2, Theory and Research Flashcards
Theory
a statement of relationships b/w concepts, a systematic collection of proven knowledge, a body of knowledge
Parsimony Principle
a good theory holds true in other contexts/times, broad, proven true over time, ex. studying
Occam’s Razor
When you have two competing theories which make exactly the same predictions, the one that is simpler is the better
Quasi-Theory
no empirical evidence, ex. ideology, religion, political beliefs, urban legends
Blame Analysis
attributes blame rather than providing a causal explanation
Relationships
statement of the relationship between independent and dependent variables
Empiricism
can been seen with your 5 senses, deductive reasoning, observation, ex. natural sciences
Relativism
human interaction, inductive, created as you go, no norms, qualitative, micro level, SI
Interpretivism
people interpret the world, interview=conversational, open ended q’s, not objective want subjective views of subjects
Structural Functionalism
sees society as an organism, all institutions must serve a purpose or they become obsolete
Exchange and Rational Choice Theory
We are motivated by self-interest #1, sees life as a series of exchanges, our choices are based off of us first then think of others after
Symbolic Interactionism
People transmit and receive symbolic communication when the socially interact, people largely act on their perceptions, how they think about themselves is largely based on their interactions
Conflict Theory
Society is made up of groups that have opposing interests, coercion and power are ever present aspects of human relationshipsex. communism, feminism
Realism
Focuses on relationships, individual actions, wider social actions, looks for underlying unobservable causes, scientific method,
Imposition Problem
Are meanings imposed by preplanned q’s and a’s, by selecting what to include in a study we a imposing a meaning, what we choose to observe is guide by our interests
