DD101 Introducing the Social Sciences - Week 9

The suggested time table for Week 9

     Chapter 5 of Making Social Lives (7 hrs)
     Online activities 18 & 19 (2 hours)
     Case Studies in Social Sciences (Audio CD 2, 30 - 45 mins)

     Online Quiz - Making Social Lives, Chapter 5 (10-15 mins)

To be completed by 8th April.

A nine hour flight gave me the time, and an environment starved of recreational choice, in which to finish Chapter 5.

It was a relatively interesting start to the chapter regarding the study of the identity of 'place' through the urbanisation of the population as people moved from the country-side to the city. It also challenged the notions of the two areas, what are 'city' and 'country' identity values and are they valid or rose tinted.

It then explored the idea that the rich living on the outside of cities could still get to the city center but in a way that shields them from the sight of the poor and slum/problem areas. The chapter also dealt with qualitative and quantitative data - so this chapter is very relevant for TMA03 for several reasons.

The last section was a bit slow, about the garden project and, as with the rest of this chapter, it took a great many words to make fairly obvious points.

The other thing that I am having trouble with is what 'social scientists' (scientists... really ?) call evidence. It seems at times pretty thin and untested evidence. Somebody a lot cleverer than I (can't remember who) said that to construct a theory, say that 'all swans are white', you must carry out an exhaustive search for a black swan and then continue the search in to the future, so that your theory is 'all swans are white (until we find a black one)'. On some occasions social scientists seem to have seen one 'white swan' and constructed some theories.