Sociology 690 – Midterm
Answer three of the
following four questions:
1. Epistemology is a
multidimensional concept in the sense that it is used to describe both Rationalists,
for whom knowledge is tied to logic and reasoning, as well as Empiricists,
whose conception of knowledge is tied to sensory experience. Discuss the history of such a dichotomy, in
the light of our lectures and your readings.
Given such a distinction, would Kuhn argue the concept of a “paradigm
shift” evolves from the failure of logic or the failure of experience?
2. Measurement is at the heart of the
scientific method. In light of such an
assertion, discuss how measurement is applied and how we assess the consistency
and accuracy of such measurements? Be
sure in your answer to articulate both the levels of measurements, and types of
variables and describe how they influence the assessment of reliability and
validity? In your discussion, please
address how the logic of metrics differs from the measurement of phenomena
(i.e. is the “measurement” of variables different from the “variables”
themselves).
3. Social science is in a constant struggle to
control exogenous sources of variation, which often manifests itself in
sacrificing experimental realism in favor of mundane realism; in sampling the
right people at the expense of controlling the variables; in short, between
internal vs. external validity. Discuss
the trade-offs in evoking each of these alternative controls, both from a
theoretical, procedural and practical viewpoint. Provide an example of how these trade-offs
might play out in “real life” research.
4. There are essentially three procedures
available to sociologists to collect information. We can ask someone to self report, ask a
third party to report or utilize one of two alternative non-reactive
methods. Flesh out this typology by naming
each procedure and giving a summary of these four types of data collection
strategies. Which procedure is most
commonly used in sociology and under what conditions would the others be
invoked? Be sure in your answer to give
not only a definition, but identify the alternative forms of each procedure,
the contexts in which they are used and the rationales for each.