notes
Week 1
Social research “involves thinking scientifically about questions about the social world and following scientific processes.” (p.6)
Data is defined here as the “empirical evidence or information that a person gathers carefully according to established rules or procedures; it can be qualitative or quantitative (p. 6)
Social theory "can be defined as a system of interconnected abstractions or ideas that condenses and organizes knowledge about the social world.” (p.23)
A concept is “An idea expressed as a symbol or in words” (p.354)
Quantitative data: information in the form of numbers
Qualitative data: information in the form of words, pictures, sounds, visual images, or objects
Ordinary inquiry vs. scholarly inquiry: risks of “errors” associated with non-scholarly methods
Selective observation: the tendency to take notice of certain people or events based on past experience and misses others
Overgeneralization: evidence applied to too wide a range of conditions. It occurs when some evidence supports a belief, but a person falsely assume that it may apply to many other situations too
Premature closure: an error that is often made when using personal experience as an alternative to science for acquiring knowledge; jumping to conclusions
Halo effect: when a person overgeneralizes from what he or she accepts as being highly positive or prestigious and lets its strong reputation “rub off” onto other areas; idea of being influenced by prestige
Research wheel:
1. Select topic
2. Focus question
3. Design study
4. Collect data
5. Analyze data
6. Interpret data
7. Inform others
Empirical and logical foundations of research
Deductive approach: an approach to inquiry or social theory in which one begins with abstract ideas and principles then works towards concrete empirical evidence to test the ideas
Empirical evidence: the observations that people experience through their sense; can be direct or indirect
Inductive approach: an approach
Social research “involves thinking scientifically about questions about the social world and following scientific processes.” (p.6)
Data is defined here as the “empirical evidence or information that a person gathers carefully according to established rules or procedures; it can be qualitative or quantitative (p. 6)
Social theory "can be defined as a system of interconnected abstractions or ideas that condenses and organizes knowledge about the social world.” (p.23)
A concept is “An idea expressed as a symbol or in words” (p.354)
Quantitative data: information in the form of numbers
Qualitative data: information in the form of words, pictures, sounds, visual images, or objects
Ordinary inquiry vs. scholarly inquiry: risks of “errors” associated with non-scholarly methods
Selective observation: the tendency to take notice of certain people or events based on past experience and misses others
Overgeneralization: evidence applied to too wide a range of conditions. It occurs when some evidence supports a belief, but a person falsely assume that it may apply to many other situations too
Premature closure: an error that is often made when using personal experience as an alternative to science for acquiring knowledge; jumping to conclusions
Halo effect: when a person overgeneralizes from what he or she accepts as being highly positive or prestigious and lets its strong reputation “rub off” onto other areas; idea of being influenced by prestige
Research wheel:
1. Select topic
2. Focus question
3. Design study
4. Collect data
5. Analyze data
6. Interpret data
7. Inform others
Empirical and logical foundations of research
Deductive approach: an approach to inquiry or social theory in which one begins with abstract ideas and principles then works towards concrete empirical evidence to test the ideas
Empirical evidence: the observations that people experience through their sense; can be direct or indirect
Inductive approach: an approach