PSYC 2000 Chapter : 1 1 Blind Psychololgy SV
Document Summary
Whereas theories seek to explain, paradigms provide ways of looking. In and of themselves, paradigms don"t explain anything, but they provide logical frameworks within which theories are created. Theories and paradigms intertwine throughout the search for meaning in social life. Unless we can offer logical explanations for patterns, the regularities we observe may be mere flukes or chance occurrences. If you flip coins long enough, you"ll get ten heads in a row. Scientists could adapt a street expression to describe this situation: patterns happen. logical explanations are what theories seek to provide. 3 ways in research: first, it prevents our being taken in by flukes. Ma"s diner has predicted elections so successfully, we run the risk of supporting a fluke. If we know why it has happened, however, we can anticipate whether it will work in the future: second, theories make sense of observed patterns in ways that can suggest other possibilities.
