ONE INCIDENTTHREE PERSPECTIVESTHE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

THE INCIDENT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndkw0yK85z4&safe=active

• The École Polytechnique Massacre, also known as the Montreal Massacre, occurred on December 6, 1989 at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

• Twenty-five-year-old Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained Mini-14 rifle and a hunting knife, shot twenty-eight people before killing himself

• In total 15 people died with an additional 14 sustaining injuries

THE INCIDENT• He began his attack by entering a

classroom at the university, where he separated the male and female students.

• After claiming that he was "fighting feminism", he shot all nine women in the room, killing six.

• He then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women to shoot.

• Overall, he killed fourteen women and injured ten other women and four men in just under twenty minutes before turning the gun on himself

THE INCIDENT• Lépine was the son of a French-

Canadian mother and an Algerian father, and had been physically abused by his father.

• His suicide note claimed political motives and blamed feminists for ruining his life. The note included a list of nineteen Quebec women whom Lépine considered to be feminists and apparently wished to kill.

THE INCIDENT• Since the attack, Canadians have debated

various interpretations of the events, their significance, and Lépine's motives.

• Many feminist groups and public officials have characterized the massacre as an anti-feminist attack that is representative of wider societal violence against women.

• Consequently, the anniversary of the massacre has since been commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

• Other interpretations emphasize Lépine's abuse as a child or suggest that the massacre was simply the isolated act of a madman, unrelated to larger social issues

THE KILLER• Lepine was 25 years old• He had enrolled ins several educational

programs, he had not finished any of them and was now unemployed

• Lepine had tried to join the Canadian armed forces, but was rejected due to his personality which was considered unsuitable

• He was a loner with few close friends• He had a keen interest in guns and

ammunition but had no criminal record• Social scientists tried to answer the

question on everyone’s mind WHY??

THE PSYCHOLGICAL EXPLANATION• The question for psychologists “what factors in

his personality led to the crime?”• Psychologists would examine the evidence

based on the assumption that an individual’s personality is molded by his or her prior experiences

• Understanding key events in Lepine’s life would help in understanding his personality

• Psycholiogsts typically want to interview the subject, not an option in this case

• They next move to family and friends

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION• The Psychological explanation– Lepine’s father was a brutal man, who openly expressed

the opinion that women were inferior to men– He would regularly beat both Marc and his mother– Parents were separated when Marc was seven– Marc’s fascination with guns dated from his teenage

years when he would spend summers hunting at his uncle’s farm

– Unable to establish close relationships with women– Marc came to blame them for his problems– By choosing an engineering course, traditionally

dominated by males, his murderous rampage allowed him to act out his hatred

THE ANTHROPLOGISTS EXPLANATION• The question for anthropologists: “why do some men

act violently towards women, particularly to the point of murder?”

• Anthropologists would start from an assumption that there are factors in the nature of society itself that encourage some men to act violently towards women

• One cannot explain a single act of violence without looking at societal reasons

• Anthropologists would examine statistics and other evidence about violence in Canada

• They would try to link together information to see if a pattern emerged

THE ANTHROPLOGISTS EXPLANATION• The Anthropological Explanation– Believe that Lepine’s murderous rampage was the ultimate

act of violence against in women in a society that has traditionally tolerated such violence

– One women in five has been or will be abused– One in four has been has been or will be physically abused– Courts have tended to impose lighter sentences on men

who abuse wives or girlfriends – Movies tend to glamorize violence, particularly against

women– Advertisements regularly exploit women as sex objects in

order to sell beer, clothes and just about anything else– http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpQVUNWo6Ko&safe=active

THE SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION• The question for sociologists “what common factors

are there in the lives of men who have acted with extreme violence toward women?”

• Sociologists would start with an assumption that the significance of the acts Lepine committed can only be understood when they are compared to others like him and of Canadian men as a whole

• They would examine the lives of mass murders, especially those who have targeted women as their victims

• They would then compare then to a control group– The group in an experiment experiencing no changes from

conditions

THE SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION• The Sociological Explanation– Mass killers as a group display a number of

common characteristics• They are loners with few friends• They come from broken families usually ones where

violence has played a major role• Most have been sexually or physically abused as

children• Mass murders have difficulty dealing with emotions• Frustration and anger frequently take control of their

lives• Despite a calm appearance, they are tormented on

the inside

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF STUDY• Scientists use a set of rules developed by scientists

to help them discover their own mistakes• Because it is easy to make a mistake by observation

alone, scientists quantify their observations• Francis Bacon and other s in the 17th century

proposed the scientific method– In order to answer nature’s questions, the scientist

must be completely objective and without opinions as information was gathered

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFanG5s01M&safe=active

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF STUDY• Scientists follow seven steps

for the Scientific Method1. Defining the problem2. Reviewing the literature3. Forming a hypothesis4. Choosing a research design5. Collecting the data6. Analyzing the data7. Presenting conclusions

