SOCI 2P11 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Inductivism, Nomothetic, Symbolic Interactionism
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Empirical generalizations: reoccurring patterns that can be observed and documented, these patterns form hypothesis, ex) gender wage gap women make 80 cents every a man makes. Middle-range theories: develop any speci c theoretical insight, racism, domestic violence, robert k metom. Strain theory to explain deviant behaviour. Theoretical frameworks: theoretical perspectives to explain how a society as a whole works, functioning as society as a whole very abstract. Ex) symbolic interactionism how people construct meaning. Deductivism: (collecting data and testing theory against that data: theory > data. Inductivism: (building theory that is grounded in data: data > theory. Positivist epistemology: the belief that the methods of the natural sciences are the ideal means by which to analyze and understand social phenomena, external. Critical epistemology: seeks to challenge aspects of the social world, inform activists and social transformation, research should not be value free, research should attempt to challenge distorted forms of thinking that justify inequality and oppression.