SOC211H5 Chapter 2: Ch.2.docx
Document Summary
If deviance is a destination many paths lead to it, some more heavily used than others. One path is marked psychopathy (some people are pyromaniacs) Another is fraud (a person burning property to claim insurance money) Another path is organized crime (using arson in extortion rackets) Scientific explanations make use of the scientific method or adaptations of it. This method, first developed in the study of the physical world, provides techniques for developing models of how the world works, as well as hypotheses about the connected of things. The scientific method works best with inorganic and nonsocial realities, and does not handle human agency the capacity to think and act creatively in response to social meanings very well. We use the term positivism to indicate work that may be extreme in its refusal to give any importance to human feelings, understandings, and choices. The scientific method provides for controlling observations so that the knowledge gained will be tested and cumulative.
