- Social phenomena that are external to and greater than the individual and that act on and constrain the individual’s behaviour and consciousness.
- Because they see large-scale social structures as social facts that are the external cause of individuals’ behaviour.
- Meaningful social action.
- Empathy, or putting oneself in ‘the shoes’ of another. This allows the researcher to understand the subjective meanings of the actor’s views and experiences.
- Verificationism involves collecting evidence with the aim of proving a theory correct. Falsificationism involves attempting to prove a theory is wrong by seeking evidence hat would falsify it.
- A basic framework of assumptions, principles, methods and techniques set of principles shared by members of a scientific community, telling them what reality is like, what problems to work on and what sorts of answers they should find.
- The paradigm defines the questions and in broad terms the answers, and the scientists work out how reach the expected solutions.
- Open systems are those in which the researcher cannot control or measure all the relevant variables; in closed systems the researcher can control and measure the variables (e.g. in a laboratory), so can make precise predictions.