operations research an introduction chapter 22

In this framework, the terrorist is a kind of person who is beyond reason and morality. Behind the political and moral rhetoric of Stephen Harper’s statement are a number of densely solidified beliefs about the nature of a “terrorist” individual - “people who have agendas of violence that are deep and abiding, are a threat to all the values that our society stands for” (Cohen, 2013). In his position, there is a disjunction between taking a strong political and moral stance on violence on one hand and working towards a deeper, evidence-based understanding of the social causes of acts of violence on the other. In an unfortunate comment following the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, the then Prime Minister Stephen Harper said “this is not a time to commit sociology.” He implied that the “utter condemnation of this kind of violence” precluded drawing on sociological research into the causes of political violence (Cohen, 2013).

Define value neutrality, and outline some of the issues of value neutrality in sociology.

Demonstrate awareness of the Canadian Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics.

Understand why ethical standards exist.

Understand why certain topics are better suited to different research approaches.Differentiate between four kinds of research methods: surveys, experiments, field research, and secondary data or textual analysis.Define what reliability and validity mean in a research study.

Understand the difference between positivist and interpretive approaches to the scientific method in sociology.Explain how the scientific method is used in sociological research.Define and describe the scientific method.

Operations research an introduction chapter 22