How Social Scientists Do Their Work:

A Hypothesis is an educated guess which starts an investigation/ that you hope to prove

How many households are like yours (NY Times)

Social science works through Classifying common characteristics and criteria.

BOING example

Quantitative Research: The systematic empirical (observable, verifiable) investigation of social phenomena using STATISTICAL, MATHEMATICAL, or COMPUTATIONAL techniques

Coffee: The Greatest Addiction

world consumes 300 tonnes of caffeine
1 cup/ man, woman, child
only grown in the coffee belt
America #1 buyer and buys 100% of all coffee
40 bean for 1 shot
1 Latte per pound = death

Quantitative data can be skewed to seem like a large percent when in reality it is a small number (This is why analyzation is CRUCIAL!!)

Qualitative research: relies on in depth studies of small groups of people to guide and support the hypothesis

This results in a descriptive research rather than the predictive research.

The Other - A person, or foreign concept that does not reflect you

Focus Group: A form a qualitative research. A group of people are interviewed together and are encouraged to discuss the research question with one another.
Field Observation: any research done outside a laboratory. Involves a range of informal interviews, direct observation, participation…etc.

Generally qualitative, has elements of quantitative research

Critical Ethnography (Anthropology)

“ask ‘what is this?’ but also ‘what could this be?’” - Jim Thomas

basically ethnography with a political intent
combines the process of observation and data with critical studies. - a process of asking questions critical of the status quo and society in general therefore having an interest in transformational politics, human rights, equity…etc
Participant Observation: A sociological research methodology in which the researcher takes on a role (Sociological or Anthropological)

Experiments:

simulations done in a lab to try to explain social phenomena

Zimbardo Prison Experiment
Milligram’s Shock/teacher experiment

Paradigm Shift: A perspective change

Ex. instead of finance influencing all decisions, make the environment the centre.

Biologically friendly fertilizers
definition: A fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions

Social Change:

Three main sources of social change:

- Invention: new products, ideas, and social patterns that affect the way people live

- Discovery: Finding something that was previously unknown a culture.

- Diffusion: spreading ideas and methods from one culture to another.

Enculturation: Process by which members of a culture learn and internalize shared ideas, values, and beliefs

Classification of Cultures: Various aspects of a culture can be classified as follows…

Physical environment
Level of Technology
Social Organization
Systems and Symbols

Psychological Question:

behaviour vs attitude (our behaviours are very different from our attitudes)

Strive for cognitive consistency

We crave for cognitive consistency, and dislike cognitive distance
Solve this by changing attitudes or just go with the flow and YOLO (smoking: it may give me lug cancer, but my grandmother smoked and lived until 95!)

Sociological questions:

Where did these theories come from/originate?

Decay - materialistic
Reductionist-
Determinist : 1 nature of change (only one thing will change us)
Patriarchy - most societies are lead by men
KARL MARX : determined all problems in society are caused by wealth (reductionist view)

Analyzing Patterns of Behaviour:

Directions of change: two major directions (positive and negative)
Rate of change: Slow, Moderate, Fast
Sources: exogenous ( influences from other cultures) endogenous (from inside)
Controllability:

Micro sociology

Cognitive consistency : go to church, feel like you belong (sticking to the status quo)

How does this cognitive constancy effect the group posed to how it affects the individual.

“Small Order sociology”

Macro sociology

The study of large groups

the effect that large groups have on an individual

Social Paradigm shift: New ideas and beliefs influence society
EX: The media: “terrorism” - through media there is the spread of fear about terrorists

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How social scientists do their work/ Social Science