Beliefs In Society - Science And Religion

Question 1

3 core principles of science:

Answer 1

1. Science is the pursuit of facts.
2. Objective.
3. Studies the impact of cause and effect based on reliable data.

Question 2

Paradigms

Answer 2

Shape how the discipline is defined and understood by those who work within it and sets out how research should be conducted.

Question 3

Falsification

Answer 3

For something to be scientific it must be possible that it can be proven false.
If a theory stands up to falsification (tested and repeated but isn’t proven wrong) it is a good theory.

Question 4

What does Merton’s CUDOS norms stand for?

Answer 4

C- communism.
U - universalism.
D - disinterestedness.
OS - organised scepticism.

Question 5

Universalism

Answer 5

All scientists regarded as equal is it should be there work that is challenged not them personally.

Question 6

Disinterestedness

Answer 6

Scientists should be committed to truth and publish their findings honestly.
There should be no fraud or subjective bias.

Question 7

Organised scepticism

Answer 7

All knowledge within science should be challenged and scrutiny should be encouraged.

Question 8

Communism

Answer 8

Scientific knowledge should be shared with the community.

Question 9

Interpretivism - sociology of scientific knowledge

Answer 9

All knowledge is socially constructed because, rather than being an objective truth, it is the result of resources available to the social group creating it.
In the case f science the facts they create are the result of shared paradigms and theories and when new instruments are invented it allows new observation and the creation of new facts.

Question 10

Woolgar- Little Green Men

Answer 10

Argues scientists are engaged in the same process of making sense of the world as the rest of us.
When confronted with evidence they need to determine what it means.
E.g. the discovery of pulsars by Cambridge Astronomy Lab was initially annotated as LG1M1 and LGM2 meaning little green men, but as this would be unacceptable to the scientific community they determined it must be an unknown type of star.

Question 11

Sociology of scientific knowledge - Marxism and feminism

Answer 11

Conflict theories such as Marxism and feminism see scientific knowledge as being far from the truth.
They see it as serving the interests of particular groups in society.
Therefore any advances in pure science are driven by capitalism.
E.g. the development of the theory of ballistics was driven by the need for new weaponry which could be manufactured and sold.

Question 12

Sociology of scientific knowledge - postmodernism

Answer 12

Science is one of a number of metanarratives which to provide a big picture view of what is ‘true’.
Lyotard - science falsely claims to find the truth about how the world works as a means of progress to a better society whereas in reality science is more of a discourse or way of thinking that is used to dominate people.
He believes scone has become a techno science simply serving capitalist interests by producing commodities for profit.

Question 13

Aldridge - transitions from religious to scientific explanation - theological stage

Answer 13

The stage in which phenomena are explained as arising from the actions of spirits, gods and other supernatural beings. E.g. the changing seasons explained by Peresphone’s time in Tartarus or on Earth.

Question 14

Aldridge - transitions from religious to scientific explanation - metaphysical stage

Answer 14

The stage in which the supernatural element is diminished and phenomena is explained as arising from the action of the natural, though abstract entities such as nature.
For example the changing seasons is natures cycl of life..

Question 15

Aldridge - transitions from religious to scientific explanation - scientific stage

Answer 15

In this stage the previous stages are replaced by rational explanations which are based on evidence derived from observation and experimentation, logic and rational thought.
Weber - the disenchantment with the world - the loss of the magical and mystical elements of the world.

Question 16

Impact of science on religion

Answer 16

It can be argued that the growth of science has led to a decline in religion.
However this isn’t necessarily the case.
Millions of people still identify with one of the major religions of the world such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.
All manner of religious and supernatural beliefs and superstitions still continue to have a huge impact on human behaviour.
E.g. the mass suicide at the People’s Temple in 1978 and the Heaven’s Gate Cult who believed they would be taken to heaven on a spaceship that was hidden behind The Hale bop comet in 1997.
Many people still hold abstract unforeseen forces responsible for life events such as luck, magic, ghosts, tarot, ESP and horoscopes.