SOC221H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Nomothetic, Dependent And Independent Variables
Document Summary
Inductive - specific instances to generalized conclusions. Deductive - taking generalized concepts and coming up with specific hypothesis. Nomothetic - use least amount of assumptions for most parsimonious explanation; a general law with no deviations. Not a lot of nomothetic theories in social science. Idiographic - breaking apart a case and looking at the unique qualities. Exploratory - seeking to develop and explore a general topic (know little) Explanatory - ask question to aim to explain something and form hypothesis (causality) Descriptive - giving more context to a subject and describing it. Ex. education is the cause and income is effect. Can be reversed as well - no variable is inherently independant or dependant. Quantitative data - number of calls, time. Deductive - publicizing police brutality increases the 911 calls coming in in such cases. Nomothetic - generalizing the case and saying how it happens in other places/cases. Idiographic - also focusing on one specific case and its qualities.
