04:192:300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Symbolic Interactionism, Nomothetic, Numerical Analysis

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Communication
• Course: 04:192:300
• Professor: M E A R A Faw

Document Summary

Paradigms: ways of seeing the world that dominate at any one time. Frames of reference or lenses that organize thinking. Often taken-for-granted and assumed to be universal. Theories: systematic sets of interrelated statements that explain an aspect of social life. Theories flesh out paradigms - they are how we explain the world around us but are limited by the paradigm currently in play. Hypotheses: testable questions or predictions derived from theories. Ways of seeing the world that dominate at any given period of time. Can also occur within specific groups of people. Positivism: observation is key, truth is objective. Truth exists, and there is one single truth. You know what truth is by your five sense. Doesn"t say there is one truth that can be known. Say we need to pay attention to power . Who has the power? ex) feminism; critical race paradigms. The world that we have is created and constructed through human behavior.