SOC221H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Qualitative Property, Conflict Theories, Participant Observation
Document Summary
Theory is at the center of the research cycle, impacts at each stage. Might look different depending on the type of project that the researcher is doing o. Sociologist review literature, aware of existing theories and abstract concepts, want to look into those further. Researcher might have interests, doing data collection they do some theory building themselves. Theory testing approach, set of ideas that exist in soc. and you want to o test those ideas. Inductive: gather data then generate theory o o o. Starting point is the data, beginning with a set of observations, specific details. From there, you move toward the more abstract or theoretical ideas. Lombroso: people are born criminals (this was his theory) His research was designed to test this theory. Look for differences that mark a criminal from a non-criminal- this was his way of people being born criminals. Either supported his theory or refuted it in the conclusion of his work.
