SOC 104 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Artificiality, Participant Observation, Simple Random Sample
Document Summary
Sociological research goes beyond guesswork and common sense, by deriving answer of the whys and hows of human social interaction. Altruism - behaviour intended to help others and done selflessly. 1, 3, 4, are valid sources of understand, but it is difficult to resolve disagreements between them. Science is empirical, based on facts not theory. Scientific knowledge is systematic and open for public inspection. Hypothesis - unconfirmed statement regarding the relationship between two or more variables/concepts. Science is objective, free from distorted subjected bias. What we see and learn is matter of interpretation. Descriptive studies - describe social reality or provide facts; finding out what"s happening. Explanatory studies - try to explain relationships and provide information on why certain events do/don"t occur. Deductive approach - begin with a theory, then conduct research to test theory. Inductive approach - collecting data, then creating a theory from said data.
