[01:920:314] - Final Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam (35 pages long!)

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: 01:920:314
• Professor: Dr.Eleanor La Pointe

Document Summary

Study guide: lapointe introduction to contemporary theory. Sociological theory, like any other scientific theory, rests on a massive foundation of unspoken assumptions. Metatheory influences the way a theory is developed and may involve the following: In all sciences there is an assumption of order. Thinks happen, not haphazardly or randomly, but for a reason: a scientist"s values inevitably affect his or her work. Values come into play simply in what a person decides is or isn"t worth investigating. Those who accept the status quo and want to explain processes within it. (these people make claims, often, to being value-neutral. But is value neutrality ever really possible, or even desirable?) Often, their assumptions lead them to support perspectives that explain social phenomenon from the point of view of the disadvantaged. In evaluating theory, we need to be sensitive to underlying values and political commitments.