Paradigms of Research

1. Paradigms of Research

2. Paradigms • Frames of reference we use to organize our observations and reasoning. • Often implicit, assumed, taken for granted. • Become entrenched, resisting change • Shift requires revolutionary change in view • New paradigms proposes unique ways of seeing and explaining things that then take hold

3. Macrotheory and Microtheory • Macrotheory deals with large, aggregate entities of society or even whole societies. • Struggle between economic classes, international relations, interrelations among major institutions • Microtheory deals with issues of social life at the level of individuals and small groups. • Social interactions, collective deliberation, social perceptions, sense-making

4. Positivism • View that science would replace religion (belief) and metaphysics (logic) by basing knowledge on observation through senses • All social research descends from Comte’s view that society could be studied scientifically. • Coined the term “sociologie” - study of society • Coined the term positivism, in contrast to what he regarded as negative elements of his age.

5. Social Darwinism • Influence of Darwin’s Origin of Species • Process of evolution through natural selection • Scholars began to apply Darwin’s ideas to changes in the structure of human society. • Shift to progressively “fitter” forms of society. • “Survival of the fittest” - Herbert Spencer • Arguably a misapplication of biological theory

6. Conflict Theory • Karl Marx asserted social behavior could be seen as the process of conflict • To dominate and avoid being dominated. • Focus on struggle among classes • Social Relations of Production • Capitalism and Alienation • Class Struggle and Hegemony

7. Symbolic Interactionism • Interactions revolve around the process of individuals reaching understanding through language and other systems - Mead & Cooley • Meaning - Definition • Language - Symbol System • Thought - Negotiation • Can lend insights into the nature of interactions in ordinary social life, and help understand unusual forms of interaction.

8. Structural Functionalism • A social entity, such as an organization or a whole society, can be viewed as an organism. • A social system is made up of parts, each of which contributes to the functioning of the whole, each serves a purpose. • This view looks for the “functions” served by the various components of society.

9. Feminism • Focuses on gender differences and how they relate to social organization • Attend to women’s oppression in societies, as well as other kinds of oppression • Critique of patriarchal structure • Critique of dominant social order and norms

10. Social Cognition • Study of mental processes underlying social perception, judgment, and influence • Human perception and judgment prone to systematic biases and distortions • Conceive of the social world based on “what is at the top of our heads” • Schemata - categories of knowledge • These categories structure understanding

11. Group Exercise • Get in groups of three and discuss what paradigm you would use to study the relationships between news media and advertisers… • Be sure to explain what insights this paradigm would provide • Five minutes and then collective discussion

12. Traditional Model of Science • Four elements: theory, conceptualization operationalization, and observation. • Develop a Theory. • Conceptualize it components • Develop operational definitions that specify the process involved in measuring a variable. • Observe and measure of what is seen.

13. Generating Theories • Theory: • A “generalizable” explanation • An organized framework of knowledge • Identifying: • Antecedent factors and processes • Consequent factors and processes • Contingent conditions

14. Hypotheses • Testable statements derived from theories • Observations used to test hypotheses • Hypotheses “supported” or “not supported” • Not “proven” or “disproven” • When hypotheses are not supported: • Theory is considered falsified (not useful)

15. Purpose of Systematiziation • Designed to yield “objective” knowledge • Different researchers using the same procedures would produce: • A. Similar results • B. Similar conclusions • Known as “inter-subjectivity”

16. Importance of “Control” • Control in scientific observation: • Isolating cause and effect • Controlling for extraneous factors • Removing the biases of the observer • Clear conceptual and operational definitions

17. Knowledge Accumulation • Identifying, defining, refining concepts: • Operating on two levels: • 1. Concrete empirical observations • 2. Abstract, generalizable terms: • E.g., “social conflict,” “social capital,” or “social status” • E.g., “attitudes,” “motivations,” or “perceptions” • Integration of the concrete and abstract

18. Nature of Scientific Evidence • 1. Gathered under controlled conditions • Specified conditions of observation, procedures • Permits replication by other scientists • 2. Evidence considered tentative • Results could have occurred by chance • Statistics used to estimate probability that results occurred by chance • Margin of error and confidence intervals • 3. Evidence describes patterns that are generalizable • Evidence yields inferences to other situations

19. Frankfurt School Critique of Social Science • 1. Inappropriateness of mechanistic approaches • “Hard” science approach adapted to human behavior • Humans not as predictable as molecules • 2. Some important concepts hard to measure: • E.g., intelligence, social class, class struggle • 3. Focuses only on what currently exists • Ignores possibilities of what could be • 4. Instrumental nature of knowledge collected • Knowledge may reinforce rather than critique existing relations of power in society