Sociology 2206A/B Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Collectively Exhaustive Events, Operationalization, Grounded Theory

• School: Western University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: Sociology 2206A/B
• Professor: Stephen Lin

Document Summary

What is science : science = observation + explanation+prediction. Research wheel: theory(process of developing ideas that allow us to understand and explain observations. State a probability) hypothesis(a tentative statement about the relation between 2 or more variables. ) observations(data collection, find indicators, operationalize concepts into variables) empirical generalizations(analysis of data leads to generalized statements about findings. ) Deductive vs inductive: deductive-> when you create theory and then observe, inductive create theory from observations. Paradigms: ontology branch of philosophy concerned with study of what exists. Methodology- scientific ways of collection info to produce knowledge. Positivism(knowledge from empirical observation) vs interpretivism(knowledge from interpreting complex social interactions. Unit of analysis (individuals(roles, positions), groups(families organzs), social artefacts(books,documents,buildings)) Ecological(conclusions about individuals from groups) vs. individualistic fallacy(conclusions about groups from individuals) Qualitative research design(non linear, often interpretive,themes,often iductive,replication rare) Explanatory(main object) & extraneous/confounding variables(variables you wish to control for) Different types of causal pathways (antecedent(occurring before), spurious(affects iv and dv simultaneously), intervening(variables coming between relationships)