SOC 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Consistency, Spurious Relationship, Inductive Reasoning
Document Summary
Researching the consequences of the u. s. prison boom. 3% of u. s. adults in correctional system. Scientific method combines logically constructed theory and systematic observation to provide explanations of how things work. Deductive reasoning taking an existing theory and logically deducing that if the theory is accurate, we should discover other patterns of behavior consistent with it. Hypotheses statement about the world, derived from theories, that can be falsified when tested. Inductive reasoning process of generalizing to an entire category of phenomena from a particular set of observations. Quantitative research data collected and quantified into numbers for analysis. Qualitative research characterized by data that cannot be quantified, focusing instead on generating in-depth knowledge of social life, institutions, and processes. Common sense vs. actual sociological research: overall pattern of men outearning women, wages are not keeping up with the rate of inflation, low academic achievement is complex, no single variable can explain it.
