Human inquiry and science -& -paradigms, theory, and research PDF

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Chapter 1 Human inquiry and science

College 1 Chapter 1 & 2

— How we know what we know: — Direct experience and observation — Personal inquiry

— Tradition

-HUMAN INQUIRY AND SCIENCE

-& -PARADIGMS,THEORY, AND RESEARCH

— Authority

— Most of what you know is a matter of agreement and

belief; little is based on personal experience and discovery. — The basis of knowledge is agreement.

Looking for reality — The 2 pillars of science are: 1. Logic (it must make sense) 2. Observation (it must correspond with what we observe) — When looking for reality scientists have certain criteria

which must be met before they will accept the reality of something they haven’t personally experienced. — In general, there are 2 criteria: 1. Logical support - must make sense 2. Empirical

observation

support - must not contradict actual

The business of inquiry 1. Epistemology: the science of knowing 2. Methodology (a subfield of epistemology): the science

of finding out; the rules and guidelines followed in social research — Science offers a special approach (methodology) to

discover reality through personal experience i.e. to the business of inquiry.

Ordinary human inquiry

Things “Everyone knows”

— In general people predict their future circumstances by

using (first hand knowledge): - causal reasoning; we generally recognize that future circumstances are somehow caused by present ones (causal reasoning). - probabilistic reasoning; we discovered that the patterns of cause and effect are probabilistic in nature i.e. the effects occur more often when the causes occur than when the causes are absent- but not always. — Science

gives greater explanation of the concepts of causality and (2) probability and provides techniques for dealing with these concepts more strictly. (1)

Errors in inquiry and solutions 4 common errors & solutions — Inaccurate observations; mistakes made when conducting observations — Measurement devices guard against inaccurate observations and add a degree of precision. — Overgeneralization; assuming that few similar events are

evidence of general patterns — Commit to a representative sample of observations and repeat a

study to make sure the same results are produced each time.

— Sources of our secondhand knowledge:

— Tradition — Authority

source of agreement reality status of the discoverer of new

knowledge — Both provide a starting point for inquiry, but can

lead us to start at the wrong point and push us in the wrong direction.

Errors in inquiry and solutions — Selective observation; when we tend to focus on future

events/situations that fit a particular pattern (and ignore those that don’t) — Make an effort to find “deviant cases” that do not fit into the general pattern. — Illogical Reasoning; when assuming that the exception proves

the rule (this make no sense at all) — Use systems of logic consciously and explicitly (in case of contradictions)

Views of reality — The view of reality (what is really real?) has guided

most of human history. —

Premodern view- Things are as they seem to be (to me). Every other point of view is wrong.

—

Modern view- No one is wrong. We see things differently; acknowledgment of human subjectivity.

—

Postmodern view- Everything that one can perceive through his point of view is real; There is no “objective” reality independent of our subjective experiences, therefore no one can perceive reality as it is.

1. Social regularities — Social

scientific theory aims to find patterns/regularities (regelmatigheden) in social life.

Foundations of social science — Both pillars of science (logic & observation) are essential

and relate to 3 major aspects of the overall scientific enterprise: — Theory – logic — Data collection - observation — Data Analysis - comparison of what is logically

expected with what is actually observed — Social science= theory + data collection +

data analysis

2. Aggregates, not individuals — Focus of social science: Explain why aggregated patterns of

behavior are regular even when individuals change over time. — The collective actions and situations of many individuals; not of

Examples of patterns in social life (social regularities): — Only people aged 18 and above can vote.

— Only people with a license can drive. — At a certain age children start their formal education

process (as ordained by the law) — The older some is, the less vital he will be.

individuals per se. — Social scientists create theories of the nature of the group

rather than individual life — De sociale wetenschap onderzoekt dus de werkloosheid

onder individuele hangjongeren als fenomeen onder jongeren en (vaak niet) niet de werkloosheid van 1 (toevallige/specifieke) hangjongere.

3. Variable language

3. Variable language

— Social research involves the study of variables and the

— In social science does not seeks insights into the thoughts of a

attributes that compose them.

particular person, but into classes/types of individuals. — In order to understand more than 1 person, science tries to

place an individual in a set of similar individuals, according to a particular defined concept. — Some common social concepts: female, upper class, young, sex, race, occupation, teacher, etc — Social scientific theories are written in a language of

variables, and people are involved only as the carriers of those variables. Percent saying the political party P.I.N.G. will win the upcoming elections (variable 1)

Level of Education

Less than high school graduate

77%

High school graduate

13%

Junior college

9%

Bachelor’s degree

0.8%

Graduate degree

0.2%

•

Attribute

Age

young, middle aged, old

Gender

female, male

Occupation

doctor, laborer, teacher

Social Class

upper, middle, lower

— Variable: a logical grouping of attributes

— Attribute: A characteristic of a person of thing (of a variable) — The variable sex is made up of 2 attributes: male and female.

Approaches to social research

(variable 2)

Theories describe relationships between variables we might logically expect among (dependent & independent) variables. •

Variable

A(n) (alleged) relationship between level of education and expected winner of the election (causal explanation) Which variable is dependent and which is independent?

1. Idiographic - Seeks to fully understand the causes of

what happened in a single instance. 2. Nomothetic - Seeks to explain a class of situations or events rather than a single one. 1. Induction – Moves from specific observations to the

discovery of a pattern that represents order among all the given events. 2. Deduction - Moves from a pattern that might be logically or theoretically expected to observations that test whether the expected pattern occurs.

