Sociology 1020 Study Guide - Final Guide: Role Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, Cultural Relativism

• School: Western University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: Sociology 1020
• Professor: Tara L Fidler- Bruno

Document Summary

Forms of truth: belief or faith, expert testimony, simple agreement, science -> bases knowledge of systematic observation. Valid sociological topic: any kind of human behaviour or social interaction. 3 frameworks for sociological investigation: scientific sociology (positivism/quantitative): Study of society based on systematic observation: interpretive sociology (qualitative): Focuses on the meanings people attach to their world. 5 research methods: surveys, participant observation, qualitative interviews, secondary analysis, experiments. Experiment: controlled artificial situation that allows researchers to isolate hypothesized causes and measure their effects. Randomization: assigning individuals to groups by chance processes. What is changing: independent variable presumed cause. What you can control & manipulate: experimental group group exposed to the independent variable, control group group that isn"t exposed. Collective action: when people act in unison to resist change (social, political, etc. : routine: nonviolent and follow patterns of bureaucratic social structures, non-routine: short-lived and sometimes violent (protests) Contemporary theories of collective behaviour: minimax strategy: costs and rewards of participation.