Slides

1. GEOG 420 / POL 420 / SOC 420
Spring 2018

8.  Referring to individuals who are socially or
politically defined as producers of knowledge
 Examples:
 Oracles
 Religious Figures
 Kings
 How do you discredit an authority?

9. Chairman Mao Zedong’s “Little Red Book” served
as a guidebook for proper behavior and thought.

11.  Obtained from supposed supernatural beings
(e.g. prophets, mediums, etc.)
 Existence of supernatural events
and psychological state of consumer
Nostradamus Joseph Smith

13.  Strict adherence to logic
 Main Assumptions:
 (1) Humans understand world independent of
observable phenomena
 (2) Forms of knowledge are independent of
personal experiences
 Scientific knowledge is threat

15. INSTRUCTIONS:
Write down terms, concepts, ideas, etc.
that come to mind when you hear this word.
SCIENCE

16.  Is science a prestigious
undertaking?
 Is science the compilation
of a body of knowledge?
 Is science the objective
research of empirical
phenomena?

17. A set of logical, systematic, documented methods
for investigating nature and natural processes, and
the knowledge produced by these investigations.

18. Astrology is considered a pseudoscience.
Pseudoscience: Claims are presented appearing scientific,
even though they lack supporting evidence.

20.  #1: Nature is Orderly
 Example: Newtonian Laws of Motion
 #2: We Can Know Nature
 Human behavior can be explained
 Humans exhibit patterns conducive to investigation

21.  #3: Natural Phenomena Have Natural Causes
 #4: Nothing is Self-Evident
 #5: Knowledge Based on Experience
 Importance of Perception
 #6: Knowledge is Superior to Ignorance
 Knowledge for knowledge’s sake
 Findings open to continual review

24.  Explanations for “Why?” questions
DEDUCTIVE REASONING
Specific expectations are
deduced from a general theory..
INDUCTIVE REASONING
General theries are drawn
from specific data.
X causingY
Sample  Population
Cannot be 10o% certain.
(95% is good enough)
Socrates Transitive Property

26.  “Gold standard” of science
 You have made predictions today.
 X causesY X is present Can predictY

28. SEPARATE INFLUENCES
 Natural and social sciences
are separate bodies of
knowledge
 Objective and subjective
nature of behavior
 Definition of Social Science
UNIFIED SCIENCE
 Social and natural sciences
studied and investigated
with same approaches

30. ARISTOTLE FRANCIS BACON

31. Popper believed that theories are tentative “conjectures,”
rather than universal laws assumed to be true

32.  “Normal Science”
 “Revolutionary Science”
 How does a “revolution”
occur in science?

34.  What is “methodology?”
 Methodological Change in Political Science
 Traditional / Historical Approach (1930-1960)
 “Behavioral Revolution” / Empirical Approach (1960s)
 Perestroika Movement (2000s)
 Why methodology?

36.  Observing
 Errors: Selective Observation; InaccurateObservation
 Generalizing
 Error: Overgeneralization
 Reasoning
 Error: Illogical Reasoning
 Reevaluating
 Error: Resistance to Change
 Why might this occur?

39.  Policy Motivations
 Academic Motivations
 Personal Motivations

41.  Descriptive Research
 Defines and describes social phenomena
 Exploratory Research
 Investigation of phenomena without expectations
 Explanatory Research
 Identifies causes and effects of social phenomena
 Evaluation Research
 Determines effects of social programs, etc.

43.  Quantitative Analysis
 Large “N”
 Mathematics and Statistical Methods
 General Patterns of Human Behavior
 Qualitative Analysis
 Small “N”
 Few Cases / Observations
 Field Studies, Interviewing, Direct Observation

47. STRENGTHS
 Overcomes errors in
reasoning
 Clarity of opinion
 Accumulation of
knowledge
 Expansion of knowledge
LIMITATIONS
 Different interpretations
 Different results
 Complexity of social world