sociology as a science Flashcards
What do positivists believe are social facts?
things external to us but which have control over us e.g. religion, family
What are key positivist ideas about sociology as a science?
-empirical methods of investigation (objectively observable)
-researchers should be detached and objective
-quantitative data used to identify patterns and trends
AUGUSTE COMTE (positivist)
‘father’ of positivism; combined use of maths, logic, and sensory experiences to better understand human relationships and actions
-suggested that we are now in a ‘positive’ stage through which we can understand natural phenomena and world events using scientific reasoning
DURKHEIM (positivist)
observed patterns in suicide rates (QN data from official statistics) and found patterns between suicide rates and levels of integrations and regulation, establishing cause-and-effect
-concluded the patterns were social facts
What do interpretivists believe is social construction?
when something is created by social processes and not natural ones/ not biologically determined
What are key interpretivist ideas about sociology as a science?
-social reality is socially constructed
-sociology should be interested in the subjective internal meanings e.g. emotions or motive
-use qualitative data to produce highly valid data
-believe in verstehen and subjectivity
MAX WEBER (interpretivist)
believed that in order to truly understand society we must understand why people do things
-coined the term ‘verstehen’ to explain how researchers need to put themselves in the position of those in society in order to understand why they act in certain ways
HERBERT BLUMER (interpretivist)
-should look at society in small-scale ‘micro’ interactions> ‘macro’
-in order to understand meaning behind ‘social actors’ behaviour, researchers should immerse themselves in the social actor’s world as this is what caused their behaviour
What is the inductive theory?
observation -> pattern -> hypothesis -> theory
What is the deductive theory?
theory -> hypothesis -> observation -> confirmation
Is the inductive theory verification or falsification?
verification
Is the deductive theory verification or falsification?
falsification
What is verificationism?
if we gain evidence for something, this suggests the theory is correct, look for evidence to support a theory
What is falsificationism?
in science, if something is wrong, we should be able to prove it wrong, looking for evidence to disprove a theory
What is the ‘Grounded theory’? (Glaser and Strauss)
-rejects the inductive method
-the grounded theory is where you build up and modify the hypothesis during the course of the research based on the facts we learn and discover during
e.g. w/ unstructured interviews, you can choose questions important to the interviewee
Interactionists
-‘bottom-up’ approach
-let the hypothesis emerge from research findings
-allows you to access the social actor’s subjective reality > researcher’s subjective reality
Phenomenologists and ethnomethodologists
-anti-structural view: society can’t determine our actions because it is not something that can be objectively observed
-social reality is the shared meanings or knowledge of the members of society
-anti-positivist: believe there is no cause-and-effect behind the social actor’s behaviour