SOC100H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Hawthorne Effect

• School: UTM
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC100H5
• Professor: Nathan Innocente

Document Summary

Epistemology: the study of how we know what we know. Purpose: to gain context and understanding of underlying influences. Approach: enter into a group and make observations and generate explanations. Cons: takes more time, can t generate generalizations, takes skill to conduct. Hawthorne effect: alteration of behaviour to the subjects of a study because they know they are being observed. Purpose: to quantify data and help make generalizations. Pros: can be conducted on large scales, easy to generalize, reliable. Cons: less depth, no context, the question order and structure. Helps to develop a deep and sympathetic understanding of the social world. Involves immersing oneself into the given environment of study. Examples include joining a gang to gather information on the lifestyle or joining a particular work environment for research purposes. Questioning people on their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. Can be either close-ended, semi structured or unstructured.