SOCI 1F90 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Qualitative Property, Role Theory, Participant Observation
9 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Theories: explanations developed from careful observations of the social world we call these observations empirical data. Research: systematic processes by which we gather empirical data. Goal of social research: learning something about the social world. Systematic process of social research: (1) gather empirical data (2) descrive (3) explain (develop theory) Used to (1) determine cause/effect or (2) probability - examples ex. race and the relationship with wage. Philosophy of quantitative research borrowed from physical sciences. A single objective truth can be discovered. Paid employment is not a factor in well-being of mothers. Says too little about too much of social life, there are many things in life that we cant study quantitatively. Doesn"t reveal meaning, doesn"t allow us to understand what childbirth means to people who have children. Can"t explain complicated processes in the context of everyday life. While stats allow us to understand certain aspects of social life, it lacks depth of understanding about the social life: qualitative.
