SOCI 1001H Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Sociological Theory, Deductive Reasoning, Social Conflict
14 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Doing Sociology: Approaches to Sociological Investigation
Sociological Investigation- a scientific approach:
• Sociological investigation is how we find what is going on beyond or within the obvious
• Common sense: based on a belief and common agreement
• Common sense to one person might not be common sense to another person
• Common sense understanding: what you see, mostly just what is on the surface
• One way to move beyond limitations of common sense knowledge is scientific approach:
• A process of attempting to take scientific principles and apply them to the study
of the social world
• How scientists study physical world and how social scientists study social
world
• Scientists have certain criteria that must be met before they will accept the reality
of something
• A scientific understanding of a phenomenon must have both logical and empirical
support
• Logical: must make sense
• Empirical: must align with observations in the real world
Premises of science:
1. Empirical:
• things are tangible, there is a material existence, can be verified through our
senses
2. Logical and Rational:
• Logical: referring to arrangement of facts according to some accepted rule of
reasons
• Causality: what is causing the effect in something
• Must have a logical time order, cause must come before effect
• Patterned change, effect must move in relation to the cause
• rule out other explanations
3. Objective:
• Sociology has rules that reduce influence of personal bias on research
4. Information is systematic and public:
• Must be public so other people can try experiments and see if they get same
results
5. Skeptical:
• Nothing in science is permanent knowledge
• Things change
• A finding is only true until someone else proves otherwise
6. Knowledge is Cumulative:
• We build upon other work and add to it
Sociological Research Continuum:
• Positivism ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interpretive
• Bulk of sociology lies under positivism, a more scientific approach
• Sociologists who use interpretive sociology argue scientific methods don’t show
what people feel or their reasons
• Sociological investigation is about both:
• Assumptions of science
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Premises of science: empirical: things are tangible, there is a material existence, can be verified through our senses. Objective: sociology has rules that reduce influence of personal bias on research. Information is systematic and public: must be public so other people can try experiments and see if they get same results. Skeptical: nothing in science is permanent knowledge, things change, a finding is only true until someone else proves otherwise. Knowledge is cumulative: we build upon other work and add to it. Obstacles of applying science to study of social life: ethics, sociology is about studying people, but you cannot manipulate them or harm them. It can be expensive to study social groups. Limited range of control: you can"t make people do the things you need them to do for your study. Subjectivity: people are subjective and might show or say something that is not accurate.
