The Civilizing Process

Flashcards covering vocabulary, methodological concepts, and course administrative details from the SOC150 Sociology II lecture notes.

Science

A way of organizing knowledge and observations to understand, explain, and predict the world we live in.

Mechanisms

The means through which general causal patterns are understood in social science.

Evidence

Relevant information used to support or refute claims about facts.

Facts

Statements that can be verified or falsified through empirical observation or logic.

$5\sigma$ rule

The sigma standard used in physics for disciplinary evidence.

p-values

The $2\sigma$ p-value $.05$ rule used as a disciplinary standard for evidence.

Qualitative interviews

A method providing insights into the rich meaning of people’s experiences, though it is costly and time-consuming.

Archival evidence

Evidence used in historical comparative methods that is limited by the facts that survived history.

Computational methods

Methods allowing for simulations of society and interactions, limited by the number and characteristics of features included in models.

Survey methods

A method providing insights into aggregate patterns people may not be aware of, which can be expensive and may fail to represent all sub-populations.

Correlational evidence

Evidence that suggests a relationship, often based on a single study using cross-sectional data.

Longitudinal data

Stronger evidence based on repeated measures over time with large samples that account for unit structure and reciprocal causal paths.

Meta-analyses

Studies that synthesize published research to summarize relationships, identify gaps, and provide meta-estimates based on study quality.

Systematic or scoping reviews

Methods used to synthesize published research and identify gaps in current knowledge.

Causal indeterminacy

A situation in complex systems where multiple factors interact to produce an outcome, making it difficult to isolate specific causal contributions.

Lieberson's limits

Four types of questions that cannot be answered: inherently impossible, premature, overly complicated, and nullified.

Probabilistic causes

Causes that are not deterministic; a concept emphasized in social causal explanations.

Alternative explanations

Explanations that account for different causal directions, such as $A \rightarrow B$, $B \rightarrow A$, or $C \rightarrow A; C \rightarrow B$.

Manipulation/intervention approach

A perspective where a variable $X$ causes $Y$ if intervening on $X$ changes $Y$.

Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT)

A manipulation approach often used in the medical model to determine a treatment effect.

Treatment effect

The effect of variable $X$ compared with those who were not treated or treated with a placebo.

History (as a discipline)

A field that seeks to understand events exactly as they occurred, treating each historical fact as unique, located, and dated.

Sociology (as a discipline)

A field that seeks to understand general patterns and processes by comparing and classifying events taken out of their historical settings.

Counterfactual thinking

Thinking that shifts from the empirical world to an alternative world by asking: what would happen to $Y$, if $X$ were different?

Critical realism

The view that there is a world that operates independently of our awareness and cannot be entirely understood through empirical or interpretive methods.

Skeptic

Someone who suspends judgment, particularly about entities and relations in a world that cannot be entirely described or predicted.

The Forecasting Collaborative (2023)

A study finding that social scientists' forecasts were about as useful as historical means unless the scientists had domain-specific publication expertise.

Philosophy of science

A parallel intellectual field to science that inquires into the nature and structure of science.

Pragmatic approach

Treating empirical judgements with a high probability as if they are real to avoid being paralyzed by the unknown.

Step 1 (Critical News Analysis)

A Pass/Fail requirement to propose an article, argument, and at least two readings, due July 7.

Step 2 (Critical News Analysis)

A $10\%$ assignment focused on structuring paragraphs with evidence, due July 21.

Step 3 (Critical News Analysis)

A Pass/Fail requirement to write a formal introduction and conclusion, due July 28.

Epistemology

The methods focus for Lecture 1, dealing with the question: what is a fact?

Ontology

The methods focus for Lecture 2, dealing with categories and the continuum.

Ethnomethods & Phenomenology

The methods focus for Lecture 3, 'Human, All Too Human'.

Skeptical Realism (Lecture 4)

The methods focus linked to History and Comparison in the lecture 'The Civilizing Process'.

Social Action

The topic for Lecture 5, focusing on Agency, Reflexivity, and Unintended Consequences.

Population & Ecology

The topic for Lecture 6, focusing on Surveys & Statistics.

Evidence Triangulation

The methods focus for Lecture 8, which covers Organizations & Institutions.

Trace Data

A methods focus for Lecture 11, 'A Brave New (Digital) World', alongside Focus Groups.

Social Physics & Social Facts

The topic for Lecture 1, exploring the nature of facts and epistemology.

Credible knower

A concept in the philosophy of science questioning who is considered capable of knowing based on their status.

Unique event

A characteristic of historical facts, which are located and dated and never exactly repeat.

General patterns and processes

The primary focus of sociological inquiry compared to the unique focus of history.

Aggregate patterns

Patterns provided by survey methods that individuals may not be aware of in their daily lives.

$$Pr(Y|X)$$

The probability of output given input, which may not fully capture dynamic causal systems.

Hierarchical evidence

A framework ranging from suggestive (correlational) to established (meta-analyses).