Epistemology

Question 1

Deals with different ways of knowing the truth

Answer 1

Epistemology

Question 2

Empirical

Answer 2

Uses the five senses to prove that something is true

Question 3

Five Epistemologies

Answer 3

1. Positivism
2. Interpretive Hermeneutic
3. Critical
4. Modern
5. Postmodern

Question 4

Positivism

Answer 4

• deductive process of establishing reality
• generalist
• universalist
• objective
• borrowed from biological or natural science

Question 5

Interpretive Hermeneutic

Answer 5

• subjective
• you cannot generalize reality
• relative
• deals with specific/unique realities and cultures
• originated from linguistics and literature

Question 6

Critical

Answer 6

• looks at class conflict
• deals with inequality

Question 7

Modern

Answer 7

• centralized belief
• everything is dictated by powerful institutions (church and government)

Question 8

Postmodern

Answer 8

• fragmentation
• integration/mixing
• higher decentralization
• combination of hermeneutic and critical perspectives

Question 9

Implications of Postmodernity

Answer 9

1. no anchorage –> does not need scientific validity
2. you can assert in reality

Question 10

Philosophical theory of knowledge

Answer 10

Epistemology

Question 11

Four Themes and Problems of Epistemology

Answer 11

1. Valid Knowledge
2. Nature of Validity
3. Foundation of Knowledge: reason or experience and senses
4. Different Types of Knowledge and the Limits of Knowledge

Question 12

Science is deemed to be valid bacause

Answer 12

measurable
certifiable
empirical
tangible

Question 13

The type of knowledge when it is founded on reason

Answer 13

universal
objective

Question 14

The type of knowledge when it is founded on experience and the senses

Answer 14

subjective
cannot be universalized

Question 15

Why can’t knowledge be universalized according to knowledge that is founded on experience and the senses?

Answer 15

Different contexts –> Different experiences –> Different meanings

Question 16

Should knowledge just be limited to science?

Answer 16

No –> marginalizing and prejudicial

Question 17

IKSP

Answer 17

Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices

Question 18

Where did Science start?

Answer 18

Germany and French

Question 19

Discipline of Gnoseology

Answer 19

General

Question 20

The theory of knowledge that originated in Germany

Answer 20

restricted to scientific knowledge

Question 21

Four Main Issues of Epistemological Paradigm in a sociological POV

Answer 21

1. Object of Social Sciences (social reality) vs Object of Natural Sciences (natural reality)
2. Most appropriate gnoseological procedure to study and understand social reality
3. Knowledge on social reality generalizable
4. Causality between social events

Question 22

Basis of social sciences during its early days

Answer 22

framework of natural sciences
- not concerned with human rights/ethics
- objective
- scientific

Question 23

Tools of Social Sciences

Answer 23

FGD
interviews
participant-observation
survey

Question 24

Is knowledge on social reality generalizable?

Answer 24

not universal all throughout time –> society is dynamic
theories are not applicable to all phenomena
there are always inconsistencies and debates
data is qualitative –> empirical and scientific but not generalizable

Question 25

Can causality be studied by social science?

Answer 25

Correlations of social events but cause and effect is the concern of natural science

Question 26

Reality according to Scientific or Positivism Perspective

Answer 26

- society --> orderly system - social institutions --> functional - must be maintained (status quo) - patterned from a biological system - "out there" --> measurable; objective; without context

Question 27

Research according to Scientific or Positivism Perspective

Answer 27

- empiricism - objectivity - validity --> alignment of the findings and methods to the research question - reliability --> same results when replicated - quantitative - nomothetic

Question 28

Meaning of hermeneutic

Answer 28

"Interpretation of Meaning"

Question 29

Reality according to Interpretive or Hermeneutic Perspective

Answer 29

- on-going interaction that is facilitated by language --> meaning is socially constructed and dynamic - socially constructed --> subjective reality

Question 30

How does language create different social realities?

Answer 30

Different languages are used in different places that have different cultures.

Question 31

Research according to Interpretive or Hermeneutic Perspective

Answer 31

- qualitative - specifics and unique characteristics - produce thick and textual descriptions

Question 32

Reality according to Critical or Liberative Perspective

Answer 32

- pattern of inequality

Question 33

Research according to Critical or Liberative Perspective

Answer 33

- bring out desired change - qualitative and quantitative - activist

Question 34

Reality according to Postmodern Perspective

Answer 34

- unstable and ambiguous reality - language and discourses shapes power and at the same time creates power relations - challenges belief in reason and rationality

Question 35

Research according to Postmodern Perspective

Answer 35

- Introspective - Anti-objectivist - Observer can never be neutral