HOORCOLLEGE 1
Problem theory empirical research new problem
Social conditions as causes
- Inequality problem
Openness/ closure of educational/health systems
- Cohesion problem
Amount of contact between members of a religious group
- Cultural problem
Use of online resources and networks
Openness of the educational system: some types of problems
1. Descriptibe problems
- Trends over time
- Difference between countries, cities/ rural areas
2. Explanatory problems
- What are the effects of early tracking on educational opportunities for different
grousp
- What are the mechanisms behind different educational opportunities?
3. Problems of institutional design
- How to reduce or mitigate unequal opportunities in education and school
segregation?
4. Normative problems
- What kind of inequality in educational outcomes is acceptable?
- How much can you restrict freedom of choice of parents to prevent
inequalities
Sociology as aproblem-guided, empirical theoretical discipline
Or: why do we need good theory
Common sense
- The routine knowledge we have of our everyday world and activities
- Non-formal, unstructured, practical
- Gezonde verstand
The American soldier (example to illustrate limitation of common sense)
- Very large survey among American soldiers during ww1
- Findings: soldiers from rural backgrounds were usually in better spirits during their
army life than soldiers from city backgroudns” not true
BLUEPRINTS FOR SOCIOLOGICAL THOERY
Types of explanations:
- Covering-law explanations/ syllogisms (schemas)
- Colemans diagram
Covering law explanations: The phenomenon is explained by a causal law
, If a fire starts in a crowded room, many people will panic leading to many fatalities
Statistical explanations: The phenomenon is explained by a statistical relationship
The smaller the door in a room the more fatalities when a fire starts
Mechanism explanations: The phenomenon is explained by means of an action-based
explanation incorporating social restrictions/opportunities and the aggregation process
Theory: a set of verbal or formal assumptions and propositions on the question
at hand including causal relations that lead to testable hypotheses about the
question
Model: formalized version of a theory in which all conditions, actors, possible
actions, preferences, implications of behavior for everyone and relations
between these elements are made very precise such that logical implications
and hypotheses can be derived
Syllogism: building block of a theory or model
Conceptual model: an overview of concepts and arrows that summarize the
hypotheses following from a theory or model
5 aspects of building an theory
1. Be precise
- Clear concepts, formalization helps
2. Avoid black boxes
- Thinking about plausible mechanisms often opens black boxes
3. Include micro levels
4. Model the micro-macro link
, 5. Search for a micro model that is realistic enough and not too complex
MERTON: SELF FULFILLING PROPHECIES
VIDEOS WEEK 2
GAME THEORY
Goal0directed behavior in interdependent decision situations.
Interdependent: the outcome depends on multiple actors
Actors have:
- Alternative actions
- Goals evaluations of the possible outcomes of actions
- Expectations or information on the states of the world
Actors choose:
- The action that seems most appropriate given their expextations to realize their
goals
Best-reply strategy
- Consider a noncooperative game (they cant communicate)
- Let x be a ttrategy of actor a and let y be a strategy of actor b
- X is a best reply strategy of player a against strategy y of player b if x maximizes
as payoff against y
Dominant strategy:
- X is a dominant strategy of player a if x is player as unique best reply against all
strategies of player b.
Nash equilibrium
Problem theory empirical research new problem
Social conditions as causes
- Inequality problem
Openness/ closure of educational/health systems
- Cohesion problem
Amount of contact between members of a religious group
- Cultural problem
Use of online resources and networks
Openness of the educational system: some types of problems
1. Descriptibe problems
- Trends over time
- Difference between countries, cities/ rural areas
2. Explanatory problems
- What are the effects of early tracking on educational opportunities for different
grousp
- What are the mechanisms behind different educational opportunities?
3. Problems of institutional design
- How to reduce or mitigate unequal opportunities in education and school
segregation?
4. Normative problems
- What kind of inequality in educational outcomes is acceptable?
- How much can you restrict freedom of choice of parents to prevent
inequalities
Sociology as aproblem-guided, empirical theoretical discipline
Or: why do we need good theory
Common sense
- The routine knowledge we have of our everyday world and activities
- Non-formal, unstructured, practical
- Gezonde verstand
The American soldier (example to illustrate limitation of common sense)
- Very large survey among American soldiers during ww1
- Findings: soldiers from rural backgrounds were usually in better spirits during their
army life than soldiers from city backgroudns” not true
BLUEPRINTS FOR SOCIOLOGICAL THOERY
Types of explanations:
- Covering-law explanations/ syllogisms (schemas)
- Colemans diagram
Covering law explanations: The phenomenon is explained by a causal law
, If a fire starts in a crowded room, many people will panic leading to many fatalities
Statistical explanations: The phenomenon is explained by a statistical relationship
The smaller the door in a room the more fatalities when a fire starts
Mechanism explanations: The phenomenon is explained by means of an action-based
explanation incorporating social restrictions/opportunities and the aggregation process
Theory: a set of verbal or formal assumptions and propositions on the question
at hand including causal relations that lead to testable hypotheses about the
question
Model: formalized version of a theory in which all conditions, actors, possible
actions, preferences, implications of behavior for everyone and relations
between these elements are made very precise such that logical implications
and hypotheses can be derived
Syllogism: building block of a theory or model
Conceptual model: an overview of concepts and arrows that summarize the
hypotheses following from a theory or model
5 aspects of building an theory
1. Be precise
- Clear concepts, formalization helps
2. Avoid black boxes
- Thinking about plausible mechanisms often opens black boxes
3. Include micro levels
4. Model the micro-macro link
, 5. Search for a micro model that is realistic enough and not too complex
MERTON: SELF FULFILLING PROPHECIES
VIDEOS WEEK 2
GAME THEORY
Goal0directed behavior in interdependent decision situations.
Interdependent: the outcome depends on multiple actors
Actors have:
- Alternative actions
- Goals evaluations of the possible outcomes of actions
- Expectations or information on the states of the world
Actors choose:
- The action that seems most appropriate given their expextations to realize their
goals
Best-reply strategy
- Consider a noncooperative game (they cant communicate)
- Let x be a ttrategy of actor a and let y be a strategy of actor b
- X is a best reply strategy of player a against strategy y of player b if x maximizes
as payoff against y
Dominant strategy:
- X is a dominant strategy of player a if x is player as unique best reply against all
strategies of player b.
Nash equilibrium
