JMC 1100 1st Edition Lecture 1 What is Social Science?I. The point of social science:a. Understanding of how the world is socially constructed.b. Humans are curious by nature- how and why things work.c. Helps us understand cause and effect, predict future behavior, and understand our place in society.Social Construction TheoryII. Key= Social interaction and use of language construct our realitya. Tries to make sense of what it means to be differentb. Reality is based off of perspectiveIII. Knowledge is limited to our experiencea. Strongly supported by Immanuel Kant4 Methods of Knowing 1. Authoritya) Trusted source, (I.E. book, newspaper, person)b) Can you trust your sources such as Facebook, Fox News? 2. A Prioria) A feeling or a hunch about what is right or wrong 3. Tenacitya) Based on past beliefs and preferences b) Limits our innovations 4. Sciencea) Questions, beliefs, or what is knownb) Done with observation, analysis, and testing.a. Example: Thomas Edison failed 1,000x before successMoving from Knowing to ShowingI. Social science research fills in gaps of knowledgea. Seek answers to understand whyb. Attempts to explain social behaviorThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.II. Study of Social Phenomenaa. Based on logic and observationb. Starts with a hypothesisc. Use a scientific methodIII. Hypothesis: Educated guessIV. Theory: Statements that predicts a relationship between concepts of social phenomenon.a. Predicts and explains behavior of evidenceV. Law: explanation for phenomenon that is constanta. Very rare in media, social behavior changes too much.5 Characteristics of Scientific Methods1. Research is public, not privatea. Research is unbiased and publishedi. Contributes to the sum of human knowledgeb. Private research has an agenda and is biasedc. Research is conducted by many corporations, political causes, and political candidates i. Purpose: to convince you to buy the product and their perspective1. Example: Oxy Clean2. Scientific research is objectivea. Methods increase ruling out bias opinions3. Empiricala. Measurable4. Cumulativea. Knowledge built on previous knowledgei. Example: Smartphone built off of first phone5. Predictivea. Propose hypothesisb. Create theoryBenefits of Scientific MethodI. Modern science reveals truth about highly addictive drugsII. Info only as good as the sourceIII. Scientific method helps us avoid
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