SOAN 2120 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Grounded Theory, Inductive Reasoning, Ideal Type
10 Feb 2017
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Small-scale social theories are a type that researchers use when conducting a study. Theory has an important role in research and is essentially ally for the researcher. Researchers use theory differently in various types of research, but some type of theory is present in most social research. Researchers interweave a story about the operation of the social world (the theory) with what they observe when they examine it systematically (the data) People who seek absolute, fixed answers for a specific individual or a particular one-time event may be frustrated with science and social theories. To avoid frustration, it is wise to keep in mind 3 things about how social scientific theories work: social theories explain recurring patterns, not unique or onetime events. Social theories state a probability, chance, or tendency for events to occur, rather than state that one event must absolutely follow another ex. Abused children are more likely to be abusers as adults, but not always.
