SOCIOL 3AC Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Gender Inequality, Class Conflict, Social Forces
Document Summary
~ stinchcombe, arthur l. constructing social theories (introduction) ~ induction - scientific inference; logical forms of induction form the basis for sciences. Develop a theoretical statement theoretical statement - an element of a theory that relates one class of phenomena to another class of phenomena. Example: (from durkheim) protestants in france will have higher rates of suicide than catholics in france, because protestant s have more individualism. How to test theories: scientific inference --> theoretical statement --> one class of phenomena is connected to another. The logic of inference: logical derivations from theoretical statements --> conclusions. Stating the meaning of concepts in terms of observation. Compare observations with the empirical statement to find out whether or not the statement is true. 2. theory implies an empirical consequence | if empirical consequence is false, theory is false theory implies an empirical consequence | if empirical consequence is true, theory is more credible. Complexities: external, unclear causes that make the consequence true.
