Chapter 1 - Questions Flashcards
The sociological perspective
What is Sociology?
Sociology is the scientific study of social phenomena
To give a sociological explanation of human behaviour > consider the influence of social contexts and study the resulting collective human behaviour.
The sociological perspective: Perspectives on human behaviour
Difference Individual perspective &
Sociological perspective?
Phenomena of interest & Explanations for behaviour
- Individual phenomena, individual behaviour (Why is John obese?)
- Individual characteristics (personality, genes)
- Social phenomena, collective behaviour (Why is obesity increasing in society?)
- Social context, social causes (country, neighbourhood, school)
Supplemental perspective: Individual & Sociological perspectives together provide a more comprehensive explanation of human behaviour.
Alternative perspectives: Only Sociological or only Individual perspective matters in explaining human behaviour.
The sociological perspective
Difference Proximate causes & Ultimate causes
- Proximate causes: factors close to phenomena explained
- Ultimate causes: factors that underlie proximate causes (deeper, hidden in bg)
Ultimate cause (bullying) –> Proximate cause (negative self-image) –> Consequence (obesity)
The sociological perspective: Scale / level of social context
Describe Micro, Meso, Maso
- Micro: level at which individuals operate (behaviour, attitudes).
- Meso: social contexts in immediate environment of individuals (family, neighbourhood, school, work, religious community, political organization).
- Macro: social contexts broader than meso level units (country, continents, world)
Social problems
A social problem/public issue is a problem that___?
2 answers
- goes beyond the individual (affects many people).
- is an issue about which many people are concerned (in conflict with certain values).
Some problems only occur in certain neighbourhoods. On the meso-scale (neighbourhood) it is a social problem, on macro-scale (country) it is not.
Three aims of sociology
What are the three aims of sociology? Explain…
Hint: DEA
- Describe: accurate descriptions (descriptive observations) of social phenomena.
- Explain: scientific explanations for social phenomena.
- Apply: predictions based on findings, development and evaluation of social interventions.
social problem -> describe -> explain -> apply -> solve social problem
Social problem has normative dimension.
Social phenomenon does not have normative dimension (It is just a scientific phenomenon of interest)
Three types of sociological questions
Difference Normative & Scientific question
- Normative question: question entails value judgments
- Scientific question: question does not entail value judgments
Sociologists study scientific aspects of social problems.
So, rather than asking normative questions, they address the scientific questions about social phenomena.
Three types of sociological questions
What are the
three types of sociological questions? Explain
Hint: DEA
- Descriptive question: scientific question targeted towards describing phenomena.
- Explanatory/Theoretical question: scientific question targeted towards understanding phenomena.
- Application question: scientific question targeted towards applying scientific knowledge.
D. What is happening? How much / many?
(How high is the crime rate in Brazil and Canada?)
E/T. Why is this happening?
(Why is the crime rate higher in Brazil then in Canada?)
A. What will happen in the future? What are the consequences of a certain social intervention?
(How will the crime rate develop in Brazil? Which interventions reduce crime?)
The art of asking good sociological questions: Precision
Difference Ill-defined question & Precise question? Explain
- Ill-defined question: question which is vague and ambiguous (subject to multiple interpretations).
- Precise question: question which has clear interpretation.
Four question ingredients for precise questions
1. Human behaviour of interest.
2. Social context.
3. Period.
4. Population.
The art of asking good sociological questions: Relevance
Difference Societal relevance & Scientific relevance
- Societal relevance: relevance of sociological work for the understanding of (contemporary) social problems.
- Scientific relevance: relevance of sociological work for the accumulation of sociological knowledge.
Study that has been conducted for scientific knowledge, can be used in other sociological studies to understand social problems.
The art of asking good sociological questions: Relevance
Three key points to formulate a relevant sociological question
- Literature review: systematic overview of the existing knowledge, theories and observations that are known, typically in a certain specialized field of research.
- False theoretical question: theorical question which aims to explain something that does not exist or that is not true.
- Comparative-case question: question which includes some comparison of cases, such as multiple social contexts, multiple moments in time and/or multiple populations.
Sociology and common sense
What is common sense?
Common sense: everyday thinking, intuitions, beliefs and perceptions.
Sociology and common sense
Paul Lazarsfeld has introduced an experiment to help people realize that sociology is not so obvious.
What does Paul Lazarsfeld show in his experiment in regards to common sense?
The experiment shows that people can easily explain two contradicting findings on a certain subject. If those two contradicting findings are equally obvious, something is wrong with the labels ‘obvious’ and ‘common sense’.
Sociology and common sense
Duncan Watts argues that people have too much confidence in their common sense when it comes to understanding social behaviour.
Explain this
In science we accept that we have to test theories with observation and experiments, but when it comes to human or social behaviour, we think we know everything.
Sociology and common sense
Explain Hindsight bias
After being presented with the facts or explanations, people think it makes sense and it is obvious.
