Graded Unit Essay Flashcards
Outline basic essay structure.
- describe two principles of the enlightenment
- describe two features of common sense thinking vs. Social science thinking
- describe the following
- data types and evaluation
- reading types
- objectivity, reliability and validity
- positivism vs. interpretivism
- research model + ways of collecting data
- describe the key problems social scientists face in producing reliable and valid results
- origins of funding
- plagiarism
- professional vanity
- observer bias
what philosophical remark captures the core values of the enlightenment?
‘dare to know’, I. Kant
name the two core principles of the enlightenment
rationalism and reason
what is rationalism?
the principle of basing action + opinion on reason and knowledge instead of on religious belief or emotional response.
what sociologist bridged the gap between the natural and social sciences?
Compte, with his ‘body of social facts’
what three things did the research model adopted from the natural sciences, allow the social scientists?
objectivity, reliability and validity
what evidence do the social sciences produce compared to common sense?
social sciences - empirical
common sense - anecdotal/analogical
the social sciences are ______, common sense is ______ and _____ laden.
the social sciences are OBJECTIVE, common sense is SUBJECTIVE and BIAS laden.
why do the social sciences produce empirical evidence?
research process adopted from the natural sciences
the social sciences are constantly _____, common sense is _____ and _______ held.
the social sciences are constantly SCRUTINISED, common sense is ACCEPTED and COMMONLY held.
define primary data and give an example
- first hand accounts
- originate from the source
- personally generated
a researcher conducting an experiment
define secondary data and give an example
- second hand recounts
- primary data that has been used to inform another piece of work
using government statistics for an essay
define and give an example of primary reading
- eye witness accounts
- autobiographies
Anne Frank’s Diary by Anne Frank
define and give an example of secondary reading
- description of past events
- biographies
Barack Obama by D. Maraniss
give strengths and weaknesses of primary data
strengths
+ can either be qualitative or quantitative
+ gives rich personal account
+ gives people a chance for their view to be heard
weaknesses
- one person = possible bias and subjectivity
- inaccurate as bits can be forgotten or embellished
give strengths and weaknesses of secondary data
strengths \+ can either be qualitative or quantitative \+ can be accessed quickly \+ inexpensive \+ can accumulate several sources
weaknesses
- data can be altered
- statistics can go out of date
- inaccuracy as not personally there
describe interpretivism
- favour qualitative data
- the world is understood through the meaning we attach to things (verstehen, Weber)
- the individuals behaviour can be understood as a response to how we think others would want us to behave (Cooley’s ‘looking glass self’)
describe positivism
- favour quantitative data
- the world is understood through the laws of nature outlined by the hard sciences
- the individuals behaviour can be understood as a feature of scientifically measurable cause and effect relationship
describe reliability
- is the degree of consistency in a measure
- a finding which after an experiment has been repeated numerous times, the result remains the same
describe validity
- the extent to which the researcher has actually measured what they set out measure
how does the origins of funding affect social scientists ability to produce valid and reliable results?
researchers may look for certain results so that they don’t lose their funding
give an example of how the origins of funding have affected social scientists research
D. Nuttall, drugs advisor to the labour government, found more people died from horse riding accidents than ecstasy, didn’t fit in with the government at the time
what type of companies present problems with origins of funding for social scientists?
tobacco and confectionery
What does ‘Bad Science’ by B. Goldacre offer?
a scrutiny of mainstream media reporting on matters of health and science
