The Basics of Social Research 2/e

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The Basics of Social Research 2/e

• Babbie

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Chapter 1Human Inquiry and Science

• Looking For Reality
• The Foundations of Social Science Logic and
  Observation
• Some Dialectics of Social Research

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How We Know What We Know

• Direct Experience and Observation
• Personal Inquiry
• Tradition
• Authority

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Looking for Reality

• Two Criteria
• Logical support - must make sense
• Empirical support - must not contradict actual
  observation.

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Errors in Personal Inquiry

• Inaccurate observations
• Overgeneralization
• Selective observation
• Illogical Reasoning

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Views of Reality

• Premodern - Things are as they seem to be.
• Modern - Acknowledgment of human subjectivity.
• Postmodern -There is no objective reality to be
  observed.

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Aspects of the Scientific Enterprise

• Theory - deals with logic.
• Data collection - deals with observation.
• Data Analysis - deals with the comparison of what
  is logically expected with what is actually
  observed.

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Social Regularities

• Patterns in social life
• Examples
• Only people aged 18 and above can vote.
• Only people with a license can drive.

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Aggregates

• The collective actions and situations of many
  individuals.
• Focus of social science is to explain why
  aggregated patterns of behavior are so regular
  even when the individuals change over time.

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Variables and Attributes
Variable Attribute
Age young, middle aged, old
Gender female, male
Occupation doctor, laborer, teacher
Social Class upper, middle, lower