Just like the previous weeks I prepared by reading the assigned papers
but this time we where also to choose an article. At first, this seemed to me
like it would be something easy. But after surfing the web (mainly Google
Scholar) I found that there is so many good and interesting papers out there
that is actually quite difficult to choose one to immerse in.
But of course I did at last and it was quite interesting.
Today I had my seminar with Leif. At the beginning I really thought I
had a good understanding of what theory, hypotheses and statements are and what
the differences between them are. But after a short period of time I realized
that this is much more complicated that I first thought.
There is two kinds of theories; normative
and descriptive. A normative theory
is implied by humans, for example all humans are equal. It’s therefore not true
or false it’s just normative. A descriptive theory is basically every theory
that is not normative, it describes what is it. But a descriptive theory can
turn normative.
The differences between a hypotheses and a statement is that a
hypotheses is more “open”, and it could be tested as true, false or irrelevant.
A statement, on the other hand, is a much “harder”, like a sucker punch in the
face as Leif expressed it. For me this really makes sence but it’s just
something that I never thought about before.
So, in the seminar we talked about what theories that we came across in
our papers. I never thought of it before but social capital (a main part in my paper) is a theory. For me, it is
more a concept. So this was really a eye-opener for me, there is so many theories
out there is you only look (feminism, democracy, human equality) and this is
something I’m going carry with me for the rest of the seminars (and hopefully a
longer period of time).
Hi! Nice reflection!
SvaraRaderaI agree with you, I also thought that I understood the concept of theories etc and what they really meant but as you say they are far more complex than I initially thought.
I really liked your explanation of the differences of hypothesis and statement. That the statement is "harder" and more matter-of-fact. When a person says a statement it is often taken as the truth. A statement is e.g - "that purse is black". But a hypothesis would maybe be more like "All people think black purses are pretty" - which could be proven wrong.
Good reflection! :) /Stephanie
Great reflection Sofia!
SvaraRaderaI like that you compare and explain the difference between some of the terms as I thought that it was difficult to understand them since they were quite vague sometimes.