1、Chapter 2Paradigms,Theory,And ResearchChapter OutlineIntroductionSome Social Science ParadigmsElements of Social TheoryTwo Logical Systems RevisitedDeductive Theory Construction Inductive Theory ConstructionThe Links Between Theory and ResearchTheory and ResearchTheory functions three ways in resear
2、ch:1.Theories prevent our being taken in by flukes.2.Theories make sense of observed patterns in ways that can suggest other possibilities.3.Theories can direct research efforts,pointing toward likely discoveries through empirical observation.QuestionWhich of the following do theories seek to provid
3、e?A.personal experienceB.discoveryC.correlationsD.logical explanationsAnswer:DTheories seek to provide logical explanations.ParadigmsA model or framework for observation and understanding,which shapes both what we see and how we understand it.The conflict paradigm causes us to see social behavior on
4、e way,the interactionist paradigm causes us to see it differently.We can see new ways of seeing and explaining things when we step outside our paradigm.Social Science Paradigms:MacrotheoryMacrotheory deals with large,aggregate entities of society or whole societies.Struggle between economic classes,
5、international relationsSocial Science Paradigms:MicrotheoryMicrotheory deals with issues at the level of individuals and small groups.Dating behavior,jury deliberations,student faculty interactionsSocial Science Paradigms:Social DarwinismComtes view that science would replace religion and metaphysic
6、s by basing knowledge on observations.Comte coined positivism,in contrast to what he regarded as negative elements in the Enlightenment.Social Science Paradigms:ConflictMarx suggested social behavior could be seen as the process of conflict:Attempt to dominate others.Attempt to avoid domination.Soci
7、al Science Paradigms:Symbolic Interactionism Interactions revolve around individuals reaching understanding through language and other systems.Can lend insights into the nature of interactions in ordinary social life.Social Science Paradigms:EthnomethodologyPeople are continuously trying to make sen
8、se of the life they experience.One technique is to break the rules and violate peoples expectations.Social Science Paradigms:Structural FunctionalismA social entity,such as an organization,can be viewed as an organism.A social system is made up of parts,each of which contributes to the functioning o
9、f the whole.This view looks for the“functions”served by the various components of society.Social Science Paradigms:FeminismFocuses on gender differences and how they relate to the rest of social organization.Draws attention to the oppression of women in many societies,and sheds light on all kinds of
10、 oppression.Question _ are fundamental frames of reference.A.perspectivesB.theoriesC.paradigmsD.methodsAnswer:CParadigms are fundamental frames of reference.Question_ can lend insights into the nature of interactions in ordinary social life.A.symbolic interactionismB.conflict theoryC.structural func
11、tionalismD.feminist theoryE.none of these choicesAnswer:ASymbolic interactionism can lend insights into the nature of interactions in ordinary social life.Womens Ways of Knowing5 perspectives on knowing that challenge the view of inquiry as straightforward:1.Silence:Some women feel isolated from kno
12、wledge,their lives are largely determined by external authorities.Womens Ways of Knowing2.Received knowledge:Women feel comfortable taking in knowledge from external authorities.3.Subjective knowledge:Open to the possibility of personal,subjective knowledge,including intuition.Womens Ways of Knowing
13、4.Procedural knowledge:Learning how to gain knowledge through objective procedures.5.Constructed knowledge:Women view knowledge as contextual,experience themselves as creators of knowledge and value subjective and objective ways of knowing.Social Science Paradigms:Critical Race TheoryIn the mid-1970
14、s,civil rights activists and social scientists began the codification of a paradigm based on a commitment to racial justice.The concept of interest convergence suggests that laws will only be changed to benefit African Americans if those changes further the interests of whites.Asch ExperimentPurpose
15、 was to see whether subjects were swayed by pressure to go along with an incorrect answer.Initial experiments,found that a little over 1/3 of subjects were.Elements of Social TheoryTheories are systematic sets of interrelated statements intended to explain some aspect of social life.A paradigm offer
16、s a way of looking,a theory aims at explaining what we see.In social research,observation refers to seeing,hearing,andless commonlytouching.Elements of Social TheorySocial scientists use fact to refer to a phenomenon that has been observed.Scientists organize many facts under“rules”called laws.A var
17、iable is a special kind of concept.Axioms or postulates are assertions,taken to be true,on which a theory is grounded.Elements of Social TheoryPropositions are specific conclusions,derived from the axiomatic groundwork,about the relationships among concepts.A hypothesis is a specified testable expec
18、tation about empirical reality that follows from a more general proposition.Research is designed to test hypotheses.Question _ is/are systematic sets of interrelated statements intended to explain some aspect of social life.A.answersB.knowledgeC.practicalityD.theoriesE.truthAnswer:DTheories are syst
19、ematic sets of interrelated statements intended to explain some aspect of social life.Traditional Model of ScienceThere are three main elements in the traditional model of science:TheoryOperationalization-Developing operational definitions,or specifying the exact operations involved in measuring a v
20、ariable.Observation -Looking at the world and making measurements of what is seen.Operational DefinitionThe concrete and specific definition of something in terms of the operations by which observations are to be categorized.The Traditional Image of ScienceThe deductive model of scientific inquiry b
21、egins with a sometimes vague or general question,which is subjected to a process of specification,resulting in hypotheses that can be tested through empirical observations.Null HypothesisIn connection with hypothesis testing and tests of statistical significance,that hypothesis that suggests there i
22、s no relationship among the variables under study.You may conclude that the variables are related after having statistically rejected the null hypothesis.Linking Social Scientific Theory and Research1.Deduction-Deriving expectations or hypotheses from theories.2.Induction-Developing generalizations
23、from specific observations.Deductive Theory Construction1.Pick a topic.2.Specify a range:Will your theory apply to all of human social life,only certain ages?3.Identify major concerns and variables.4.Find out what is known about the relationships among the variables.5.Reason from those propositions
24、to the topic you are interested in.Inductive Theory Constructionsocial scientists construct a theory through the inductive method by observing aspects of social life and seeking to discover patterns that point to relatively universal principles.Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss(1967)used the term gro
25、unded theory for this method.Field research,direct observation of events in progress,is frequently used to develop theories through observation.Quick Quiz1.The three main elements of the traditional model of science are A.theory,operationalization,observation.B.operationalization,hypothesis testing,
26、theory.C.observation,experimentation,operationalization.D.theory,observation,hypothesis testing.E.experimentation,hypothesis testing,theory.Answer:AThe three main elements of the traditional model of science are theory,operationalization,observation.2.Which of the following is the best example of a
27、hypothesis?A.The greater the level of education,the greater the tolerance for alternative lifestyles.B.Socialization in childhood has a significant impact on adolescent gender-role identity.C.There are more female than male college students.D.Religiosity equals frequency of church attendance and pra
28、ying.E.Actions are based on perceived costs and rewards.Answer:AThe following is the best example of a hypothesis:The greater the level of education,the greater the tolerance for alternative lifestyles.3.The paradigm that accounts for the impact of economic conditions on family structures isA.symbol
29、ic interactionism.B.structural functionalism.C.positivism.D.conflict.E.ExchangeAnswer:BThe paradigm that accounts for the impact of economic conditions on family structures is structural functionalism.4.Which of the following is not a step in deductive theory construction?Or are they all steps?A.spe
30、cify the topicB.identify the major concepts and variablesC.identify propositions about the relationships among those variablesD.reason logically from those propositions to the specific topic one is examiningE.all are stepsAnswer:BThe following is not a step in deductive theory construction:identify the major concepts and variables.
