According to Sprague, the canon of social theory is biased. Not everyone has the same experiences as others and with that, everyone’s standpoint within the world is different. The standpoint theory is how one sees the world based on where they stand in society. In other words, it is a person’s viewpoint. When it comes to race, a person’s standpoint can be completely different from another’s. The same is said for a person’s gender, education, career and sexuality.
In almost all of my sociology courses, the standpoint theory is forever popping up. You should always consider one’s standpoint (and your own) when conducting research too. This way you can try to eliminate as much negative bias as possible, however to eliminate all bias is impossible.
A common conflict of standpoints has to do with race. A white man cannot understand how it is to be a black man, nor can a black man understand how it is to be a white man. The conflict comes into play when one from a particular race tries to “understand” what one from another race goes through or experiences or, on the other hand, if one from a certain race makes a statement that is not true about another race. An example would be if a white man makes a statement saying, “Black men are not discriminated against and they do not have people following them or giving them the side eye when they walk into a store” . As you can see, a white man cannot make a correct statement about another race that is false. No white man, or any race for that matter, makes a statement about another race if they have not experienced it their selves. This conflict has been going on for years due to others assuming something of another race. Stereotypes exist for every race and from time to time people joke around about it, but it is a time when it is not a laughing matter. Stereotypes are usually the behavior of a particular race that is thought to be common among that race. Some of these stereotypes are true, while some are exaggerated. Stereotypes create a bias because it causes people to think or look at a race based off those stereotypes. Example, a stereotype about black women is they are all angry and in some cases bitter. Therefore, if a person was conducting a survey or experiment about black women or that included black women, if the researcher included some negative bias, then it can affect the experiment in a negative way. In all, a person’s bias can change the outcome of an experiment from good to bad, or vise versa. This is way people should be aware of their standpoint in society and to be careful to not include unwanted (personal feelings, emotions, statements) information or data.
Everyone in society has their own standpoint and that can cause bias in certain situations. A person cannot experience every race and the problems or situation they each face. However, with a standpoint people create stereotypes and assume how other races act to get an idea of what a person of a different race standpoint is.
In almost all of my sociology courses, the standpoint theory is forever popping up. You should always consider one’s standpoint (and your own) when conducting research too. This way you can try to eliminate as much negative bias as possible, however to eliminate all bias is impossible.
A common conflict of standpoints has to do with race. A white man cannot understand how it is to be a black man, nor can a black man understand how it is to be a white man. The conflict comes into play when one from a particular race tries to “understand” what one from another race goes through or experiences or, on the other hand, if one from a certain race makes a statement that is not true about another race. An example would be if a white man makes a statement saying, “Black men are not discriminated against and they do not have people following them or giving them the side eye when they walk into a store” . As you can see, a white man cannot make a correct statement about another race that is false. No white man, or any race for that matter, makes a statement about another race if they have not experienced it their selves. This conflict has been going on for years due to others assuming something of another race. Stereotypes exist for every race and from time to time people joke around about it, but it is a time when it is not a laughing matter. Stereotypes are usually the behavior of a particular race that is thought to be common among that race. Some of these stereotypes are true, while some are exaggerated. Stereotypes create a bias because it causes people to think or look at a race based off those stereotypes. Example, a stereotype about black women is they are all angry and in some cases bitter. Therefore, if a person was conducting a survey or experiment about black women or that included black women, if the researcher included some negative bias, then it can affect the experiment in a negative way. In all, a person’s bias can change the outcome of an experiment from good to bad, or vise versa. This is way people should be aware of their standpoint in society and to be careful to not include unwanted (personal feelings, emotions, statements) information or data.
Everyone in society has their own standpoint and that can cause bias in certain situations. A person cannot experience every race and the problems or situation they each face. However, with a standpoint people create stereotypes and assume how other races act to get an idea of what a person of a different race standpoint is.