Is sociology a science

Question 1

who argues that sociology is not a science

Answer 1

Karl Popper
Kuhn
Interpretivism

Question 2

karl popper

Answer 2

He argues that sociology is not a science as it cannot be falsified, science is one that can be proven false by evidence. Sociology is unscientific because it consists of theories that cannot be put to the test with the possibility that they might be falsified. For example, Marxism predicts that there will be a revolution leading to a classless society but this has not happened yet because of false consciousness. Hence the prediction cannot be falsified, if a revolution happens Marxism is correct if there isn’t a revolution Marxism is still correct. Our understanding of the world changes based on falsification, good science should aim to prove an idea is wrong

Question 3

Kuhn and paradigms

Answer 3

A paradigm is shared by members of a given scientific community and defines what their science is. Sociology is not a science because there is no shared paradigm, and there is no agreement on the fundamentals of what to study, what method to use and what we should expect to find and so on. For example, functionalists disagree with Marxists about basic questions such as whether society is based on consensus or on conflict. Even within perspectives, there are often disagreements about key concepts issues and methods like traditional functionalism and subcultural functionalism. Sociology has many differences and as such they cannot create a unified paradigm

Question 4

interprevitism and science

Answer 4

interpretivists argue that sociology is not a science, because sociology studies humans who do have consciousness. Humans are unpredictable and have free wil so do not conform to social laws, natural scieneces study phenomena with no consciousness, humans are conscious so will respond to stimuli in different ways. According to Mead, rather than responding automatically to external stimuli, human beings interpret the meaning of a stimulus and then choose how to respond to it. For interprevitivists individuals are not puppets manipulated by external social facts as positivists belive but independent beings who construct their social world through the meanings they give to it.

Question 5

sociology is a science - positivists