Module 5 Flashcards
(14 cards)
What does Situated Knowledge consist of ?
- rejects the god-trick of a universal objective vantage point
- argues ALL knowledge is “partial and located” shaped by the knower’s historical and social position
- objectivity is not about detachment but about Embracing partial perspectives and reflexibility
Describe Sandra Harding’s contribution to the philosphy of science
- Marginalized Perspective
- women’s experiences uncover biases that mainstream, male-centric science overlooks - Strong Objectivity
- suggests that including diverse social positions yield more reliable, less biased scientific knowledge - Feminist Methodology
- classical scientific methods often ignore the effects of power relations on the research process
Define Meta-theoretical perspective
it is a higher-level framework that guides how we theorize about phenomena in a discipline
Explain the difference between Theory and Meta-theory
while theory explains scientific social processes, a meta-theory discusses how we should develop and evaluate theories in the first place
What do Meta-Theories do?
- Define research boundaries
- highlight hidden assumptions
- promote reflexibility
- Enhance dialogue
- Influence policy and practice
What are the Perspectives on Meta-Theories
COLLABORATIVE PERSPECTIVE
different lenses can be complementary, revealing multiple layers of social reality
TENSION PERSPECTIVES
paradigm clashes can lead to methodological disputes over what “counts” as knowledge
Define Individualism
Individualism:
explains social phenomena by reducing them to the actions of choices of individual agents
Methodological individualism:
all valid social explanations must be grounded in facts about individual persons
JON ELSTER
Argues that aggregating individual actions in systematic ways can explain microscopic social outcomes
Define and explain Holism
Holism:
argues that social wholes (groups, institutions, cultures…) have properties and dynamics irreducible to individual-level explanations
Structural Explanations:
holism relies on macro-level structures to explain behviour. Individuals are seen as influenced or shaped by these structures
Define Explaining and state its methods, aims and critiques
Explaining:
often associated with causal analysis and law-like generalizations, seeking to show how or why phenomena occur
- Causal/Positivist Tradition:
rooted in natural science approaches, seeking universal or probabilistic laws - Methods:
qualitative research, statistical modeling, experiments - Aim:
predictive power and generalizable statements about social phenomena - Critiques:
1. may overlook subjective meanings or the influence of historical and cultural context
2. risks “Reification” - treating social phenomena as if they were purely mechanical
Define Understanding state its approach, methods, aim and critiques
Understanding:
emphasizes interpretation of social meaning, subjective experiences, and cultural contexts
- Interpretative/Hermeneutic approach:
amphasizes grasping the subjective meanings, intentions, and context behind actions - Methods:
qualitative data (interviews, ethnographies…) focusing on how people interpret their words - Aim:
Achieve a “thick description” or an empathetic insight into why individuals or groups act as they do - Critiques:
1. may produce less generalizable or comparative results
2. accused of being too subjective or lacking predictive results
Describe Rational Choice Theory
(explaining , individualism)
- Methodological Individualism
- social outcomes are explained by aggregating the actions of individual agents
- groups, institutions, and structures are the result of many individuals acting on their influence - Utility Maximization
- individuals have goals or preferences
- they compare the costs and benefits of each possible action, choosing the one with the greatest net benefit - Consistent and Transitive Preferences
- agents are assumed to have stable and oredered preferences (A>B>C)
- they make choices in line with these preferences in all relevant contexts - Full or Sufficient Information
- more recent variations allow for bounded rationality while retaining the logic of goal-oriented action - Equilibrium Outcomes
- when individuals act rationally, social interactions often settle into an Equilibrium (NASH) - Predictive and Explanatory Power
- rational choice theory aims for broad applicability: from consumer choice to voting behavior
- critics argue it can neglect social, emotional, or cultural factors that sometimes trump strict cost-benefit logic
Describe Hermeneutics
(Understanding, Individualism)
Understanding the phenomena of life in terms of their cultural significance; has as its object those cultural manifestations that cannot be explained by purely behavioral science
!!Hermeneutics is NOT about explaining causal laws !!
HERMENEUTICS IS ABOUT RENDERING HUMAN ACTS INTELLIGIBLE IN TERMS OF THE VALUE OR SIGNIFICANCE THAT IS ACHIEVED ODUE TO THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ACT
Describe the 2 types of Hermeneutics
ONTOLOGICAL HERMENEUTICS
- strong form, (philosophy of Heidegger)
- interpretation is not one of many human activities, man is an interpretive animal
- before anything we interpret, in the sense of developing of reflective consciousness nd practical awareness of the world
- Hermeneutics is an ontological condition
EPISTEMOLOGICAL HERMENEUTICS
- weaker form, associated with the philosophy of Betti
- Hermeneutics should be confined to the epistemological problem of interpretation, and not try to engage with the deepest conditions of human existence
- it should be an applied perspective, focused on how actors reach a valid understanding of social situations
- Hermeneutics is an epistemological instrument
What are the Assumptions behind Hermeneutics?
Hermeneutics perspective sees human activity as an ongoing input-output cycle, in which subjective interpretations of externally situated information become themselves objectified via behavior
4 parts:
- Micro-momentary actions of members partially determine an organization’s activity and structure
- Actions are assumed to be based upon an information-processing sequence
(cues from environment –> interpretation –> concrete activities) - Individuals must construct actively an interpretation by linking received cues with well-learned and/or developing cognitive structures
- Individuals possess a reflective capability, such that they were able to verbalize the content of their interpretations if not their interpretive processes