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF STUDY

• Scientists follow seven steps for the Scientific Method1. DEFINING THE PROBLEM (OPERATIONAL

DEFINITION) A definition that is stated in terms of measurable

characteristics2. REVIEWING THE LITERATURE

Examining existing research to see how other researchers have examined the issue, the methods they used, and the conclusions they reached

3. FORMING A HYPOTHESIS Make an educated guess to provide a direction for

research

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF STUDY• Scientists follow seven steps for the Scientific

Method4. CHOOSING A RESEARCH DESIGN

A plan for collecting, analyzing and evaluating data Four typical methods

Surveys Typically collected by interviews of questionnaires

Experimentation The group to be studied is exposed to a certain condition. The

result is measured and compared to a control group Observation

Two types natural observation, from a distance and participant observation where the researcher appears to be a member of the group being studied

Reviewing old records, documents, archives and official statistics Secondary analysis

Reviewing old records, documents, archives and official statistics

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF STUDY• Scientists follow seven steps for the Scientific

Method http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dxsLFH0c20&safe=active

5. COLLECTING THE DATA The data must by carefully recorded as careless data

collection can change the research findings6. ANALYZING THE DATA

This steps allows researchers to see if the data supports the initial hypothesis

7. PRESENTING CONCLUSIONS Conclusions are drawn from data and research

findings are presented to others in such way that if another researcher wanted to reproduce the experiment/observations in exactly the same way, he or she would be able to do so

HOW SOCIOLOGISTS COLLECT DATA• SURVEYS– Often used to provide data on attitudes and

opinions from a large number of people– Questionnaires and interviews are the most

commonly used techniques– Questionnaire Disadvantage

• Cannot be certain that the respondents interpreted questions correctly

– Questionnaire Advantage• Can get a large amount of data in a short period

of time• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAufRE1DMKE&safe=active

HOW SOCIOLOGISTS COLLECT DATA• SURVEYS– Schedule

• The list of questions sociologists ask people being surveyed in an interview

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJFEOJbzrPQ&safe=active – Sampling

• A small number of people drawn from a large population• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0AFG7CZ7DQ&safe=active

– Interviews Disadvantage• Costly to administer and time consuming to administer

– Interviews Advantage• Make it easier for the researchers understand whether or not

the respondents understand the questions• Allows for clarifications and noting of context clues

HOW SOCIOLOGISTS COLLECT DATA• OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES– Natural Observation• Observe from a distance so that

his or her presence will not change or effect the behaviour being studied• Disadvantage– Being detached from the

observation may cause this missing of some important details

• Advantage– Do not realize they are being

observed

HOW SOCIOLOGISTS COLLECT DATA• OBSERVATIONAL

STUDIES– Participant Observation• Observers are directly

involved in the situation under investigation

– Contrived observation• A situation is designed

and uses a controlled variable to determine how people act is a given situation• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EjJsPylEOY&safe=active

HOW SOCIOLOGISTS COLLECT DATA• ANALYSIS OF EXISTING RESOURCES– Historical Method• Involves examining materials from the past

that contain information of interest to sociologists

• Most often is comprised of written documents such as letters, diaries, government records and news papers

– Content Analysis• Counting the number of times a given word,

phrase, idea event or other element occurs in a given context

• The Wordle on line tool is a rudimentary example of this

HOW SOCIOLOGISTS COLLECT DATA• STATISTICAL ANALYSIS– The use of measures of central tendency– Can be very specific and complex– The three most common are

• Mode– The number occurring most often in the data

• Median– The number of the value that divides the data into two

equal parts• Mean – Adding up the numbers in the data and dividing by the

total number of cases• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24BaW1O6gqs&safe=active• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd1aZb4ORmw&safe=active

HOW SOCIOLOGISTS COLLECT DATA• CASE STUDIES– An intensive analysis of a person,

group, event, or problem – Case studies rely heavily on

observational techniques– These are frequently done by social

workers when they are screening parents who wish to adopt children or serve as foster homes

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMo2RGO9YU4 • http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4McYkNXFQY&safe=active