SOSC 1185 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Health Canada, Knowledge, Reductionism

• School: York University
• Department: Social Science
• Course: SOSC 1185
• Professor: Lee Wiggins

Document Summary

Critical assessment of research; challenging objectivity: critical assessment of research, problematizing the science of differences" that argues that men & women are very different, & is used to support structural & ideological inequality. Objectivity: assumed to be truthful, based on fact" & empirical data, no personal bias or values involved, neutral, fair: problematizing idea of absolute objectivity or neutrality, understanding research & theory as value-laden, even biased. Values: broad social definitions of what is seen to be good, preferred or right in a particular culture/society. Biases (cid:272)a(cid:374) (cid:271)e e(cid:454)pli(cid:272)it or i(cid:373)pli(cid:272)it, i(cid:374)te(cid:374)tio(cid:374)al or u(cid:374)i(cid:374)te(cid:374)tio(cid:374)al. (cid:863) 2 important, not important, how we interpret what we perceive and make judgements and explain others, and so on. Ho(cid:449) does brett(cid:859)s short arti(cid:272)le illu(cid:373)i(cid:374)ate a parti(cid:272)ular (cid:271)ias a(cid:374)d set of (cid:448)alues i(cid:374) (cid:272)o(cid:374)du(cid:272)ti(cid:374)g research: claims of objectivity support the science of differences & the dominant ideology, gender stereotypes and the social process of normalizing/otherizing.