SOCI 217 Lecture Notes - Krypto, Social Theory, Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research
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[how people gain knowledge about the world: agreement. Authority someone who is very knowledgeable about the subject: experience. [3 common errors in human inquiry/understanding: observation. Selective observation: we only see what we want to see. Private process: doesn"t share finding with others. Premature closure: making conclusion too early: reasoning. Overgeneralization: consider limited aspects and apply them to the whole population. [5 aspects/pillars of social research: socially significant phenomena, social theory, systematic analysis of evidence, systematic observation of evidence, audience. To discern pattern and relationship between variables. Principles of scientific discovery: empiricism: knowledge based on evidence or observations, logic: knowledge that makes sense, consistent. 5 safeguards to ensure the knowledge fulfill the 2 principles: knowledge is based on empiricism and logic, findings are made public, observations are detailed and systematic, research is open to debate, new challenging discoveries are always possible. Hypothesis (formal statement of what relationship to be discovered)
