reaching a logical conclusion
3.Reduction of error:
In the long run, reduction of error(progress) should be attained through science.
It is important that the progress is not a historical necessity, and it may wrongly suggest a premeditated
direction.
It is very essential to note that: it is about the direction of reduction of errors, and not about making no
mistakes. The paradox, is that we need to find a system to reduce the number of mistakes we make,
therefore mistakes are needed to reach progress.
, There is no validity in “the age of an idea”, or the opposite. Sometimes this is an indicator pf pseudo-
science: “it is new/ancient knowledge, therefore it is valid”, using the seniority. There is no validity in
seniority.
4.Social organisation:
At the very least, two levels are involved in science:
1.Individual(ethical, attitudinal) dimension:being receptive to refutation(the action of proving a statement or
theory to be wrong or false) or even seek it(acquire it socially)= the more the society is open to refutation
and skepticism, the more we will be prone to progress
2.Social:which presupposes a system of competition and free exchange of ideas with some parallels to
market exchange.
Both of these are linked together.
Can sociology be a science?
Yes, sociology can meet every scientific standard.
However, two fundamental aspects make sociology differ fundamentally from natural sciences:
1)sociology can hardly build on experiments=differs on methodology
The experimental design
An experiment is historically the oldest technique to come to scientific judgements, and the purest most
certain way to arrive at valid and reliable conclusions.
In its pure form, experiment is the OXO model. Which boils down to three elements:
1)Randomised distribution in 2 groups(experimental vs control group)
2)The experimental group gets a certain treatment, the control group does not
3)You observe(measure)before and after stimulus
There are more alternative ways of testing theories, but OXO allows for reliable and valid conclusions
Experiments are the most ideal way of testing causal relationships (not necessarily the goal of scientific
knowledge)
The ground of experiment’s superiority: isolation of the effect of the treatment. No need to know other
relative factors if we do not need to.
Variants have been developed for controlling for causal bias(placebo, Solomon experiment)
Sociology deals with objects that are hard to imitate in laboratory contexts. The second best options for
sociology are surveys and quasi-experiments
Alternative one:Large scale surveys
Usually based on (standardised) interviews
Many variables are collected
The downside in relation to experiments: no control=>no certainty about causal status of correlates,
there is spuriousness(Spuriousness relates to a connection between two variables that appear causal but
are not)
Example 1: ice cream and drowning at the seaside: spuriousness
Example 2: listening to “unconventional music” and deviant activities:correlation
The dominant strategy for more validity is to use multivariate designs, so we can control for possible
intervening variables. It is also very important to watch the same elementary units change over time,
which are also known as time series and longitudinal designs.
Alternative two: Quasi experiments
We try to mimic an experiment but not fully. They are often experiments in the real world so we have
diminished control, and with also non-randomised distribution of groups.
The most promising quasi experiments are: natural experiments, which are “accidental” experiments in the
real world.
Example 1:North and South Korea were divided by political accident, but before they were very similar. You
can compare the development of North and South Korea depending on the type of institutions that were put
in place there. So in North Korea, there is a totalitarian regime and in the South Korea we have a democracy
with rule of law. This is a natural experiment.
Example 2: Cunningham’s ‘men in transit’: what happens if we have many men going without their partners
in one place, do they visit sex workers more often, so did the prostitution market increase? It is a natural
experiment because it is happening in the real world and it is not invented by Cunningham.
,Conclusion for quasi experiments:
The difference with surveys: no intervention by the researcher
The difference with experiments: it mimics an experimental design
2)Sociology deals with humans and their interactions=differs on content
Object of sociology is “conscious sentient beings”
Action of people is fundamentally different from log of “laws” in nature: water boiling vs people in a
sauna
Explanations in sociology are: accounting for reasons and therefore finding out about beliefs, values,
motives and intentions: it is a behavioural science but by looking at reasons of behaviour.
Sociology does less but also more than natural sciences:
Example of a railway station:A railway station is a place where many natural sciences intervene and it is
very complicated. At the same time, if we look at the daily functioning of the railway section we look at a
coordination of conscious sentient beings, and they create a pattern.
The basic strategy: ask people
The definition of sociology:
Sociology is the science of social phenomena and made up of social actions.
Behavior: is what people do, consciously or unconsciously.
With and without intention
Action is any behaviour that has an intent. We cannot have an
action without intent. That is contradicting in its definition.
Social action: is any action that is performed in coordination
with others.=
Example of praying: When someone prays alone, than that is
an action because they behaved that way with intent. We
cannot say it is a social action because there is no-one else in
your presence. When someone goes to a church/mosque and
then prays, his/her behaviour is coordinated with the
behaviour of others.
Criterions for social action:
1.Intentionality=also a condition of an action. An action always needs an intention.
2.Coordination with others
Types of social actions:
1.Instrumental rational: one of the main assumptions of economy. People have a goal, and they strive to
achieve this goal as efficiently as possible, so with the lower cost/least effort.It is rational because you think
about it and reflect. Example: taking the shortest way home
2.Value rational: we also reflect about our behaviour, but not the “means to an end” but the action is the end
itself. What we do, is what we want to do ourselves. Ethical actions (actions that we NEED to do for ethical
reasons). An ethical action is always value rational. Both the goal and the means to reach the goal are
determined by values.
3.Affectual action: not rational; solely driven by our emotions
4.Traditional(habitual): has its roots in rational/value action, but because we do it so often or it has become
a habit, we do not have to think about it anymore = familiarity. Proves that non rational action can also be
meaningful.
Note: There is more than one type of rationality.
, Chapter one:Vocabulary Table
Science Science is a set of mechanisms and rules that allows
us to find the mistakes we make, and to create
something we can call scientific progress.
Scientific Cycle Scientific Cycle is the idea that a scientific idea is
always continuous and evolving, and going back
and fourth between theory and evidence. The
scientific cycle is made up of four elements: theory,
evidence, induction and deduction.
Induction When we go from evidence to creating a theory
Deduction When we go from a theory to gathering evidence
Reduction of error The long term of science over time is scientific
progress and therefore reducing the errors we
make.
Experiment The best way to come to scientific judgements. A
scientific procedure undertaken to make a
discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a
known fact.An experiment tests for a causal
relationship.
Quasi-experiment It mimics an experiment, but it does not rely on a
random assignment. Subjects are assigned to
groups based on random criteria.
OXO-Model The purest form of an experiment. The OXO model
boils down to two elements: 1)random assignment
of two groups 2)the experimental group gets a
certain treatment while the controlled group does
not 3)you observe and measure before and after
stimulus
Experimental group The experimenter observe the group under a
stimulus
Control group The controlled group is not put under any stimulus
that they want to observe.
Solomon experiment The Asch conformity experiments: individuals
yielded to or defied a majority group and that
effected influences, beliefs and opinions. (Which is
the longest line out of the 3)
Placebo effect The phenomenon in which some people experience
a benefit after the administration of an inactive
substance or treatment. The example of a happy
pill.
Spurious correlation Two variables which are correlated, but not
because they have a causal relationship. Usually
the correlation happens due to another factor.
Action Behavior that has an intention.
Social action Behavior that is coordinated with the behaviours of
others.
Instrumentally rational action An action that is driven by an intention, while also
doing it in the most efficient way possible.
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