SOC 3310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Meritocracy, Critical Race Theory, Medicalization
6 Oct 2016
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Can have theories about many ideas science, society, history, everyday life etc. We cannot go through life without having theories about things. What differentiates a scientific theory from a theory (or belief) we as individuals may have about things is whether or not it is testable/falsifiable. Historians do not look for patterns or laws they do not make connections between events in order to identify a pattern: not scientific theories in the sense of the term. In contrast sociologists look for patterns and laws in society and human behaviour. Theory in the natural sciences focuses on value freedom and objectivity in scientific theory and research, in sociological theories value judgements may exist. Sociological theories attempt to be critical/critique patterns in society > showing the shortcomings and biases. = explain/predict/action: 4 short answer questions > 6 will be posted on course link before the test, and 4 of them will be on the test.
