CHAPTER 1

Human Inquiry and Science

Looking for Reality
Knowledge from Agreement Reality
• How do we know what is real?
A scientific assertion must have both logical and empirical support
It must make sense, and it must not contradict actual observation
Agreement reality are things we “know” as part of the culture we share with those around us

Ordinary Human Inquiry

• Practically, all people exhibit a desire to predict
We recognize that the future is, in part, caused by the present
Cause-and-effect patterns are probabilistic in nature
• Prediction versus Understanding

Tradition: knowledge based on shared cultural understandings

Authority: knowledge based on the status of the discoverer
Looking for Reality
Errors in Inquiry and Some Solutions
• Inaccurate Observations
Measurement devices help guard against inaccuracy

• Overgeneralizations
Large, 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
One avoids looking for “deviant” observations or cases

• Illogical Reasoning
“Gambler’s fallacy”
Use systems of logic consciously and explicitly
The Foundations of Social Science
The foundations of social science are “logic” (must make sense) and “observation”
(must correspond with what we observe)

Theory, Not Philosophy or Belief

Theory – a systematic explanation for the observations that relate to a particular aspect of life
• Social theory has to do what is, not with what should be
• Science cannot be used to settle value debates
• Social science can help know what is and why

Social Regularities
• Social science theory/research aims to find patterns in social life
The Charge of Triviality
• Documenting the obvious is a valuable function of any science
• The obvious all to often turns out to be wrong
The Foundations of Social Science
Social Regularities
What about Exceptions?
• Just because there are exceptions to a social regularity does not mean the regularity is unreal or
unimportant

People Could Interfere

• The conscious will of social actors to upset social regularities does not pose a serious challenge to
social science.

Aggregates, Not Individuals

• Social scientists study primarily social patterns rather than individual ones
These patterns reflect the collective actions and situations of many individuals
• Social science theories try to explain why aggregated patterns of behavior are regular, even when
individuals change over time
The Foundations of Social Science
The Foundations of Social Science
Concepts and Variables
• Attributes – Characteristics or qualities that describe people or things
• Variables – Logical groupings of attributes
The variable sex is made up of the attributes male and female.
• Independent Variable versus Dependent Variable
Independent variable – a variable with values that are not problematical in an analysis but are
taken as simply given; presumed to cause or determine a dependent variable
Dependent variable – a variable assumed to depend on or be caused by another (independent
variable)

• Unit of Measurement
• Unit of Analysis
Most studies have a single unit of analysis
Multilevel/hierarchical model
The Foundations of Social Science

Variables and Attributes

• In social research and theory, both variables and
attributes represent social concepts
• Variables are sets of related attributes
(categories, values)
The Foundations of Social Science

Variables and Attributes

• Variable 1: Education, with the
attributes of “educated” and
“uneducated”
• Variable 2: Prejudice, with the
attributes of “prejudiced” and
“unprejudiced”
The Foundations of Social Science

The Purposes of Social Research

• Exploratory
Mapping out a topic that may warrant further study later

• Descriptive
An empirical assessment of the state of affairs

• Explanatory
Providing reasons for phenomena in terms of causal relationships
Some Dialectics of Social Research

Determinism versus Agency

Determinism – the influence of particular social environments and conditions
Agency – the influence of individual “choice” or “free will”
Tolerance for Ambiguity – the ability to hold conflicting ideas in your mind
simultaneously

Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Qualitative Data – non-numerical data
Quantitative Data – numerical data
The Research Proposal

For Babbie’s Book

Introduction (Chapter 1)
Review of the Literature (Chapters 2, 17, Appendix A)
Specifying the Problem/Question/Topic (Chapters 5, 6, 12)
Research Design (Chapter 4)
Data Collection (Chapters 4, 8-11)
Selection of Subjects (Chapter 7)
Ethnic Issues (Chapter 3)
Data Analysis (Chapters 13-16)
Bibliography (Chapter 17)