Approaches to social research 1. Qualitative data – Non-numerical data 2. Quantitative

data- Numerical data, makes observations more explicit and makes it easier to aggregate, compare, and summarize data.

1. Pure Research - Sometimes justified in terms of

gaining “knowledge for knowledge’s sake.” 2. Applied Research – Putting (scientific) research into

practice.

Chapter 2

Element Elementss off social theor heoryy

— Paradigm: The fundamental models or frames of reference we

use to organize our observations and reasoning. Points of view from which to view life; offers ways of looking — Theory: a systematic explanation for observations (of

variables) that relate to a particular aspect of social life. Aims at explaining what we observe (-observation; see, hear, feel) — Fact: something that has been observed; an idea corresponding

idea with “reality” — Law: universal generalisation about classes of facts; observed

regularities in social life (e.g.: the law of gravity; Gossen’s first law)

Elements of social theory — Theory

Explain observations by means of concepts

the basic blocks of a theory; abstract elements representing classes of phenomena (e.g.: female, age, upper class, young, occupation, social class, gender, race/ethnicity, student, etc..) — Variables = Concepts that have more than one attribute.

(e.g.: the variable gender has 2 attributes: male & female) — Axioms or postulates:

fundamental assertions (beweringen), taken to be true, on which theory is grounded.

Some social science paradigms — Paradigms : a model or frame of reference through which

to observe and (reason) understand. — 2 benefits of knowing that people operate within paradigm: 1. We are better able to understand seemingly bizarre views

and actions. 2. We are able to see new ways of seeing and explaining things by stepping out of our own paradigm. — Paradigms cannot be true or false. They are ways of

looking and can therefore be more or less useful. — Paradigms play a fundamental role is science and in daily life.

Some social science paradigms — Social scientists have developed several paradigms for

understanding social behavior — There are different paradigms that all offer different ways of looking at human behaviour. — Each paradigm makes certain assumptions about the nature of social reality. — Macro theory and Micro theory

— Structural functionalism

— Early Positivism

— Feminist paradigms

— Conflict paradigm — Symbolic interactionism

— Ethnomethodology

— Critical race theory — Rational

Two logical systems revisited — Traditional model of science

3 elements:

(in the order of implementation) 1. Theory 2. Operationalisation

3. Observation

objectivity

reconsidered

Linking Social Scientific Theory and Research Deductive Theory Inductive Theory Construction Construction 1. Pick a topic. — Social scientists construct a theory through the 2. Specify a range of phenomena inductive model by: (verschijnselen) to address. 1. Observe aspects of 3. Identify and specify major social life. concepts and variables. 2. Seek to discover 4. Find out what is known about the patterns (among the relationships among these observed aspects) that variables. point to relatively 5. Reason logically from those universal principles. propositions to the specific topic you are interested in.

Two logical systems revisited

Two logical systems revisited Deduction

Induction

— Applying theory in a

— Reason from observation

particular case — Deriving expectations or hypotheses from theories. — Reason towards observation

— Developing

generalisations from specific observations. — From facts to tentative conclusions (eventually resulting in theory) (*Tentative, because the observations are the source and not the test of the observed pattern.)

Linking Social Scientific Theory and Research — Both the inductive and deductive models are valid in

scientific inquiry. — Both models offer routes to the construction of social theories. — Logic and observation are essential for both models. Linking theory and research — In the deductive model research is used to test theories. — In the inductive model, theories are developed from the analysis of research data.

Two logical systems revisited

Two logical systems revisited

1. Theory

scientists begin with a theory (theoretical expectations) from which they derive testable hypotheses. Theories seek to provide logical explanations

— The deductive model of

scientific inquiry begins with a sometimes vague or general question, which is subjected to a process of specification (theoretical understanding), resulting in hypotheses that can be tested through empirical observations.

Operationalisation: the exact specification of the meanings of all variables (to be measured/tested)

2. —

Develop operational definitions as concrete and specific as possible by specifying the exact definitions that will be used

in order to make observation precise and rigorous (accurate). *When testing an hypothesis, the meaning of variables is exactly and

only what the operational definition specifies.

Two logical systems revisited — Disconfirmability

central quality in any hypothesis

Typically (a prediction/expectation that) states a relationship between 2 variables positive/negative relationship or correlation 3. Observation:

the systematic and rigorous/accurate gathering of data to test the hypothesis.

*Looking at the world and making measurements of what is seen (e.g. survey, content analysis, etc..).

Linking Social Scientific Theory and Research Theory functions three ways in research: 1. Theories helps create questions and therefore prevents us from

being taken in by flukes (toeval). 2. Theories make sense of observed patterns in ways that can suggest

other possibilities, help us anticipate outcomes and design interventions. 3. Theories can direct and shape research efforts, pointing toward likely discoveries through empirical observation. — Research ethics: — researchers must guard against letting their choice of theory or

paradigm bias their research results. — The collective nature of social research offers protection against biased research.

Hypothesis testing — (deductive) Research is designed to test hypotheses

— Proposition: specific conclusions about the relationships

among concepts that are derived from axiomatic groundwork — Hypothesis:

a specified testable expectation about empirical reality that follows from a more general proposition

— Null hypothesis; in connection with hypothesis testing and

tests of statistical significance, H0 that suggests there is no relationship among the variables under study. — After having statistically rejected H0 , you may conclude that

variables are not related....