SOCI 1001 Study Guide - Cultural Capital, Ower, Collective Effervescence
Document Summary
Auguste comte (1798-1857): used scientific method to understand the social world. Believed he had discovered scientific laws governing the operation of society. Theorized societies evolve the same as biological species do. Tension between belief in importance of science, and vision of ideal society. Theory: tentative explanation of some aspect of social life that states how and why certain facts are related. Sociological ideas are usually expressed in the form of theories. Research: process of carefully observing social reality, often to test a theory or assess its validity. After sociologists conduct research, they also formulate theories based on their findings. Values: ideas about what is good, bad, right and wrong. Values help sociologists formulate and favour certain theories over others. Values can influence over our perceptions about research data: objectivity & subjectivity. Biases often lead us to draw incorrect conclusions about what we see. Scientific thinking and research help avoid incorrect conclusions based on personal experience, opinion, values or biases.
