In sociological analysis, scholars must guard against the error of reification. This occurs when abstract social structures, such as the market or the state, are treated as if they were physical entities with independent wills and desires. For instance, stating that 'the market demands lower interest rates' attributes human agency to a conceptual framework. By treating a human-created relation as an objective, concrete thing, researchers obscure the actual human choices and power dynamics that shape economic policy.
Based on the passage, the word reification most nearly means which of the following?
- Arefining a scientific theory through rigorous empirical observation
- Brejecting a traditional social structure in favor of a modern alternative
- treating an abstract concept as a concrete, physical entityCevap
- Dreplicating a sociological study to verify its initial conclusions
Cevap
treating an abstract concept as a concrete, physical entity
The correct answer, which defines the word as treating an abstract concept as a concrete, physical entity, directly reflects the passage's description. The author explains that this error occurs when abstract social structures are 'treated as if they were physical entities' and as an 'objective, concrete thing.'
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Decoding low-frequency academic and technical words using local context clues, such as appositives, definitions, or examples.
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