gay Flashcards
Positivism
A method of study based on observing facts, measuring them, and establishing a cause and effect relationship
Social facts
The institutions, beliefs and values of society which exist outside of individuals as well as within them.
Hypothetico-deductive model
The research process associated with the physical sciences and used by positivists in sociology.
Inductive approach
Developing theories from evidence
Deductive approach
Beginning with a theory and using evidence to test that theory.
Falsification
The process of testing a theory against evidence and showing the theory to be false.
Normal science
Science which operates within an established paradigm
Paradigm
A framework of concepts and theories which states how the natural world operates
Scientific revolution
The overthrow of an established paradigm by a new paradigm.
Realist approach
Assumes that events in both the natural and social worlds are produced by underlying structures and mechanisms.
Closed system
A system in which all the variables can be controlled.
Open system
A system in which it is not possible to control all the variables.
Interpretive sociologists
Those whose approach to sociology and research and research emphasises understanding society by exploiting the way people see society, rather than following traditional scientific analysis.
Grounded theory
An approach to theory construction in which theory is generated during research.
Meaning
The word used by Blumer to describe the sense people make of a particular situation.
