SOC221H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Social Theory, Bureaucracy, 2006 Ontario Terrorism Plot
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How social scientific theories work: explain recurring patterns, not unique or one-time events, ex. Not good at explaining 9/11 but can explain patterns such as conditions that lead to increased levels of fear and spin-off terrorist groups like toronto. 18: social theories are explanations for aggregates, not particular individuals, aggregates are collections of many individuals, cases, or other units (e. g. businesses, schools, families, clubs, cities, nations) i. Social theory can be defined as a system of interconnected abstractions or ideas that condenses and organizes knowledge about the social world. Social theorists create explanations about the workings of societies and interactions between members of social groups. Three broad groupings: macrosocial theory: focuses on society at the level of social structures and populations. Empirical generalizations: a quasi-theoretical statement that summarizes findings or regularities in empirical evidence. It uses few, if any, abstract concepts and only makes a statement about a recurring pattern that researchers observe.
