CHAPTER 1 HUMAN INQUIRY AND SCIENCE

Chapter Outline  Looking for Reality  The Foundation of Social Science  Some Dialectics of Social Research  Quick Quiz

Looking for Reality  Knowledge from Agreement Reality  Assertions must be both logical and empirical.  Agreement reality – those things we “know” as part and parcel of the culture we share with those around us.  Epistemology – The science of knowing. Methodology – A subfield of epistemology.

 Ordinary Human Inquiry  Humans want to predict the future. Why? We recognize that the future is caused in part by the present. Cause and effect patterns are probabilistic in nature.  Prediction versus Understanding  Tradition  Authority

 Errors in Inquiry and Some Solutions  Inaccurate Observations Measurement devices offer accuracy.  Overgeneralizations We tend to assume that a few similar events are evidence of a larger pattern Large and representative samples are a safeguard against overgeneralization. Replication – Repeating a research study to test and either confirm or question the findings of an earlier study.

 Selective Observations Avoid looking for “deviant” cases. Does “the exception prove the rule”? Or does this make no sense…  Illogical Reasoning “Gambler’s fallacy” Everyone “knows” that a consistent streak of either good or bad luck foreshadows its opposite! Duh…

 What’s Really Real?  The Premodern View – Things are as they seem.  The Modern View – Acknowledgement of human subjectivity.  The Postmodern View – There is no objective reality.

Figure 1.1 – All of these are the same book, different “points of view”

The Foundations of Social Science  The foundations of (or pillars of) social science are logic and observation.  Scientific understanding must:  1) make sense and  2) correspond with what we observe

Figure 1.4 Social Science = Theory + Data Collection + Data Analysis

 Theory, Not Philosophy or Belief  Social theory has to do with what is, not with what should be.  Theory – A systematic explanation for the observations that relate to a particular aspect of life.  Social science can help us know what is and why.

 Social Regularities  Exceptions?  Don’t rule out the majority of cases. Ex: cousin’s brother’s sister’s aunt’s uncle’s nephew’s third cousin twice removed best friend  Social regularities represent probabilistic patterns.

 Aggregates, Not Individuals  The collective actions and situations of many individuals.  Focus of social science is to explain why aggregated patterns of behavior are regular even when individuals change over time.

 Concepts and Variables  Variables – Logical groupings of attributes. (ex: sex)  Attributes – Characteristics or qualities that describe an object (ex: male or female)

Figure 1.5

Figure 1.6 – Two possible relationships between variables

 Independent Variable – A variable with values that are not problematical in an analysis but are taken as simply given.  Dependent Variable – A variable assumed to depend on or be caused by another.

 The Purposes of Social Research 1. Mapping out a topic that may warrant further study later (exploratory) 2. Describing the state of social affairs (descriptive) 3. Providing reasons for phenomena, in terms of causal relationships (explanatory)

 The Ethics of Human Inquiry

Some Dialectics of Social Research  Idiographic and Nomothetic Explanation  Idiographic – An approach to explanation in which we seek to exhaust the idiosyncratic causes of a particular condition of event. “Idio” means unique, separate, peculiar or distinct Limited to the case at hand  Nomothetic – An approach to explanation in which we seek to identify a few causal factors that generally impact a class of conditions of event. General rather than idiosyncratic “economical” uses fewest explanatory factors.

 Inductive and Deductive Theory  Induction – The logical model in which general principles are developed from specific observations.  Deduction – The logical model in which specific expectations of hypotheses are developed on the basis of general principles.

Wallace Wheel of Science

 Qualitative and Quantitative Data  Qualitative Data – non-numerical data  Quantitative Data – numerical data

 Pure and Applied Research  Pure Research – Gaining “knowledge for knowledge’s sake.”  Applied Research – Putting research into practice.

 The Research Proposal  Introduction (Chapter 1)  Review of the Literature (Chapters 2, 15, Appendix A)  Specify the Problem/Question/Topic (Chapters 5, 6, 12)  Research Design (Chapter 4) Data Collection (Chapters 4, 8, 9, 10, 11) Selection of Subjects (Chapter 7) Ethical Issues (Chapter 3)  Data Analysis (Chapters 13)  Bibliography (Chapter 17, Appendix A)

Quick Quiz

1. The two foundations of science are: A. tradition and observation. B. observation and logic. C. logic and theory. D. theory and observation. E. logic and generalization.

Answer: B. The two foundations of science are observation and logic.

2. Science… A. deals with what should be and not with what is. B. can settle debates on value. C. is exclusively descriptive. D. has to do with disproving philosophical beliefs. E. has to do with how things are and why.

Answer: E. Science has to do with how things are and why.

3. When social scientists study variables, they focus on A. attributes. B. groups. C. people. D. characteristics. E. relationships.

Answer: E. When social scientists study variables, they focus on relationships.

4. _____ is the science of knowing. A. Intelligence B. Exam taking C. Epistemology D. Methodology E. Relationships

Answer: C. Epistemology is the science of knowing.

5. Which of the following are true of tradition and authority? A. They both assist human inquiry. B. They both hinder human inquiry. C. Both of the above are true. D. Neither of the above are true.

Answer: C. Tradition and authority both assist and hinder human inquiry.

6. _____ explanations seek to exhaust the idiosyncratic causes of a particular condition of event. A. Idiographic B. Latent C. Manifest D. Nomothetic

Answer: A. Idiographic explanations seek to exhaust the idiosyncratic causes of a particular condition or event.