is sociology a science?

Question 1

qualities of science

Answer 1

• objective
• value free
• based on research
• builds on existing knowledge
• hypothesis
• falsification
• predictions
• scrutinity

Question 2

AUGUSTE COMTE - origins of positivism

Answer 2

• COMTE is the founding father of sociology
• enlightenment (interest in science) led to secularisation
• believed sociology would find out how society operated, and be able to make a better society
• only directly observable facts - can be quantified
• possible to identify cause and effect relationships

Question 3

DURKHEIM - the science of society

Answer 3

• comparative approach - thought experiment using secondary sources
• positivists see this as the equivalent to an experiment
• concluded suicide rates were caused by variations in social integration and moral regulation
• DURKHEIM proved that scientific methodology was appropriate for the study of society

Question 4

DOUGLAS - rejecting positivism

Answer 4

• rejects the use of quantitive data
• to understand suicide, we must uncover the meaning
• official statistics are made from subjective decisions, not social facts

Question 5

POPPER - falsification

Answer 5

• argues scientific knowledge is superior to others because it can be proved wrong (falsification)
• falsification must be possible, or theories are not scientific
• believed most sociologists cannot be proved wrong - not scientific
• could be scientific if a hypothesis is used

Question 6

inductive approach three steps

Answer 6

(marx and durkheim)

1. gather data
2. classifying + analysing
3. produce theory

Question 7

deductive approach

Answer 7

(popper)

1. theory
2. use data to test theory
3. open to falsification

Question 8

paradigms

Answer 8

• set of rules/beliefs scientists follow when conducting research
• shapes understanding and investigation
• when enough anomalies/inconsistencies arise, it can lead to a scientific revolution
• old paradigm then replaced

Question 9

KUHN - scientific paradigms

Answer 9

• scientists have a tendency to share certain assumptions, and then conduct research based on these assumptions
• KUHN refers to these as paradigms
• paradigms shape the way members of the scientific community see things/carry out research
• scientists are simply problem solving within the existing paradigm

Question 10

KUHN - sociology can’t be a science

Answer 10

• sociology has a range of perspectives (no paradigm)
• sociology is in a pre-scientific situation
• can only be a science when all differences of resolved

Question 11

SAYER - realist approach to sociology as a science

Answer 11

• accepts differences between natural and social sciences, but sociology can still be a science
• some sciences operate in closed systems - controlled variables
• also operates in open systems (e.g. meteorology where things cannot be controlled, but you can measure effects) - similar to sociology
• both natural and social world are produced by underlying structures and mechanisms

Question 12

LYOTARD - postmodernist view

Answer 12

• scientific sociology is irrelevant
• natural science is a meta narrative
• isnt one dominant form of knowledge that society follows
• science is just another view of the world such as religion and sociology

Question 13

conclusion (summary of all the theories)

Answer 13

• two-sided argument
• positivists argue sociology should be scientific
• interpretivists argue sociology is the study of meaningful action
• POPPER favors falsification - most of sociology is not scientific
• KUHN argues sociology can become a science when it adopts a single paradigm
• realist approach argues it works in open systems
• postmodernism says sociology and science are just meta narratives