PYSC 3170 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Scientific Method, The Sociological Imagination
5 Jul 2016
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Document Summary
Basic goal of theory is to explain something, a phenomenon. Variety of things that make up good theories: sheds lights on a topic. Some theories do a better job of shedding light on a topic than others: point out relationship between variables. We can think of a variable as something that changes. Can help us understand how a problem is linked to what we want to explain: one that can potentially predict a potential outcome, guides research and future theory development, one that we can apply to the real world. Can take the info within that theory and put into work in real life settings: holds up to empirical scrutiny. Test explanatory powers and see if that theory does a good job. It can alter our viewpoints; change the way we look at things. There are various ways to classify theory: level of analysis. Macro-level focus on social structure (i. e. , society) Micro-level focus on social processes (i. e. , individual)
